Nene Royal is the winner of America’s Got Talent season 21.
The 16-year-old singer was promised a prize of $1 million dollars for winning the NBC series.
Here’s the truth about how much money Nene actually gets from winning AGT.
America’s Got Talent fans, let's give a round of applause to Nene Royal!
On September 23, the NBC series declared its season 21 winner. Judges Simon Cowell, Sofía Vergara, Mel B, and Howie Mandel gave their feedback along the way, but it was up to the audience to determine the ending. Nene’s talent proved to be the favorite, beating out magician Geno Ploeger to secure the $1 million prize.
Host Terry Crews has teased the large sum of prize money from the beginning, but fans will be surprised to learn that Nene won’t receive the promised $1 million prize exactly as you might imagine.
When Good Housekeeping reached out to AGT's reps about the prize money back in 2025, the team shared that a disclaimer flashes on the screen at the end of every episode.
"The prize, which totals $1,000,000, is payable in a financial annuity over 40 years, or the contestant may choose to receive the present cash value of such annuity,” the note read at the time.
So, how much does that actually equal in prize money? When Forbes tackled this question in 2016, the outlet determined that it could mean one of two scenarios.
If the winner decided to take the cash in its entirety, after paying taxes on the $1 million prize, the overall sum would only be worth an estimated $300,000.
But if the winner decided to split the prize over the course of four decades, then the prize would be divided into 40 and paid in $25,000 installments annually, all before having to pay any taxes.
Hey, we wouldn’t be complaining!
