Quick answer
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o died on 28 May 2025 aged 87. No verified net worth exists; a 2023 Tuko.co.ke profile estimated about US$7 million without a source. His royalties from publishers such as EAEP and Penguin Random House now go to his estate, and his Kenyan copyrights last until the end of 2075.
Updated 18 October 2026
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Kenya’s best known writer, died on 28 May 2025 in a hospital in Buford, Georgia, in the United States, aged 87. His son Nducu confirmed the death, according to The New York Times. No verified figure for his net worth has ever been published. The number most often repeated online, about US$7 million (roughly KSh 909 million at the Central Bank of Kenya rate of KSh 129.81 to the dollar on 15 October 2026), comes from a 2023 celebrity profile on Tuko.co.ke that gives no source for it. Treat it as an unverified estimate. What can be said with confidence is where his money came from: book royalties earned over six decades, university salaries in Kenya and the United States, and literary prizes. Those royalties did not stop when he died. They now belong to his estate.
In this guide
Who Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Was
He was born on 5 January 1938 in Kamiriithu, near Limuru in today’s Kiambu County, and first published under the name James Ngugi. He studied at Alliance High School, Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Leeds, and later taught at the University of Nairobi. In 1977 the Kenyan government detained him without trial at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison after his Gikuyu play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want) was staged by villagers at Kamiriithu. In prison he wrote Caitaani Mũtharaba-inĩ (Devil on the Cross), famously on toilet paper, as his publisher East African Educational Publishers recalls. In 1982, while in London for the launch of that book in English, he was warned that his life was in danger if he flew home, and he began more than two decades in exile. He went on to teach at Yale, New York University and the University of California, Irvine.
His Main Books
| Book | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Weep Not, Child | 1964 | First novel, published as James Ngugi |
| The River Between | 1965 | Novel set in early colonial Gikuyu country |
| A Grain of Wheat | 1967 | Novel set around independence in 1963 |
| The Trial of Dedan Kimathi | 1976 | Play written with Micere Githae Mugo |
| Petals of Blood | 1977 | Novel about disillusionment after independence |
| Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want) | 1977 | Gikuyu play written with Ngũgĩ wa Mĩriĩ |
| Caitaani Mũtharaba-inĩ (Devil on the Cross) | 1980 | Written in detention; English edition 1982 |
| Decolonising the Mind | 1986 | Essays on writing in African languages |
| Matigari | 1986 | Gikuyu novel |
| Mũrogi wa Kagogo (Wizard of the Crow) | 2004 / 2006 | His longest novel |
| Dreams in a Time of War, In the House of the Interpreter, Birth of a Dream Weaver | 2010 to 2016 | Three volumes of memoir |
| Kenda Mũiyũrũ (The Perfect Nine) | 2018 / 2020 | Epic poem; longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize |
The Perfect Nine was the first work written in an indigenous African language to make the International Booker longlist, and Ngũgĩ was nominated as both author and translator, according to the Booker Prize Foundation. Penguin Random House says his novels have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Who Publishes His Work
- East African Educational Publishers (EAEP), Nairobi. His Kenyan publisher from the start. His early novels came out through Heinemann’s African Writers Series, and in 1992 the publisher Henry Chakava led a local buy-out of Heinemann Kenya, which became EAEP. EAEP’s chief executive Kiarie Kamau told the Nation after his death that Ngũgĩ “was part of the corporate family, having joined it way back in the early 1960s when he published his first novel Weep Not, Child”.
- Penguin Random House. Publishes Weep Not, Child, The River Between, A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood and Devil on the Cross as Penguin Classics, and called him a “PRH literary giant” in its tribute.
- The New Press, New York. Published The Perfect Nine in English in October 2020.
His books also sell steadily through schools and universities, where they have been taught for decades.
How His Royalties Worked
A royalty is the share of a book’s price or the publisher’s receipts that goes to the author for every copy sold, as set out in the publishing contract. The terms of his contracts have never been made public, so any figure for what Ngũgĩ earned per copy, or in total, is guesswork. Two things are on record. First, royalties mattered to him. In a tribute after Henry Chakava’s death in 2024, Ngũgĩ wrote that when he was forced into exile in 1982 he had no job in London and a family in Kenya to feed, and “Chakava saved the situation: he continued paying me royalties.” Second, his income was spread across several publishers and countries, plus translation rights and course adoptions, which is typical for an author whose books stay in print for 60 years.
In Kenya, a publisher paying royalties must withhold tax: KRA’s rate is 5% for a resident and 20% for a non-resident. You can see how this works with our withholding tax calculator.
What Happens to the Royalties Now
Copyright does not end when an author dies. Under section 23 of Kenya’s Copyright Act, 2001, copyright in a literary work lasts for 50 years after the end of the year in which the author dies. For Ngũgĩ, who died in 2025, that means his Kenyan copyrights run until the end of 2075. In the United Kingdom and the United States the term for such works is generally the author’s life plus 70 years. Until those terms run out, publishers keep paying royalties, and the right to approve new editions, translations, films or stage adaptations, to whoever now owns the rights.
Who that is depends on his will, if he left one, and the law that applies to his estate. Under Kenya’s Law of Succession Act, land and buildings in Kenya are handled under Kenyan law, while other property generally follows the law of the place where the person lived. Ngũgĩ lived in the United States for many years, so parts of his estate may be dealt with there. No probate filing, will or estate value has been reported publicly. We will not guess at how the estate is shared.
What has been reported is how his family handled his farewell. In a statement on 1 June 2025, the family said “it was his personal request not to have a formal interment”, and The Standard reported that he was cremated in the United States. A celebration of his life was held at the University of Nairobi’s Taifa Hall on 20 June 2025. The Guardian’s obituary says he is survived by 10 children, among them the writers Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, and seven grandchildren. Mukoma, who had been estranged from his father, told the Nation he was not told about the cremation, and that the family was divided.
Why Net Worth Estimates Should Be Read With Care
- Ngũgĩ never disclosed his finances, and no list such as Forbes has ever valued his wealth.
- The US$7 million figure gives no method or source.
- Authors’ incomes vary year to year with sales, prizes and teaching contracts.
- Estate values are only known if a probate court record or the family makes them public.
If you are studying his work, the University of Nairobi, where he once taught, still offers literature degrees; see our guide to University of Nairobi courses and cut-offs.
Frequently asked questions
When did Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o die?
On 28 May 2025, in Buford, Georgia, in the United States. He was 87.
What was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s net worth?
No verified figure exists. A 2023 Tuko.co.ke profile put it at about US$7 million, roughly KSh 909 million, without giving a source.
Who gets his book royalties now?
His estate, and through it his heirs or whoever his will names. No details of the estate have been made public.
How long will his books stay in copyright in Kenya?
Until the end of 2075, which is 50 years after the end of the year he died.
Who publishes his books in Kenya?
East African Educational Publishers, formerly Heinemann Kenya.
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