From DJ to Disruptor: Inside Steve Aoki’s Billion-Dollar Master Plan

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER

PHOTOGRAPHY MARK HANSON

GROOMING IMOGENE MORRONE

SHOT ON LOCATION IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Las Vegas may be where most people go to escape reality, but for Steve Aoki, it’s where he’s chosen to build one. In a city defined by excess and impermanence, Aoki has carved out something lasting: a lifestyle, a legacy, and a fully immersive creative empire. From his state-of-the-art Henderson compound to his Strip-shaking residencies and world-building IPs, Vegas isn’t just a stage — it’s his headquarters. “I’m not here to party,” he says. “I’m here to work. And this city gives me everything I need to build the world I want to live in.”

Aoki sees the bigger picture better than most, which, in turn, allows him to see the possibility in almost everything — including Sin City itself. Which is why he seems to have contributed to its growth in ways most haven’t: by being hands-on and creating an environment that allows others to thrive and to enjoy. One might say that the two-time-Grammy-nominated artist, producer, fashion designer, entrepreneur, NFT futurist, cultural force, and innovator actually built the city he wanted here in Nevada in a SIMS-like way. [If you build it, they will come.] Aoki doesn’t just live in Las Vegas — he thrives in it.

As a DJ, the 47-year-old is known to put on a hell of a show — 55 a year in Las Vegas alone, to be precise, across venues such as Tao Group Hospitality’s OMNIA at Caesars Palace, TAO Beach at the Venetian Resort, and both Hakkasan as well as Kygo’s brand-new Palm Tree Beach Club at the MGM Grand, which he refers to as an “honor” to be playing at.

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson

And while Aoki’s life has never been boring — he’s an innovator, after all — it’s certainly expanded significantly since he made the move from Los Angeles a decade ago. By leaving L.A., he wasn’t just escaping California taxes — he was reclaiming space. Space for creativity. Space for health. Space to build a personal universe. Space to become the globally successful, cross-genre solo artist that he is — one who has three billion music streams; who created the 2016 Grammy-nominated Netflix documentary I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead as well as the 2019 memoir Blue: The Color of Noise; and whose nearly 30-year-old record label, Dim Mak, is responsible for launching the careers of artists like The Kills and Bloc Party.

“Back in L.A., I bought a 3,500-square-foot house for $1.1 million. For just $1.6 million more, I bought a 15,000-square-foot house in Henderson,” he recalls. But this isn’t just about real estate flexing — it’s about infrastructure for innovation. “My house is my studio. It’s my lab. It’s where I do everything. There’s a room for every part of my brain, all of the things that really move and inspire me. All of my best creations come out of this house.”

Plus, as the Guinness World Record for “Most Traveled Musician in a Single Calendar Year,” it was refreshingly new to be more settled in one place. Finding happiness in being at home was a different kind of innovation, and Aoki was ready to evolve.

“I wasn’t really utilizing the L.A. lifestyle that I used to live when I was touring like that, and then I started to feel like, hm, actually I don’t really want to be in the city at all. I’m fine to move to the suburbs of Las Vegas. I tour so much, I already get the excitement and stimulation of what the city offers, and my dollar is so much stronger here.”

It’s certainly afforded him space to build his creativity compound: a hyperbaric pod, multiple cold plunges and saunas, a studio, and more. It’s basically a wellness retreat-cum-beat laboratory, his private oasis (which is also home to the multi-thousand vinyl collection he’s been hoarding since his teens).

“Here, I have things that most people would have to travel to get to, but I have both space and financial luxury by living here. If I want red light therapy at two in the morning, I can get it. I have multiple cold plunges for groups of people. I have multiple saunas for groups of people. When I’m working, I’ll bring people out for studio sessions, and we’ll do the sauna, the cold plunge, the hyperbaric, the red light, and eat good, quality food. Everything’s here, everything’s controlled, you know? It makes for really great output.”

I wistfully remind him that he’s lucky, of which (of course) he already knows. “That’s the great thing about playing a lot of shows,” he concedes. “I do have the luxury to do certain things that most people can’t.”

Such as — most importantly at this stage of his life — travel less. For the world’s most traveled performer, there’s a beauty in not having to hop on a plane but simply get in a car and drive 20 minutes to The Strip, home to some of the world’s top nightclubs. His mecca. Not just a playground, but a proving ground, too.

“Honestly, if I could play here more, I would,” he admits. “They represent me really well. When you drive from the airport to The Strip, you see billboards promoting my shows, so I try to do the best job that I can to make sure that everyone who comes to one of my shows is having the time of their life. It’s really important for me to think about the crowd in a way where I’m constantly having to gain their trust, their interest level. If you lose that, you lose everything. It’s a constant skill to refine. You have to be like, there’s a lot of competition on The Strip, and this crowd came to see me. I’ve got to make sure they’re getting their money’s worth, you know?”

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson

This kind of dedication is why Aoki is one of the most in-demand entertainers in the world, with past performances at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Tomorrowland, and Ultra Music Festival, where he’s been a consistent standout.

“Sometimes, I use festivals to test out new tracks,” he says. “You see instantly what’s working and what’s not.” In 2025, his Ultra set included surprise appearances by Mike Posner, Swae Lee, and Trippie Redd — evidence of how he blends spectacle with spontaneity.

That discipline bleeds into his studio life, where Aoki’s relentless output fuels a staggering discography that now includes 10 studio albums, more than 280 singles, and collaborations with everyone from BTS, Maluma, and Linkin Park to Trippie Redd, Louis Tomlinson, and David Guetta. He’s also released three Platinum-certified singles, six Gold-certified hits, and over a dozen Top 10 radio tracks.

And there’s more to come this summer. Fresh off a performance at Diplo’s HonkyTonk at Stagecoach in April, Aoki recently unveiled his newest release — an electric country crossover collaboration with 22x No. 1 country music hitmaker Tyler Hubbard titled “Forget Tonight.” The pair first connected backstage while co-headlining last year’s Cowboys Music Festival, where they quickly bonded over music, momentum, and a mutual desire to blend genres.

“Forget Tonight” is more than just a single — it’s a signal flare for where Aoki’s head is musically. The song fuses his signature festival-ready EDM energy with Hubbard’s country grit, delivering a track primed for cross-format appeal. The music video, shot live in Memphis during Aoki’s Riverbeat Festival performance as well as at the iconic Silky O’Sullivan’s on Beale Street, showcases the full force of their genre-bending chemistry — and yes, it ends with his signature flying cakes.

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson

The single sets the tone for HiROQUEST 3: Paragon, Aoki’s landmark 10^th studio album, which arrives June 27. The record, a deluxe expansion of 2023’s Paragon, features over 40 songs and continues the epic narrative of Aoki’s HiROQUEST universe. “This is the biggest album of my career, not just in terms of length,” he explains, “but in how deep the world goes.”

More than a record, HiROQUEST 3 anchors an expansive franchise — combining music with manga, a card game, graphic novels, and limited-edition collectibles. The main character is based on me — his name is HiRO, and that’s my middle name,” Aoki says, adding, “Each song is a chapter. Each chapter is a new quest.”

The plot follows a genetically enhanced human battling across 10 worlds to retrieve 10 rings of power. “There’s betrayal, moral dilemmas, hard choices,” Aoki says. “This isn’t surface-level stuff.” He’s also been developing a full-fledged TCG (trading card game) for HiROQUEST, further bridging the space between gaming, storytelling, and collectibles.

His ambition to create IP that lives beyond the music dates back to Neon Future, his science-meets-music concept series that saw collaborations with Ray Kurzweil, Bill Nye, and J.J. Abrams. “Back then, I wanted to bring science and imagination together; I wanted to make albums bigger than music. Neon Future was about science and tech. HiROQUEST is about fantasy, identity, and possibility,” he explains. “Now, with HiROQUEST, I’m pulling in the worlds of TCG, anime, and storytelling. I want to create something lasting. Something people can live inside.”
Basically, “I’m creating an ecosystem,” he continues. “I’ve always loved world-building. I grew up obsessed with Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering. This is me doing that — at scale.”

And true to form, the HiROQUEST project, which first began during COVID, is deeply personal to Aoki. “I’m a sci-fi kid,” he says. “I grew up dreaming of building my own world. This is my universe.”And he knows, as well as I do, that we’re all just living in it.

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson

SPEAKING OF WHOLE NEW WORLDS, well, Steve Aoki’s is about to expand in the most personal way yet: he’s preparing to become a dad for the first time with wife Sasha Sofine, whom he married last July. He announced the news in a very Steve Aoki way: by smashing his face into a cake decorated with blue icing during a performance in Dubai in February.

There’s no cake today at his Las Vegas compound, where we’re shooting just before Memorial Day weekend. There’s an incredible collection of art (I clock two Banksy’s, a Mr Brainwash, and a Romero Britto, among others), wellness drinks and supplements galore, a ping-pong room (where he and his wife battle it out mid-shoot), and even an indoor swing. It is one of the most outrageous places I’ve ever seen. And although he didn’t know it at the time, his 15,000 square-foot and rapidly-expanding home — formerly just for him — will now be the place where he protects and nurtures his family. Becoming a father for the first time at 47 has him thinking about previously unforeseen things — like baby gates, nannies, schools, and safety. A departure, for sure, but not an unwelcome one.

“It’s a big jump for me, but I feel good about it,” he confides. “I’m not scared of change; I’m just taking this day by day. When it happens, it happens, and I’ll be ready.”

He does seem somewhat relieved to hear that his neighborhood of choice, Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, has been consistently ranked among the top safest big cities in America; further proof that his choices are always the right ones. “I’m thinking more long-term now,” he says. “Where I live, how I live — it all matters in a different way when you’re bringing a new life into the world.”

He’s been trusting his gut since he was a kid, and it’s never steered him wrong. That same instinct is now leading him to follow in his father’s footsteps — though not in the way he once expected. Rocky Aoki, the legendary founder of Benihana, built an empire that blended food, flair, and cultural storytelling. “My dad was a showman,” Aoki reflects. “He created a dining experience that was theatrical, immersive, and memorable. I definitely got that gene.”

For years, Aoki thought he would never enter the restaurant world himself. “I used to say, ‘That’s not for me. I’m not going to be in food,’” he laughs. “But now, I get it. I’m not trying to be in the kitchen, but I want to help create something special. I want to build something that makes people feel something.”

He already has — with Kuru Kuru Pa, the quick-serve teriyaki spot he opened at Resorts World on The Strip that became the number one food stall on property for two consecutive years. “That was an experiment that worked,” he says. “And it showed me that you can bring together quality, concept, and culture in a way that really connects. It’s about knowing your crowd. Just like with deejaying, you have to read the room. You deliver something fun and familiar — but better than they expected.”

But something bigger is coming, and relatively soon, if he has his way. “It’s a sit-down concept,” he teases. “Years in the making. I want it to be more than food — it’s an experience. Like a show. Like a set. I want people to leave feeling like they just went somewhere, not just ate something.

“I’m definitely going to be sprouting more roots,” he teases. “I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say that what I’ve got cooking next takes years of planning… so let’s just say it’s growing; something bigger is coming.”
That same philosophy — creating unforgettable moments, creating momentum on a large scale — drives Aoki’s involvement in the UIM E1 World Championship, the world’s first electric powerboat racing league. His team, Aoki Racing, is a passion project rooted in childhood memories of his dad, who once raced boats competitively. “I grew up around speed, adrenaline, and ambition,” he says. “It’s in my blood.”

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson

When the opportunity came to join the E1 League, it wasn’t just about racing — it was, as usual, about innovation. “This isn’t your average race circuit,” Aoki explains. “This is next-gen. Electric boats. Sustainable technology. It’s futuristic, and that’s what drew me in. If I’m going to be part of something, I want to be the first, not the second.”

And now, he’s winning. In 2024, Aoki Racing took first place in Jeddah, after finishing second-to-last the year before. “We really put in the work,” he says proudly. “We studied, we adapted, and we showed up. That underdog energy? I love it.” The team’s success continued with a second-place finish at the next race — solidifying Aoki Racing as a rising contender. “I’m repping Japan, the U.S., my family name — and honestly, my dad. I wish he could see this.”

Aoki keeps framed photos of Rocky in his home, racing his iconic Benihana-branded powerboats. “I pass them every day,” he says. “And I just think, am I honoring the name? Am I building something worthy?”

That question seems to guide nearly everything Aoki does now, especially in business. From co-founding the grading company Audio Media Grading, which authenticates vinyl the same way PSA handles trading cards, to expanding his collectibles empire with 35,000+ items vaulted, to the upcoming launch of his One Piece-licensed boots through Dim Mak, Aoki continues to treat culture as a living, evolving canvas.

It all circles back to his vision-first approach. “I’m not an operator. I’m a visionary,” he says simply. “I need great people to help me execute, but the ideas — they all start with me. That’s where I’m happiest. In the creative space. Dreaming up the next thing that no one’s thought of yet.”

Still, the core is always the music — and the crowd. “You have to give people something to remember. Something to feel. Something to take home,” he says. “And you have to do it again and again, every night.”

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson

Aoki’s spin with all of his businesses is as futuristic and bold as his music. “It’s almost like deejaying in a way, where you have to understand your demographic, your crowd, and cater to them in a way where you’re bringing something totally unique to the table,” he explains. “But if you get that, you get to their soul, and you get their respect — they decide to choose you versus the other options that are around, just as they’d choose to see you perform over another DJ. So, you have to figure that out, and you have to make sure that it’s good.”

That desire to leave a meaningful impact is also what inspired the launch of the Aoki Foundation in 2012. Focused on supporting brain science, longevity research, and advancing health technologies, the foundation bridges what he calls the space “between science fiction and science fact.” Aoki is especially interested in supporting research that’s not yet mainstream — projects that explore cognitive enhancement, heat exposure, and other cutting-edge fields.
“I believe the human brain is the most important phenomenon in the universe,” he says. “It’s what lets us dream, imagine, build. Everything starts there.”

That belief also underpins his larger outlook on life, and legacy — where the greatest luxury isn’t found in fame or fortune, but in presence. “This moment, right now? This is the greatest day of your life,” he says. “Live it like it is.”
And so, for all the chaos he channels onstage — the flying cakes, the pyrotechnics, the pulse of a thousand bodies moving in unison — Aoki is ultimately a man in pursuit of order. Not control, exactly, but intention. Every track, every show, every startup and side quest, is tethered to a bigger idea: that art should outlive its maker, that time is the only true currency, and that if you’re lucky enough to have the gift of being alive, you’d better do something extraordinary with it.

“I’m trying to make meaning,” he says. “Not just noise.”

What he’s done in and for Las Vegas is living proof: in a city designed to make you forget, Steve Aoki is determined to leave something worth remembering.

Photo Credit: Mark Hanson