How Much Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Is Worth Speaks To His Colorful Past

As people across the United States have gotten familiar with the name Stormy Daniels, they've also gotten to know Michael Avenatti, the adult film star's highly-visible attorney. But if you didn't know much about him until now, you might find yourself hungry for more information about the guy ― for instance, you might wonder what Avenatti's net worth is, given just how much time he's spending on cable news sets these days.

It's a little tough to approximate how much he's worth. Of course, for private citizens, financial matters aren't a matter of the public record, so any attempt to pin down Avenatti's net worth will by necessity be an estimate.

According to Heavy, however, the 47-year-old lawyer is estimated to be worth about $20 million. That hefty sum is in no small part thanks to the career he's had securing huge payouts for his clients; he's reportedly pulled in no less than $1 billion for his clients throughout his career.

To be clear, it's impossible to know if that figure is spot-on for what his true net worth is, because as Heavy further notes, he's gone through a bankruptcy filing in the past, as well as a divorce, and filings from the separation indicate that he lives a pretty lavish lifestyle, with expenses of about $40,000 per month. He's also not strictly an attorney, having also competed as a professional race car driver.

Avenatti was also once the part owner of a coffee chain called Tully's, partnering with actor Patrick Dempsey in the endeavor. Neither of the two are still in the coffee business, however; Dempsey sued Avenatti in 2013 to end their partnership, and Avenatti, according to Business Insider, says he sold his shares in the company at an unstated time.

Beyond questions about his net worth, throughout his representation of Daniels ― whose real name is Stephanie Clifford ― Avenatti has faced questions about who's financing her legal actions. He recently put out a statement through Dropbox addressing that question, stating that her legal fees are being paid only by Daniels herself, or through the crowd-sourced legal fund launched in her name.

The statement was worded in a rather testy fashion, suggesting that Avenatti is tired of hearing such questions.

"Once again (for at least the 20th time) - ALL fees and expenses of this case have either been funded by our client, Ms. Stephanie Clifford, or by donations from our crowdjustice.com page," he wrote. "Further, no political party or PAC is funding this effort. No left wing conspiracy group is behind this. And no big fat cat political donors are leading the charge. Get over it."

In short, Avenatti is a high-powered lawyer with a long career of securing big wins for his clients, and as such, it's not terribly surprising that he'd be a multi-millionaire, even though how much he's precisely worth isn't exactly clear. He's also raised his profile considerably through representing Daniels ― he's now a regular fixture on cable news shows, especially on MSNBC, which is heavy on anti-Trump, establishment liberal commentary.

It remains to be seen what will come of Daniels' legal efforts against Trump and his own personal attorney, Michael Cohen. But if there's anything that seems clear, it's that Avenatti is putting himself in position to get an enormous amount of additional attention and exposure, which could result in him bringing on even more high-profile clients. And considering that lawyers typically rake in even more money when they're able to secure big payouts for their clients, that can ultimately only be a positive thing for his bottom line.