In a recent article by Adda247 Current Affairs, the world’s richest actors were ranked by their estimated worth. However, in the film and entertainment industries, staying on top is just as hard as getting there in the first place.
Here’s how the world’s wealthiest actors capitalized on their fame to secure their fortunes.
1. Tyler Perry
With a net worth of approximately $1 billion, Tyler Perry became a household name in the mid-2000s thanks to his work on the Madea film franchise.
However, before gaining mainstream attention with his movies, Perry worked as a playwright since 1992. He self-financed and starred in his first play, I Know I’ve Been Changed, with $12,000 of his life savings.
Though it bombed at first, Perry retooled it for six years while living out of his car. In 1998, his plays finally found an audience, earning Perry about $100 million in ticket sales, $30 million in show recordings and $20 million in merchandise.
After finding success on stage, Perry pivoted to film production with 2005’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman, personally financing half of the film’s $5.5 million budget while Lions Gate Entertainment paid for the other half.
The film grossed $50.6 million, allowing Perry to direct each Madea movie thereafter and continue his work writing plays, all of which he owns the copyrights to under his production company, Tyler Perry Films.
In 2015, Perry bought 330-acre Fort McPherson for [?] and converted the base into Tyler Perry Studios, one of America’s largest film studios. The studio has since been used to film Tyler Perry’s House of Pain, A Very Madea Homecoming, The Walking Dead and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and the upcoming Six Triple Eight among other projects.
“If you are a creative, it’s very important that you understand the business side of it so that you can continue to create,” Perry said in a Bloomberg interview.
2. Jerry Seinfeld
Estimated at $950 million, Jerry Seinfeld was a stand-up comic for about 12 years before his break-out role on his self-titled sitcom.
In 1980, Seinfeld got his first break as an actor doing a part on the sitcom Benson but was unceremoniously fired due to creative differences.
After making a name for himself through his stand-up appearances with Rodney Dangerfield, Johnny Carson and David Letterman, Seinfeld starred in his own hour-long special, Stand-Up Confidential, in September 1987.
The next year, Seinfeld partnered with Larry David to co-create Seinfeld, one of the most popular sitcoms ever. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the show alone earned Seinfeld about $800 million from syndication deals combined with DVD and merchandise sales. When adjusted for inflation, Seinfeld also made about $100 million annually working on the show.
An infamous car lover, Seinfeld’s private collection, mainly comprised of Porsches, is estimated to be worth more than $80 million.
3. Dwayne Johnson
Now worth $800 million, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson began his path to stardom with a brief stint in football before switching to professional wrestling in 1996 under the name Flex Kavana.
Initially wrestling for the United States Wrestling Association, Johnson left the same year for the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment, under the name Rocky Maivia, a tribute to his father and grandfather, respectively, pro wrestlers Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia.
Initially disliked by fans, Johnson embraced the animosity to create his “Rock” persona, recapturing the audience by turning heel and emphasizing his brash, cocky attitude. Where Rocky Maivia failed to gain support, “the Rock” excelled, making him one of WWE’s most popular wrestlers to this day.
In an interview with Polygon, Johnson said,
“While people may not have agreed with the heel Rock, they all understood why he was doing what he was doing because I had the opportunity to talk about it — and talk [trash] in that way that The Rock did.”
While still wrestling for WWE, Johnson began to branch out into acting, first appearing in movies and shows such as The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King and That 70’s Show, the latter of which he played a fictionalized version of his father, Rocky Johnson.
Johnson is also famous as the voice actor of Maui from Disney’s Moana, the character design of which is based on Johnson’s grandfather Peter Maivia.
Outside of wrestling and acting, Johnson’s autobio The Rock Says, co-written by Joe Layden, is a New York Times bestseller, and in 2012 he founded Seven Bucks Productions, which helped revitalize the Jumanji and Fast and the Furious franchises.
Johnson also co-owns the XFL, a football league created by Vince McMahon, once in 2001 and again in 2018. Alongside his ex-wife Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital, Johnson and his associates bought the league from McMahon in 2020 for $15 million.
Johnson and Garcia also launched the bodybuilding show “Athleticon” in 2019; in 2020, he launched his tequila brand, Teremana.
4. Shah Rukh Khan
At around $730 million, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is one of India’s most beloved actors, as well as one of the most beloved actors in the world.
Since his first film Deewana in 1992, Khan has appeared in more than 100 roles, earning several awards, including the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, which he earned through his contributions to the arts and acting.
Khan co-founded Dreamz Unlimited in 1999, which he then restructured as Red Chillies Entertainment in 2004 with his wife, Gauri.
Through Red Chilies, Khan co-owns the Knight Riders Group, which oversees four cricket teams. After acquiring the Kolkata Knight Riders for $75.9 million in 2008, Khan and the Knight Riders Group have since set up franchises in Trinidad and Tobago, Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles.
Throughout his career, Khan has also engaged in countless philanthropic ventures as an advocate for public health and safety, even founding his own NGO, the Meer Foundation, to combat the rise of acid attacks towards women in India.
Named after his father, Khan said the foundation was meant to embody his spirit by fostering greater respect and kindness towards women.
“I believe that, when faced with violence, women need a friend – someone they can rely on, who can help them face these hurdles and come out stronger,” Khan said on the foundation’s website. “Meer is that friend.”
5. Tom Cruise
Before he was worth about $600 million, Tom Cruise was a busboy trying to break into show business.
After signing up with the Creative Artists Agency, he finally got his first role in 1981’s Endless Love. By the end of the decade, Cruise also starred in The Outsiders, Top Gun and Rain Man, making him one of the biggest stars in Hollywood going into the ’90s.
After breaking into the mainstream, Cruise and his then-agent Paula Wagner operated Cruise/Wagner Productions from 1993 to 2008, during which time they co-produced many of his films, including the first three Mission: Impossible films, Minority Report and The Last Samurai.
The pair also took over the film studio United Artists in November 2006. However, Wagner left after less than two years. With Wagner’s departure from UA, her partnership with Cruise dissolved, leading to Cruise starting another production company, TC Productions.
“I wanted to travel the world as a kid, I wanted to make movies,” Cruise said on X, formerly Twitter. “Cinema has allowed me to be able to experience that.”
