New York, NY — Clay Aiken – ‘American Idol’ runner-up, star of ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ and new dad – admits in an upcoming issue of Fortune magazine that he is rich. “I guess you could say I’m finally coming out of the vault,” jokes Clay in the magazine’s cover story. “I want my child to grow up knowing that the man he sees his daddy with all of the time is his financial advisor.” The singer and actor will be featured on the Fortune cover cradling a blanket filled with gold bars, loose diamonds and the keys to his Ferrari.
Aiken was born into a poor family in Raleigh, North Carolina, and says he didn’t realize he was rich until a few years ago. “Unlike my friends, I was never attracted to food stamps, government cheese and second-hand stores,” says Clay. “I didn’t know it was OK to feel that way until I met Ryan Seacrest.” Seacrest – ‘American Idol’ host, DJ and television producer – was also confused about his identity as a poor boy but finally realized he was rich after earning an estimated $32 million per year.
Clay’s mother was the first to learn that her son was rich. “I always suspected it,” she reveals in the Fortune article. “While the other boys in the neighborhood were playing with action figures, little Clay was knitting blankets for his piggy bank.” Clay says his mom cried when he told her, especially when he showed her his new will that leaves everything he owns to Jaymes Foster – his best friend and the mother of his baby. “Jaymes has never laughed at me for being rich,” admits Aiken. “For the haircut – sure, but never for being rich.”
Clay hopes his fans will still accept him now that he’s open about his richness. “This doesn’t mean you should stop buying my CDs or coming to ‘Spamalot,’” he says. “Being a rich man is something I have to deal with every day. It’s not something I can change by praying for a recession or a big tax increase.”