By Gordon Deegan
Niall Horan has added to his fortune by paying himself almost $3m (€2.58m) from his new solo-music firm over a 17-month period.
The 24-year-old Mullingar man is already one of Ireland’s richest ‘twentysomethings’ and new accounts filed by Horan’s Neon Haze Music Ltd show that the company paid its directors $2.994m between the end of June 2016 and the end of November last.
The accounts are the first set of accounts to be filed by Horan as his solo career, after the world domination achieved by One Direction, goes from strength to strength.
At the end of November last, the company was sitting on a cash pile of $2.56m.
The principal activity of the company is the provision of musical recording services and related promotional activities.
Horan - who has amassed 39.2m followers on Twitter - set up the firm in June 2016 as he set out on his solo career following One Direction going on a hiatus.
The directors of the firm state they expect the current level of activity to continue for the foreseeable future.
Of the One Direction members that have pursued solo projects, Horan has been, arguably, the most successful and critically acclaimed.
Horan’s debut solo album, Flickr, was released in October of last year and debuted at number one in charts in Ireland, the US, Canada, Mexico and also hit the top spot on iTunes in over 60 countries.
The album has, to date, sold over 2.2m copies worldwide and Horan’s tracks have been streamed over two billion times.
Horan’s popularity endures after his time with One Direction and his first gig announced for the 3Arena in Dublin last March was sold out in seconds in July of last year.
Horan is currently adding to his coffers with an exhaustive world tour - over the past week, he has played two nights in Mexico City and is set to play the Dos Equis Pavillon in Dallas this Friday night.
The Sunday Times Rich List recently estimated Horan’s wealth at €52m.
This followed the most recent set of accounts for One Direction, 1D Media Ltd, show that Horan shared in a £70m (€78.3m) bonanza with his One Direction band members in a lucrative send-off from their main music business firm.
The massive pay-day followed the band’s firm recording £208m in revenues over a five-year period.
Limerick based accountant to the stars Alan McEvoy helped to oversee the finances of One Direction and Mr McEvoy is again an integral part of managing Mr Horan’s wealth.
Along with colleague at Live Wire Business Management Barry Downes, Mr McEvoy sits as non-executive directors on the board of Horan’s Neon Haze Music Ltd. Niall Horan is also a director of the company.
The accounts disclose that Hot Head Touring Ltd, a company jointly controlled by Mr McEvoy, charged Neon Haze Music Ltd $1m for promotional services during the period.
The accounts also state that another Horan firm, Jaredon Ltd, charged Neon Haze Music Ltd $315,001.
