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Even if he never cut another record or played any more concerts, Springsteen would go on earning substantial income as long as his songs are popular. As writer and music publisher, he earns royalties whenever his tunes are played on the radio, as music videos, in jukeboxes or by other performers. According to Gloria Messinger, managing director of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), which tabulates the airplay of songs and collects royalties for writers and publishers, Springsteen may ultimately earn more than $1 million in such fees from the songs on the Live album alone. Says Messinger: "He is one of the ten most-played songwriters. He is keeping company with Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin."
What does Springsteen do with all that money? For one thing, he has a well-developed social conscience. He donated $1.5 million of his earnings from the last tour to such charities as shelters for the homeless, an unemployed-steel-workers' group and food banks. A spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans of America says that the organization might not exist today if it had not been for Springsteen's early, generous and consistent support. Two weeks ago, Springsteen donated an undisclosed sum to a New Jersey food bank to pay for the distribution of free turkeys to the poor for the holidays.
Springsteen's known charitable contributions, substantial though they are, amount to only a small fraction of his income. What he does with the rest is a mystery to almost everyone except the staff of Breslauer, Jacobson and Rutman, the Los Angeles accounting firm that discreetly handles many of Springsteen's business affairs. At the firm's elegant quarters on Wilshire Boulevard, a TIME reporter was warned that he would be "thrown out of the office" if he persisted with questions about the Boss's finances.
The singer owns an apartment in Manhattan, an estate in Rumson, N.J., and a home in Los Angeles. But he apparently disdains yachts, private jets and most of the trappings of the super-rich. At the Los Angeles recording session for We Are the World last year, as the other rock stars were arriving with their entourages in limousines, Springsteen strolled up alone. The Boss had flown in from a concert in Syracuse and rented a car at the airport.