Walter Bridgforth Jr. Net Worth – $10 million
What is Walter Bridgforth Jr’s net worth? Who is Walter Bridgforth Jr’s ex-wife?
Introduction
Walter Bridgforth Jr. is best known as the ex-husband of famous singer and songwriter Anita Baker.
What else do we know about him?
The Origin Story
Walter Bridgforth Jr. was born on September 27, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan.
His father was a pastor, and his mother taught piano lessons from their home.
Walter attended the University of Washington and studied music composition and theatre arts.
In 1984, he moved to Chicago and began his career in the music industry.
He started as an arranger for the Sounds of Blackness group and then relocated to Los Angeles.
He then started a music publishing company and later a record label which was known as Watertown Music. He represented several artists such as Kelly Price, Luther Vandross, Brandy, and Anita Baker.
When Walter and Anita worked together, he took on the role of songwriter and music producer for several of her songs on her famous album, “The Songstress.”
He wrote and produced several of her famous hit songs, including “You Had It Easy.”
Walter Bridgforth Jr. is also credited for co-writing “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers.
Marriage to Anita Baker
@Getty
On December 24, 1988, Walter Bridgforth Jr. and Anita Baker got married.
Anita Baker and Walter Bridgforth Jr. have two sons, Walter Baker Bridgforth, who was born in January 1993, and Edward Carlton Bridgforth, who was born in May 1994.
While they were together, the family of four was very close.
Anita and Walter raised their sons with love and care, and since the boys were so close in age, they had a tight bond.
Walter and Anita were married for several years and then spent several years apart.
In 2005, the couple officially separated and got divorced two years later, in 2007.
After the divorce, both parents maintained their close relationships with their sons.
Divorce
Gerald Albright, Anita Baker, unspecified person, Nancy Wilson, and Walter Bridgforth Jr – @Getty
The divorce settlement between Walter Bridgforth Jr. and Anita Baker was tumultuous, to say the least.
Anita Baker almost served jail time in Detroit after initially refusing to sign documents that allowed her royalties to be analyzed to determine how much she owed her ex-husband.
In 2010, Walter and Anita found themselves in court once again after he filed a complaint following their initial settlement.
The settlement stated that he would receive 50% of the royalties from the music created while they were married.
Anita refused to sign the documents several times. However, in the end, under the threat of being imprisoned, Anita and her attorneys eventually created a process to determine the amount of royalties due to her ex-husband as part of their divorce settlement.
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1995 40 Under 40
In 1995, Walter Bridgforth Jr. was named #37 on the list of Crain’s Detroit Business 40 Under 40.
One of his most significant accomplishments in the Detroit area at that time was persuading the International House of Pancakes to open a restaurant in Detroit.
After spending two years convincing IHOP to allow him to open a restaurant in Detroit, he decided to target other national family-style restaurant chains to do the same.
Bridgforth believed that the urban areas were a neglected market.
Within the first year of opening the IHOP, he had more than $2 million in sales and was ranked among the top three in the entire country.
He used these statistics to support his claim that other restaurants would thrive in the area.
In addition to sit-down restaurants, he aimed to bring music and video chains into the city. These were the two main areas he wanted to target.
Walter Bridgforth Jr. owned an exclusive, four-lot lakefront subdivision. He was the first African-American to develop a residential complex in Grosse Pointe Farms. Bridgforth named the area Baker Lane Estates after his then-wife.
Bridgforth was also recognized for establishing an organization, known as Bridgforth Foundation, which committed to paying for the first two years of college for twenty-five students from Barry Elementary School in Detroit.
Walter Bridgforth Jr. – Net Worth
Walter Bridgforth Jr. has an estimated net worth of $10 million.
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I am Bulgarea Candin Stefan, and I founded FamousPeopleToday.com in 2018. I’m using my bachelor’s degree in economics and 9 years of experience in blogging to guide millions of people through the incredibly complex world of celebrity net worths.