From Rags To Riches — IU’s Incredible Journey From Near-Homelessness To Real Estate Mogul

IU is one of South Korea’s top artists, coming to fame as a solo artist — which is an even harder feat. Her songwriting and singing abilities have been praised endlessly, as her album releases always manage to top every single music chart. And while the singer has seen incredible success thus far, IU was brought up with a tough home life, which was highlighted on an episode of TMI News.

Singer IU.

While IU’s early years started off happily, TMI News shared that the downhill of the singer’s childhood hardships began after her mother co-signed on a relative’s loan. The relative took the loan and disappeared, leaving IU’s mother to deal with the consequences of paying it off.

Photo from “TMI News.”

Her mother co-signed on a relative’s loan and the relative ran away. Her family suddenly spiraled into financial hardships. Her house became riddled with red tags (loan shark marks.)

— TMI News

The report continued by sharing that this was just the beginning of IU’s hardships. Due to the unfortunate debt situation, IU was separated from her parents and found herself living with her grandmother and her younger brother.

Her family was torn apart. IU had to live with her grandmother and her younger brother in a one-bedroom place. They lived off of potatoes and IU walked up a large hill to go to school because she didn’t have bus fare. Her home was also filled with cockroaches.

— TMI News

IU briefly lived with her relatives due to her cockroach-invested home, but was met with intense criticisms and was constantly cursed at. It was then that the singer decided that she would take matters into her own hands.

She began auditioning for agencies, even though she faced rejection after rejection. When she finally thought she made it, she was hustled out of her money after falling for a scam entertainment company. IU never gave up on her dreams, however, as she eventually found a home with LOEN Entertainment (now known as Kakao M).

Even though she was scammed, IU never gave up on her dreams. It was following that incident that she got accepted into LOEN Entertainment (Kakao M.)

— TMI News

And while she finally got to debut in 2009 with “Lost Child,” she was unable to see any success for a few years.

It wasn’t until the mega-success of her 2010 hit song “Good Day” that IU’s life was completely changed overnight.

Caption: “‘Good Day’ alone raked in ₩6.00 billion KRW (about $5.22 million USD).”

She went on to become the “music chart queen” as she topped chart after chart with every release.

Caption: “The nation’s music chart queen.”

Following her continuous success, IU began investing in real estate, which increased her net worth exponentially. She began her real estate endeavors with the 2018 purchase of a building in Gwacheon.

In February of 2018, IU purchased a building in Gwacheon for ₩4.60 billion KRW (about $4.00 million USD). The building is currently worth ₩6.90 billion KRW (about $6.01 million USD). The building is currently being used as a work space for her hoobae musicians. They are able to use the building for free.

— TMI News

In August of 2018, IU purchased another property but this time, it was for her family.

IU purchased some land and a country home in Yangpyeong for her and her family to go rest and vacation at. The total cost of the land and the country home is ₩3.00 billion KRW (about $2.61 million USD).

— TMI News

IU also owns an apartment in Cheongdam-dong, which made headlines for its shocking price tag.

The cost of this apartment is ₩13.0 billion KRW (about $11.3 million USD). The more shocking part is that she paid for it without taking out a loan.

— TMI News

What an incredible story! IU truly started from rock bottom, but look at her now. You can watch the entire TMI News segment featuring IU’s story down below.