Big Meech made his fortune running the “Black Mafia Family”, a drug trafficking organization formed in Detroit. The organization was founded in the late 1980s by brothers Terry Flenory and Demetrius. Almost 20 years ago, Big Meech had established cocaine distribution sales throughout the United States in 2000. So 21 years later it’s not shocking to know that Big Meech’s net worth is close to several million as of 2021. 

Big Meech’s Net Worth: How He Became The Richest Criminal

Estimated at $100 million, Big Meech’s net worth makes him one of the richest criminals. Let’s take a look at how he accumulated that wealth. 

Quick Facts

• Big Meech oversaw the distribution of cocaine in numerous states, including Atlanta, Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan and Mississippi, and his Atlanta operations alone sold about 2,500 kilos of cocaine in and out of the city.

• In fifteen years of activity, the American federal justice estimated that between drug trafficking and money laundering the BMF has an income exceeding 270 million dollars. 

• The Black Mafia Family employed approximately 500 people. 

• In Atlanta alone, the team has five hideouts that sell between 100 and 150 kilos of white powder every 10 days. They largely exceeded one million dollars per month, if not per week.

• The drug ’empire’ ran through the 1980s, peaking in 2003. However, one of the brothers Terry reportedly moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to run his own operation. 

• Big Meech is currently locked up after his brother pleaded guilty in 2007 to running a criminal enterprise. The brothers were sentenced to 30 years in prison and are said to have pleaded guilty after incriminating evidence was presented by prosecutors during their trial.

• When the brothers were arrested, the investigation team was able to seize assets worth $21 million in not just cash but also jewelry, cars, and more than 10 houses that the BMF owned.

Big Meech’s Net Worth And Steady Income Climb

A family matter, Tee & Meech:

The story begins in the suburbs of Detroit in the late 80s as two brothers Demetrius and Terry, see their family threatened with eviction within thirty days. The brothers, then in their twenties, decide to play the easy money card to get by despite being educated in the Christian faith. Meech and his brother Terry Lee Flenory, or “Southwest T,” began selling $50 sacks of cocaine while in school in Detroit. Demetrius considers that if the Bible does not contain any passage relating to drug trafficking, it is because the latter is not formally prohibited. And so the two men start dealing small amounts of crack.

Wounded by a bullet in the eye, Terry has to pass on the pool table – this is the first unfortunate event that will turn out to be a godsend. The surgery goes badly, which entitles him to financial compensation. From there, the two brothers invest in a luxury car rental service, the company now allowing them to distribute their product in the underbelly of crime- safely and discreetly.

As their criminal prowess improves, they equip each of the vehicles with a system of hatches of the most elaborate. Made to measure, they are undetectable to the naked eye and only open after various manipulations (like turning the car over or removing the dashboard with a magnet).

One question looms: even with all the ingenuity found on planet Earth, one obstacle remains: how to obtain more cocaine? If the ghettos are the main consumers, the farmers are located several thousand kilometers away. Therefore, taking a chance of life, strong in their nascent reputation Big Meech and Southwest T meet a certain Wayne Joyner, a trafficker in cahoots with the Mexican cartels. In the late 1980s, they formed The Black Mafia Family, which operated at the height of the cocaine trade in the United States with hubs in Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California. The BMF can then dream loud and clear of expansion on a national scale. 

The BMF would go on to be VERY lucrative:

The Black Mafia Family ultimately made an estimated $270 million in illicit profits and employed approximately 500 people. The organization distributed thousands of kilograms of cocaine and operated in dozens of American cities.

The kingpins lifestyle: 

Unlike the competition, which chooses the conquest of territories as its development strategy, the Black Mafia Family prefers to weave a network of alliances with local gangs. More “business-oriented”, this method minimizes outpourings of violence and thus avoids attracting the attention of the authorities.

The results are spectacular very quickly, so much so that brothers Big Meech and Southwest T end up leaving the Motor City. The first emigrates to Los Angeles, the second to Atlanta, two cities where the BMF has set up laboratories where the coke is diligently cut, packaged, and then sent to the four corners of the US.

At that time the BMF had 400 employees under their control and it is an understatement to say that business is going well. In Atlanta alone, the team has five hideouts that sell between 100 and 150 kilos of white powder every 10 days. Still on the rise, the turnover then largely exceeded one million dollars per month, if not per week. 

We can imagine how wealthy Big Meech’s net worth would appear. As of 2024, Big Meech’s net worth is estimated to be $120 million.

The separation of locations and of brothers: 

The geographical separation between the two brothers is not without consequence on their relationship and little by little, their differences are becoming more and more important. The two men have personalities that are as complementary as they are antagonistic. Posed, in a relationship, little brother Terry is the calmer of the two, while more charismatic, Big Meech lives in the limelight shamelessly enjoying the joys of fast money – is this why he got caught?

If he could have gotten caught it would have happened first in Atlanta, the new capital of hip hop, he is like a duck to water. Big Meech was living life always packed in the evening, he never moved without around fifty people around him and the slew of luxury cars that go with it (Bentley, Lexus, Porsche, Ferrari, Bugatti…). This was not keeping low!

The BMF grew so rich, they popularized making it rain:

If officially the acronym means “Blowin’ Money Fast”, and an urban legend also has it that it was the very expensive BMF that in strip clubs initiated the practice of “making it rain” (i.e. parading around by throwing wads of cash into the air). This behavior does not please the other brother Terry who fears that Big Meech will turn them into a target. Meech doesn’t care, thinking that “as long as he doesn’t talk on the phone, and as long as he surrounds himself with reliable people” he is protected enough to indulge in spending his sorrel as he sees fit.

Sadly, despite the piling up of dollars, the situation became untenable and the Flenory brothers ended up completely cutting ties between them at the end of the 90s. 

The music world is BMF and the rapping begins: 

While one brother wanted the quality of the product mixed, one preferred to sell it as pure as possible. The BMF split up but it was also during this period that Meech began to think of the Black Mafia Family as a brand in its own right. Meech first officially renamed his band with this nickname, then he launched his own rap label: BMF Entertainment. 

Funded from floor to ceiling with dirty money, the advent of this structure is not only intended to satisfy Meech’s ego. Authentic rap fan, the latter cherishes the idea of making a clean sweep of the past and becoming a businessman worthy of the name. 

And it worked – going into rap helped Demetrius ‘Big Meech’ Flenory and his brother Terry ‘Southwest T’, and the members of the organization to relish unparalleled fame in the 2000s – one story sums up this taste for splendor and flambe in itself: the day Big Meech invited 300 people from his repertoire to Cancún on a whim, rappers (Juvenile, Bone Crusher, Lil Jon, Young Jeezy) and strippers included, to go whistle bottles of Cristal non-stop in a privatized hotel.

Music success:

Rick Ross was the number one rapper in the game in 2010. At the height of his art, his fourth album Teflon Don has absolutely everyone in agreement. Why? Fans loved his famous single B.MF produced by the thundering Lex Luger which plays on a loop in the cash desks and in the clubs. 

TV series success:

We do not know if Big Meech gets a cut of The Stars TV series from BMF, but the success of the show is bound to increase his wealth when he comes out. Created by Randy Huggins and executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, the series tells the real-life story of the Flenory brothers and even sees Demetrius Big Meech’s son Flenory star in the show.

A second season of “Black Mafia Family” is announced focusing on the true crime story of the Flenory brothers, the 2007 arrest, and conviction and seeing 50 Cent as executive producer, BFM has now been renewed for sure. 

In discussions with Metro, 50 Cent explained, “There’s so much to do really. They had business in St. Louis, we have to go to Atlanta and we still have to go to LA. And in Mexico to buy drugs. “It’s almost like a different city every season we have to go to, just tell a picture of the whole story”. 

Where is Big Meech now?

Demetrius Flenory is due for release in 2028 after US sentencing guidelines brought amendments 782 and 788 to review all drug offenses committed before the end of 2014. More recently, in October of 2021, Meech was spotted doing some charity work that could help with an early release.