Who will get killer producer Phil Spector’s $50m fortune? Reclusive adopted children from his abusive marriage to Ronnie Spector and his writer daughter are in line for share of ‘the world’s most valuable song catalogue’

Murderer Phil Spector died in prison from coronavirus last week and his four children are in line to receive a portion of Spector's fortune. Spector's net worth is estimated to be in the ballpark of $50 million which is largely made up of royalties from hits. 

Spector was the father to three adopted sons, Donte and twins Gray and Lewis, which were sons of his second wife, Ronnie Spector. According to Ronnie, Phil adopted Gary and Lewis without her knowledge and "surprised her with them as a 'Christmas present.'" 

The twins are now in their fifties, and have recently accused Spector of abuse and Donte stated that Spector used to lock them in their rooms. 

Spector later had his own set of twins with Janis Zavala. Spector's son Phillip Spector Jr. died in 1991 after losing a battle to leukemia and his daughter, Nicole, is a 34-year-old writer and journalist. 

Ronnie recently described Spector has a "brilliant producer, but a lousy husband." Apparently, Spector essentially locked Ronnie in the home and even went as far as hiding her shoes so she couldn't run away. 

Those close to him say he had a hard time functioning outside of the recording studio. 

Experts say that Spector's net worth may be higher "depending on how much he owns of 'one of the most valuable song royalty catalogues in the world.'" 

See Sam Baker, Who will get killer producer Phil Spector’s $50m fortune? Reclusive adopted children from his abusive marriage to Ronnie Spector and his writer daughter are in line for share of ‘the world’s most valuable song catalogue’, Daily Mail (U.K.), January 18, 2021. 

Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.