Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis, or how many may know him as just Michael Eavis, is a dairy farmer who also co-hosts the summer Glastonbury Festival at his farm in Pilton, Somerset, which also happens to be the place where the eighty-seven-year-old was born. After completing his studies at the Thames Nautical Training College in Kent, Michael Eavis turned to the British Merchant Navy, specifically the British shipping line called the Union-Castle Line, where he remained as a midshipman.
Apparently, Eavis planned on remaining in the army for the next twenty years so that he could retire after and get a pension that would add to his family’s income, but the sudden passing of his father, forced him to come back home. He worked at different farms in Nettlebridge despite inheriting his father’s one-hundred and fifty acres farm to aid his family further.
He went on to get married three times, having three kids with his first wife, and after his divorce from her, he married another woman named Jean Hayball. The two had a son and a daughter, but unfortunately, Jean ended up passing very early, which pushed Eavis to get married for the third time, and the two have been married since 1999.
Michael Eavis has been pushing for the five-day-long Glastonbury Festival since after he and his second wife, Jean Hayball, attended the Led Zeppelin performance at the Bath Festival of Blues. Eavis managed to host his own Pilton Pop Folk and Blues Festival in 1970, which with the help of Andrew Kerr, got transformed into the Glastonbury Fayre.
It was this event that eventually got turned into the present-day Glastonbury Festival. It is fascinating to see Eavis going from trying to earn extra money for his family to be able to hold such a popular contemporary art festival, all the while being to indulge in politics and charity work.
If you are curious to find out more about Michael Eavis’s net worth and how the man managed to do it all, then continue scrolling till the end.
Michael Eavis’ Net Worth
The eighty-seven-year-old is revealed to have a net worth of no more than $5 million. It is amazing how a small farm owner has managed to create one of the world’s biggest music festivals attended by big names, including Kendrick Lamar, The Artic Monkeys, Diana Ross, Billie Eilish, and many more.
The farm where the festival takes place is owned by Michael Eavis, and it is said that close to two hundred thousand people attend the festival every year. While the festival seems to be growing every year, it is miraculous how Eavis even managed to make this a thing in the first place.
The festival at one point got Michael a thirty-two million pounds turnover, which is a huge number, but according to some, apparently, from the entire amount, Michael only takes sixty thousand pounds as a wage for himself, per year. There is a reason why Michael owns the farm where the Glastonbury Festival takes place and how even after hosting such a huge and important music festival for decades, he only has a humble net worth of $5 million.
His daughter, Emily, who has slowly taken over the hosting process of the festival, revealed that part of Michael’s earnings from the festival, an amount close to two million pounds, goes to charities that her parents have been supporting for years now. They also end up putting ten million pounds in the bank for emergency purposes during the festival.
To make sure the festival is a success, the family also employs no more than a total of fifty employees, who also need to get paid. Michael has revealed that part of the reason why he continues to push for the music festival is that he wishes to support the charities that he has been involved with for as long as possible.
A significant portion of his savings and earnings is from the music festival, and his efforts to support charities and continue with his philanthropic acts have actually been recognized by quite a few significant people, including the Times magazine, and the British Royal Family. He continues to contribute to society, and it seems like his children plan in his footsteps and keep up the tradition.
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