Jackson Wang's popularity stems not just from his good looks and talent, but also his kindheartedness, which has often captured the hearts of his fans worldwide.

But it seems that his good nature has also resulted in him losing a large sum of money.

Speaking on YouTube talk show Figuring Out with Raj Shamani released on Tuesday (July 1), the 31-year-old Hong Kong-born pop star, who was in Mumbai in June to promote his upcoming album Magic Man 2, revealed to the Indian entrepreneur-influencer about his predicament.

Jackson, who is a member of South Korean boyband Got7, was asked how he spent his money, to which he responded: "I just put it in the [bank] account and probably more than half of that I just give to my mum."

He added that he spends most of his money on production work rather than splurging on luxuries.

When asked what was the most expensive item he had bought for himself, he told Raj that money he lent someone was "the most expensive thing" compared to anything he had bought. 

Jackson then explained he had once loaned money to someone whose name he didn't reveal, and the money "vanished".

"The relation's f***ed up and the money is gone, so I learnt my lesson," he said.

He recounted: "I lent someone [money] for their family... I can't really say here, I got to respect that, whatever it is, and it turns out it's not for family. It was at the time, like, 30 to 40 per cent of my income."

Forbes reported in 2024 that Jackson generated approximately US$115 million (S$146 million) in revenue in 2023 from businesses that he backs, including performances and design.

Jackson added during the talk show that he had since learnt that "it's life" and he had "accepted everything and moved on".

He was also asked if he would still lend money to a friend in the future.

"It depends on the level of trust I have in this person but usually I don't suggest. I would say 'Yes, I would lend you [money], but I think our relationship might end here so let's not hurt each other'," Jackson shared.

He also said that he had considered lending money without expecting it to be returned and to continue having a friendship with the person, but he believed it would be "awkward".

A song written for his parents in upcoming album

Jackson also got candid about his parents during the show, where he revealed that they are his biggest idols in life.

He said: "I am not from a middle-class family. When my mum first moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and my dad moved from Guangzhou to Hong Kong to become the head coach of Team Hong Kong (Fencing), they didn't have s***.

"I saw my mum and dad doing shifts, especially my mum. I saw she did a lot of shifts every day, for three to four different jobs and she would come home, sleep for a few hours... She would provide all the stuff for us, but she wouldn't take anything for herself. She would let us eat first and eat the leftovers, but as a kid, what did I know?"

Jackson also recounted how his mum would come home every day from work and laid on the floor before getting up to take care of him and his elder brother's daily needs, because his father was mostly travelling for work.

He added: "She wanted to save up everything so that my brother and I [could] live in a healthy environment because she also knows that [if we live in] a healthy environment, we will also have healthy friends. Even later on, my mum thought that even if we were very bad at studying, we could still have some place to live with her.

"She saved up 30 years of her salary to get a house for my brother and I, thinking that in case we failed in our life, [and] she is not going to be here forever... at least we still have this house to live in."

He shared that he only found this out from his parents recently and his mum would always get "so emotional" when talking about it.

"That's why I'm a mama's boy. It's like we always lived under their wing, but now I feel like our wings have the capacity and I can work now, so I want to always protect them."

Jackson also revealed he wrote a song for his parents in his album, believed to be the track named Sophie Ricky, after his parents' names.

Magic Man 2 is set to release on July 18.

yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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