What is Mia Khalifa’s Net Worth?
| Net Worth | $5 Million |
| Full Name | Sarah Joe Chamoun (Alleged) |
| Source of Wealth | Media Personality/Former Adult Actress/Sports Commentator |
| Date of Birth | February 12, 1993 (Age: 29) |
| Nationality | Lebanese-American |
| Star Sign | Aquarius |
| Place of Birth | Beirut. Lebanon |
| Height | 1.73 m (5’8″) |
The Usual Intro
Mia Khalifa is a Lebanese-American media personality best known for being a former adult film actress. Khalifa’s videos garnered fame, attention, and even controversy. Born in Beirut, she immigrated to the United States at an early age with her parents.
Mia joined the adult film industry in 2014 and became one of the most recognized adult film stars in only two months. Often regarded as a pop culture icon, Khalifa still finds it difficult to break away from her former career.
Before the Spotlight
Mia Khalifa was born in Beirut, Lebanon in a catholic family. She attended a private French-language school and was raised by conservative parents. In 2001, Khalifa moved to the United States due to damage caused to her home country in the wake of the South Lebanon conflict.
While in the US, Khalifa lived with her parents in Montgomery Country, Maryland. She admitted that she had trouble adjusting to American life and was often bullied at school. Khalifa attended Massanutten Military Academy and then majored in history at the University of Texas in El Paso. She also worked as a model and bartender to meet her expenses.
The Journey to Success
Khalifa entered the adult entertainment industry in October 2014. She moved to Miami, Florida in 2014 and briefly worked as a waitress. Soon, she was approached by someone to work as a nude model and joined the adult entertainment industry. At this time, Khalifa was only 21 and struggling with various insecurities.
Khalifa created her own stage name from her dog’s name “Mia” and from her favorite rapper’s name “Wiz Khalifa.”
Although Khalifa quit her career in the adult entertainment industry only months after she started, she gained traction regardless. Many adult sites ranked her the most popular performer even years later. Even three years after leaving the industry, Khalifa was the second highest-ranked person on the popular adult site PornHub.
Despite how well her videos performed, Khalifa claims she only earned $12,000. The site still owns a web page with her stage name as the URL but it does not pay for her rights. Under fair terms, Khalifa’s current net worth could be somewhere near $500 million.
Controversies
Soon after joining the industry, Khalifa was asked to shoot a video wearing the hijab. The video garnered Khalifa unprecedented fame and global recognition. Just two months into her career, she became one of the most-searched names on various adult sites.
Soon after the video was uploaded, Mia began receiving death threats and condemnation from Lebanese news sources. Reportedly, even ISIS got involved and hacked her then Instagram account which was soon deleted.
However, the backlash that followed the video didn’t just come from public sources. Soon after, her own parents released a public statement and disowned her.
Career Switch
In January 2015, Mia Khalifa signed a long-term contract with the adult film production company WGCZ Holding. However, she changed her mind in two weeks and resigned. In an interview with The Washington Post in July 2016, Khalifa spoke of how she only worked in the industry for three months.
After leaving the industry, Mia began working as a paralegal and bookkeeper in Miami. She revealed that she received a lot of attention and kept being recognized despite changing her appearance. It made things very difficult for Khalifa who was trying to put her previous career to rest.
In an attempt to garner less attention, Khalifa moved to Austin, Texas. While in Austin, she still had trouble finding a job because of her previous profession. She then began using her stage name to work as a webcam girl for BangBros, the company she worked for previously.
Khalifa gradually transitioned into a career as a social media personality. Aside from gaining traction on Instagram, she also began uploading on YouTube. The content themes were mostly her daily life and her experiences while working in the adult entertainment industry.
She also live-streams on Twitch and sells merchandise and exclusive content. Khalifa is one of the highest-paid content creators on OnlyFans.
After working as a webcam girl for 11 months, Khalifa received an offer to co-host a sports show from Complex Networks. from October 2017 to February 2018, Khalifa hosted Out of Bounds with Gilbert Andreas on Complex News’ YouTube channel.
She also co-hosted the sports show Sportsball with Tyler Co on RoosterTeeth.com till October 2018. Most recently, Khalifa appeared on the Hulu series Ramy (2019-Present) as herself.
The Private Side
In 2011, Khalifa married her high school boyfriend. The pair separated in 2014 and divorced in 2016. She remarried in 2019 but divorced again in 2020.
Mia is currently in a relationship with music artist Jhay Cortez. The pair met in 2021 when she appeared in a music video for his song En Mi Cuarto. Khalifa described that they had a “very, very heavy, undeniable chemistry.”
Famous Quotes of Mia Khalifa
1.) “I was made to feel ashamed about getting recognized in public when I was with someone who wasn’t in the public eye.”
2.) “I am growing as a woman, and I want to grow with other women.”
3.) “Over the years, I’ve seen a shift from very unpleasant encounters — sometimes violent, sometimes terrifying to the point where I stopped leaving the house for a really long time. Now, it’s girls who come up to me to tell me they love my TikToks. Or just girls in general. My anxiety was very bad. My depression and anxiety together were…a very bad combination. That’s why I’m thankful for TikTok. It gave me a bridge to that female audience I never had a connection to.”
4.) “It was a false sense of empowerment now that I know what true empowerment feels like. Achieving it comes from succeeding or reaching a goal I set for myself and making my fiancé smile. Things like that are what empower me now, and that’s long-lasting empowerment.”
5.) “I fall into a rabbit hole of what if? And where would I be? And why didn’t I? I’ve just got to forgive myself. At this point in my life, I have to be thankful for all of it.”
6.) “I didn’t like myself, so I was making choices and doing things that didn’t reflect who I was.”
Mia Khalifa for BBC
The Social World
- YouTube — 895K Subscribers
- Instagram — 27.8m Followers
- Twitter — 4.5m Followers
- TikTok — 33.3m Followers
Lessons for Entrepreneurs
1.) Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
Khalifa is undeniably one of the most sexualized women of her decade and has experienced her fair share of fame for her looks. Although deeper than her looks are characteristics that have still kept her relevant, like her intelligence, wit, and humor. Mia privately manages all her social media accounts because her conversational style is just that unreplicable.
2.) Don’t Let Shame Take Over You
Khalifa speaks openly about how being young and impressionable made her easy to manipulate. She ended up making many bad decisions. Despite that, she speaks of her journey with honesty and levity. Instead of letting shame overtake her, Khalifa capitalized on her fame and built a new image of herself.
3.) Mental Health is so important
This one goes without saying. Khalifa has spoken many times how her insecurities and meek nature led her to join the adult entertainment industry. She has also spoken of her other struggles, including her anxiety, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress. With her story, Khalifa has resonated with millions of women because many have similar ones to tell.
In an interview with the Daily Beast in 2020, Khalifa said, “The fact that I was getting attention, the validation I was getting, the attention from these good-looking men that I never thought I’d get. I was completely caught up in that and not thinking about myself or my future.“
4.) Go For What You Want — Even If The World Is Against You
Mia never let her past stop her from pursuing a career as a sports commentator. To build a career as a former adult actress in a largely male-dominated field is certainly daunting, and Khalifa experienced her fair share of bullying and online harassment. However, she still continued to do what she loved.
5.) Be Grateful
Khalifa has had her fair share of struggles throughout her life. It’s not difficult to go down on a path of wondering what life would be like if things were different. However, living in the present and being grateful for where you are now is very important.
In an interview with Bustle in 2022, Khalifa said, “There has been so much good. I’ve met so many people and forged so many relationships and grown so many friendships that I know I wouldn’t have. Like, yeah, all of these (bad) things wouldn’t have happened. But also, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.”
The Closing Remarks
A popular albeit controversial entertainer, Mia Khalifa is gradually embracing her notoriety. Despite living in shame of her past for so long, Mia experienced true success when she came to terms with it. In recent years, her fame has grown ten-fold and she is possibly one of the most recognizable celebrities of our time.
