Provided are a rare earth magnet precursor having a roughened structure on a surface or a rare earth magnet molded body having a roughened structure on a surface, and a method for manufacturing the same. In the rare earth magnet precursor or the rare earth magnet molded body, recesses and protrusions are formed on the surface having the roughened structure, and the recesses and protrusions satisfy at least one of the following (a) to (c): (a) an arithmetic mean height (Sa) (ISO 25178) from 5 to 300 µm, (b) a maximum height (Sz) (ISO 25178) from 50 to 1500 µm, and (c) a developed interfacial area ratio (Sdr) (ISO 25178) from 0.3 to 12.