Criss Angel Net Worth

Criss Angel is one of the world’s greatest magicians and illusionists in the contemporary era. He is the most watched magician by audiences of all ages in internet history since the late 2000s. Angel is best known to viewers worldwide for starring in the TV and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and his live performance illusion shows Criss Angel Believe.

He was hugely credited for bringing back the popularity of magic, as evidenced in the resurgence of magic that can be seen in movies, TV, and books from the mid-2000s. In his youth, Angel stayed away from other magicians so it could prevent him from imitating their tricks and the ambition to create his own style.

Criss Angel is the youngest magician inducted into the International Magician Society’s Magic Hall of Fame. In addition, Angel had been named Magician of the Year an unprecedented six times between 2001 to 2008—he was also awarded the title Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the above organization.

What is Criss Angel’s Net Worth?

Criss Angel’s income comes from various sources, including his TV and stage shows which he mostly produced, directed, created, and composed himself; live performances, endorsements, merchandise, and his ten-year contract with MGM Mirage, which runs for 10 years. As of August 2022, Criss Angel’s net worth is US$50 million.

As of 2016, his business ventures and other investments pulled in around $70 million in annual revenues. In addition, with his announcement to do a world tour and his ongoing shows in Las Vegas, the 55-year-old magician’s net worth is expected to accrue into the future significantly.

Who is Criss Angel?

Criss Angel’s official name is Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos. Criss Angel is an American magician, illusionist, and musician—born on December 19, 1967, in Hempstead, New York. He lived in Elmont, Hempstead up until his fourth grade. Afterward, the Sarantakos family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a successful restaurant and donut shop. His mother, Dimitra Sarantakos, shared her time in taking care of her three sons and running the family business. Criss Angel has two older brothers, JD Sarantakos and Costa Sarantakos—the siblings are of Greek descent.

Criss Angel developed an interest in magic at the age of seven after an aunt of his showed him a card trick. For the next five years, the inspired Angel practiced diligently and managed to master a few magic tricks. At the age of 12, he was invited to perform at a birthday party and was paid $10. Angel attended East Meadow High School; throughout his adolescent years, he performed at restaurants in East Meadow. When he was 14, Criss performed his first illusion on his mother in their family den by making her float—Angel took two brooms, hypnotized his mother, and balanced her on the end of the brooms.

In his youth, his major influence was the legendary escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini. In his early career during this endeavor to stardom, he was helped by Marc Morrone, a reality TV host and animal breeder by providing a set of doves to Angel for him to train on. Before he even graduated, Angel had already firmly decided to pursue a career as a professional magician—ignoring his parents’ wish to further his education. Straight after graduation, Angel embarked on his journey by hitting the road and began touring with other performers During this journey, Angel would find time to go to public libraries to self-educate himself by studying the history of magic; he also explored other subjects such as the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance.

Early Career

In 1994, Angel made his first TV appearance when he was invited to perform as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special titled Secrets. Horror film director Clive Barker became one of his early supporters who praised Angel as an extraordinary magician. In 1995, Barker invited Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. In that same year, Angel formed the industrial rock band Angeldust in collaboration with another musician, Klayton, with the idea to combine music with magic. In 1998, the band released their first album, Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions. Also, in 1998, Angel performed at the World of Illusion conference in Madison Square Garden. In 1997, Angel starred in the TV movie The Science of Magic, and its 2003 sequel, The Science of Magic II.

In 2001, the show Criss Angel Mindfreak was originally intended as an off-Broadway show. His mother took out a $360,000 mortgage on her house to help him mount his endeavor. Between 2001 to 2003, Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. In August 2002, Angel performed a stunt at the WWE entertainment store in Times Square, where he broke the world record by being completely submerged and shackled underwater for 24 hours. Two months later, in October, as a tribute to Harry Houdini, Angel did an-hour long performance in the ABC Family television special, Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist.

In 2003, Angel executive produced, directed, created, and composed a one-hour-long special Supernatural. It was aired on SciFi Channel in October 2013. Viewers in the United States and worldwide were incredibly amazed by his performance. This and his previous shows led to a resurgence in the popularity of magic.  That same year, during his performance in Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini in that city, Angel earned $50,000 a day from signed merchandise.

Criss Angel Mindfreak & Other Shows, and TV Series

In 2005, Criss Angel moved his base from New York to Las Vegas, where he created, executive-produced, and directed his own shows. The show ran from 2005 to 2010—Angel’s Mindfreak had more hours on prime time TV than any other magician in history. When seasons 2 and 3 were released in 2006, Criss Angel Mindfreak became A&E TV network’s number one rated show, bringing in more than 1.5 million viewers per show. The show was also highly popular in parts of Asia, including China. Mindfreak became the first weekly magic TV show in 40 years and surged in viewership on video-sharing platforms such as Youtube and Youku (the Chinese version of Youtube with over 500 million monthly active users).

In 2006, Angel partnered with the Canadian entertainment company, Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe. MGM Mirage, the parent company of Luxor Hotel & Casino financed the show with $100 million. The show premiered at the Luxor Las Vegas in September 2008 and became the bestselling live magic show in the world. In 2009, Angel lost his cool and hurled heavy insults at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member at the show. Angel reacted when he found out Hilton harshly criticized his show to his fans via text messages during the performance. Nonetheless, in 2011, the show sold $150 million worth of tickets and became the best magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.

In 2013, in celebration of the Criss Angel Believe stage show’s fifth anniversary, Paramount Network, Inc., the subsidiary of Spike TV, aired its first season with eleven one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions.

In 2007, Angel was a judge in NBC’s TV competition, Phenomenon. In one of the episodes, Angel roasted a performer when he attempted to summon a spirit to help discover the contents of a locked box. Angel implied he was a fake and offered him a million dollars of Angel’s own money if the performer could correctly guess the contents of the two envelopes that Angel had. The harsh public shaming incident stirred the views and opinions of fans and magic enthusiasts toward Criss Angel into different camps.

Other Shows

In the last decade, Angel performed several other stage shows in Las Vegas and other areas in the U.S., including Criss Angel Magicjam at Luxor Theatre with performances by other magicians. In 2014, Angel announced he intended to bring the show on a North American tour. That same year, Angel began his international tour of his Mindfreak LIVE! Show. The show began its premier at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

His stage show The Supernaturalists, in which Angel served as creator, director, and executive producer included various magicians with different specialties. I also premiered at Foxwoods Resort Casino in June 2015. Angel stated he intended to have this show as a global tour.

Other Projects

Since the inception of his music band Angeldust in 1995, the band released five albums. Musical Conjurings From the World of Illusion: System 1, System 2, and System 3 in the Trilogy (2000), Mindfreak (2002), and Mindfreak (TV Soundtrack, 2005).

In terms of merchandise, in 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage for the Criss Angel Magic Collection, including magic tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for kids. The merchandise was backed by $50 million in marketing.

Personal Life

In 2002, Criss Angel married his long-term girlfriend, JoAnn Winkhart. The marriage lasted for four years. During that time, Winkhart appeared in several episodes of Angel’s shows in 2005, but her name nor status was credited; but instead, she was listed as Criss’s Girl. In 2008, Angel briefly dated Holly Madison, an ex-girlfriend of the deceased Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

In September 2011, Angel proposed to a senior entertainment editor for CNN, Sandra Gonzalez.  After over four years of relationship, the engagement was called off in December 2014—Gonzalez accused Angel of getting another woman pregnant and sued him for $300,000 on the value of the engagement ring he bought for her, which had gone missing.

In 2012, Angel began a relationship with Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. They secretly married in 2015, divorced a year later, and reunited in 2018.  The couple has three children together, Johnny (2014), Xristos (2019), and Illusia (2021).

Other Interesting Facts about Criss Angel

• Criss Angel is well-liked by establishment owners in Las Vegas as his shows bring in a lot of tourists.
• He holds multiple world records during his magic performances, including the Guinness world record for making 100 people disappear.
• Angel actively discourages people from believing in mediumship—the purported ability to mediate communication between spirits of the dead and living human beings.
• In 2009, he was hired as the illusionist for the planned Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts.
•   The Rip Bodies Apart clip garnered more than 12 million views on Youtube within the first month.
• In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards for Living Legend award.
• In 2007, Angel published the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, which gives readers details behind–the–scenes of his hit A&E show and offers secret tips to 25 illusions.
• Criss Angel stated his deep passion for music and that he had been a musician longer than a magician.
• In 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• Angel is the only male to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award in 2001 and 2004.
•   Criss Angel made innumerable appearances in various shows, including WWE Raw, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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