Inside Madonna’s $150m property empire built from just $2 a day

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She is one of the highest-selling artists of all time, who has sold 400 million albums worldwide.

With her chart-topping success, it’s no surprise that Madonna has built an impressive property portfolio.

The Queen of Pop, who boasts a net worth of $US850 million ($A1.2 billion), has come a long way since her early days as a struggling artist who once lived on just $US1 ($A2) a day.

From illegally squatting in a loft to owning a real estate collection reportedly valued at $100 million ($A150 million), here’s a look at the Grammy-winner’s incredible property journey.

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With her chart-topping success, it’s no surprise that Madonna has built an impressive property portfolio. Picture: Getty

Madonna’s humble beginnings

In 1978, Madonna moved to New York to pursue a career as a dancer after dropping out of University of Michigan.

The then 20-year-old arrived in the Big Apple with just $US35 ($A51) in her pocket.

“It was the first time I’d ever taken a plane, the first time I’d ever gotten a taxi cab,” she once said.

“I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I’d ever done.”

During the early 1980s, the singer was squatting in a New York loft that had no heat or water. She used electric space heaters to keep warm.

The Evita star woke up in the middle of the night when a fire broke out in the apartment, forcing her to flee.

Madonna moved to New York when she was 20 years old with $US35 in her pocket. Picture: Getty

With little money, the struggling artist moved to the Music Building on Eighth Ave where she lived with fellow musician Steve Bray.

The pair had lived on a budget of $US1 ($A2) a day. They used their daily dollar to purchase yoghurt and peanuts at the local Korean delis.

To save money, Madonna and Bray shared a rehearsal loft with another band who paid the rent. They slept in a room with the band’s equipment, tucked between amplifiers.

At one point, Madonna was so poor that she was “eating out of garbage cans”.

“When we’d run out of money, I’d pass by the garbage can in the lobby of the Music Building,” she told SPIN in 1985.

“If it smelled really good — like if there was a Burger King bag sitting on top that someone had just deposited — I’d open it up.

“If I was lucky, there would be French fries that hadn’t been eaten. I’m a vegetarian, which is why I didn’t eat the burger.”

The Queen of Pop has come a long way since her early days as a struggling artist who once lived on just $US1 a day. Picture: Instagram

First two apartments

After her initial success, which included a $US5000 ($A7500) advance from Sire Records, Madonna moved into her first official apartment in the East Village.

In the 2008 memoir Life With My Sister Madonna, her brother Christopher Ciccone described the tenement unit as “two small rooms, no furniture except a big white futon and a perpetually hissing radiator”.

According to the 2007 book Madonna: A Biography, the pop icon’s father Tony visited her but was so upset by her living conditions, which he called “a roach motel”, that he begged her to come home.

The Vogue hit maker later used her royalties from writing songs to relocate to a loft in Soho, which cost three times the rent she had been paying in the East Village.

Madonna in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan. Picture: Getty

Start of Madonna’s real estate portfolio

Madonna’s first marriage to Sean Penn also marked the beginning of her real estate ventures.

In 1985, the former couple snapped up a unit in Harperley Hall overlooking New York City’s Central Park.

After their divorce in 1989, the singer held onto the apartment. She went on to purchase two more units in the building, combining them into one huge six-bedroom duplex.

She listed the property for $US23.5 million ($A34.5 million) in November 2012 and sold it for an undisclosed amount several months later.

Singer Madonna with husband actor Sean Penn 1988. 1980s

Madonna with ex-husband actor Sean Penn in 1988.

In 1992, the Material Girl singer purchased a $US4.9 million ($A7.1 million) Mediterranean Revival estate on Miami’s exclusive Brickell Ave. She sold the nine-bedroom home for $US7.5 million ($A11 million) in 2000.

During her marriage to Guy Ritchie, the former couple bought Ashcombe House in Wiltshire, England, for $US12.23 million ($A17.96 million).

The True Blue singer forked over an estimated $US92 million ($A126 million) to Ritchie when they divorced in 2008.

The Man from U.N.C. L. E director walked away with their Ashcombe country home and their London Pub, Punchbowl.

Madonna sold her nine-bedroom Miami home for $7.5 million in 2000. Picture: Getty

In this 01/09/2008 file photo, British director Guy Ritchie (L) and his wife Madonna arrive for the world premiere of his film 'Rock n Rolla' in London.

Guy Ritchie walked away with their country home in Ashcombe and their London Pub, Punchbowl.

In 2003, Madonna purchased an eight-bedroom Beverly Hills estate for $US12 million ($A17 million). She sold it a decade later for $US19.5 million ($A28.6 million).

It is believed that the Dick Tracy star still owns a 10-bedroom townhouse in London, which she bought in 2007 for $US8.07 million ($A11.8 million).

A year later, Madonna purchased another condo in Harperley Hall on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for $US7.3 million ($A10.7 million).

Madonna’s Beverly Hills mansion pictured in 2000 during renovations. Picture: Getty

It is believed that the Dick Tracy star still owns a 10-bedroom townhouse in London. Picture: Sion Touhig/Getty Images

The musician also splashed $US40 million ($A58 million) mega-mansion on the Upper East Side in 2009.

The 13-bedroom property remains one of her most frequently used homes.

Later that year, the Like A Prayer hit maker nabbed a horse farm in the Hamptons for $US5 million ($A7.5 million).

The musician also nabbed a mega-mansion on the Upper East Side in 2009. Picture: Google Earth

The Like A Prayer hit maker nabbed a horse farm in the Hamptons for $US5 million. Picture: Google Earth

Following the 2016 US elections, Madonna relocated her family to Europe. She reportedly paid $US8.9 million ($A13 million) for a four-bedroom mansion situated about 32.1km outside of Lisbon, Portugal.