Al Goldstein's exact net worth is not publicly verified, but the best-documented figure is that he accumulated roughly $11 million at his financial peak in the 1970s and 1980s, and by the time of his death in 2013 he had effectively $0 — he died broke and had spent time homeless. That swing from millions to nothing is the defining fact of his financial story, and it is backed by his own bankruptcy filings, court records, and multiple obituaries rather than speculation. Goldstein made his money as the co-founder and publisher of Screw magazine, one of the first widely distributed hardcore pornographic publications in the United States, and later as the host of a long-running public access television show. Both ventures generated real income for decades, but both were also gone, along with his personal fortune, well before he died.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Alvin "Al" Goldstein |
| Known for | Co-founder and publisher of Screw magazine; host of Midnight Blue |
| Estimated net worth | Not publicly verified; reported peak wealth of approximately $11 million, reduced to roughly $0 at death |
| Main income sources | Screw magazine publishing and advertising revenue; Midnight Blue cable television program |
| Age/birthday | Born January 10, 1936; died December 19, 2013, at age 77 |
| Nationality | American |
Why Al Goldstein Is Still Talked About
Al Goldstein is remembered as one of the founding figures of the American pornography publishing industry. In November 1968, he and business partner Jim Buckley each put up $175 to launch Screw, a tabloid-style sex newspaper distributed in New York City. The magazine became one of the first mainstream-adjacent publications to feature explicit hardcore content, and it played a central role in a series of obscenity cases that helped reshape First Amendment law around sexually explicit media in the United States. That legal and cultural legacy is a large part of why his name resurfaces in conversations about media history, censorship, and the adult entertainment business.
Career and Earnings History
Screw reached its commercial peak in the 1970s, when it reportedly sold around 140,000 copies a week, generating substantial advertising and newsstand revenue at a time when explicit print material had little competition. In 1974, Goldstein expanded into television with Midnight Blue, a public access program on Manhattan's Channel J that combined adult content with commentary and interviews. The show ran for nearly three decades and became a recognizable, if niche, part of New York cable culture.
The business began to decline sharply in the 1990s and 2000s as internet pornography undercut print and cable adult media almost entirely. Screw's circulation collapsed — its final 2003 issue reportedly sold only around 600 copies — and the magazine shut down that year. Goldstein's production company, Milky Way Productions, entered bankruptcy in 2004, and his Pompano Beach, Florida mansion was sold that same year to help cover outstanding debts.
Midnight Blue aired in the same late-night Manhattan cable slot as other adult leased-access shows of the era, including Robin Byrd's program and Ugly George's street-shot broadcasts. Goldstein testified in a 1995 case over Time Warner Cable's plan to require subscribers to submit written requests before unscrambling adult leased-access programming, a fight he said the Supreme Court ultimately decided in his favor in 2000 — part of a broader legal battle other hosts on the same system, including Byrd, also fought over cable-access rules for adult content.
How He Made (and Lost) His Money
Goldstein's income came almost entirely from two sources: subscription and newsstand sales combined with advertising revenue from Screw, and production and syndication income from Midnight Blue. There is no public record of him building a diversified investment portfolio, real estate holdings beyond his primary residence, or other passive income streams that might have survived the collapse of his core businesses.
His financial decline is attributed in published accounts to a combination of factors: heavy spending on First Amendment legal battles tied to obscenity prosecutions, the costs of multiple divorces and settlements, general lifestyle spending, and the rapid, industry-wide shift of adult content consumption to the internet, which eliminated the audience his print and cable formats depended on. By his final years, Goldstein was without steady income, spent time in a homeless shelter, and later lived in a small apartment that was reportedly paid for by a friend.
What Is Known vs. What Isn't
What is well documented: the $175 startup investment in Screw, the magazine's peak circulation numbers, the 2003 shutdown, the 2004 bankruptcy of Milky Way Productions, the sale of his Florida home, and his financially destitute state at the time of his death from renal failure in 2013. The figure of roughly $11 million in peak wealth has been repeated across multiple retrospective profiles of his career, though it was never audited or independently confirmed at the time it applied.
What is not publicly verified includes any precise net worth figure for specific years of his career, detailed breakdowns of his income from Screw or Midnight Blue, and the exact value of the debts that pushed his company into bankruptcy. Details of his personal finances beyond what surfaced in bankruptcy and legal proceedings were never made public in full.
Quick Questions About Al Goldstein's Net Worth
Did Al Goldstein die wealthy? No. Multiple obituaries and retrospective accounts confirm he died with essentially no money, after years of financial decline that included bankruptcy and periods of homelessness.
How much was Al Goldstein worth at his peak? Published retrospectives commonly cite approximately $11 million in accumulated wealth during Screw magazine's most successful years, though this figure was never formally audited.
What caused his financial collapse? A mix of legal expenses from obscenity-related court cases, divorce settlements, and the internet's disruption of the print and cable adult entertainment markets that had funded his income for decades.