Who is the wealthiest Hollywood actor?
It’s common knowledge that large chunks of Hollywood blockbuster budgets these days go straight to their biggest stars. Some actors, such as Tom Cruise, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, command enormous sums upfront to appear in their movies, not to mention a healthy slice of film revenues.
Cruise is the archetypal money-spinning movie star whose career earnings surpassed $1billion when he returned as fighter pilot Pete Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick two years ago. Cruise isn’t one to turn down a handsome paycheque, but his going rate is no small figure these days. He insisted on receiving almost $13million in the bank before agreeing to his Top Gun comeback.
Yet there are some stars out there who can outdo Mr Mission Impossible for movie earnings. Others whose total wealth exceeds even the biggest box-office draw for different reasons.
So, let’s settle the question once and for all: Who is the wealthiest Hollywood actor today?
Who is the richest actor in the world?
You’ve guessed it. Well, actually, you probably haven’t. It’s the star of the coming-of-age comedy-horror film The Lost Boys, also vaguely recognisable for her supporting role in the 1990s disaster movie Twister, not to mention two moderately unsuccessful sitcoms. Still no cue?
The wealthiest actor in the world is the one and only Jami Gertz. This is not due to any of her above roles but rather her marriage in 1989 to multi-millionaire investment banker Tony Ressler.
In 1990, Ressler started two private equity firms of his own. He has since diversified his assets by investing enormous sums of money in real estate, as well as buying the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Hawks sports franchises. As of 2023, he alone is worth $7.5billion.
Gertz co-owns the Hawks basketball franchise with her husband and shares a wide-ranging commercial and property investment portfolio with him. She’s also been able to start her own film and TV production companies, which supplement her capital gains from other areas.
All in all, the ventures in which Gertz has a stake, along with her other assets, put her estimated net worth at a staggering $3billion.
But it’s clear that the overwhelming bulk of this wealth has absolutely nothing to do with her acting work or even her media production ventures. The part acting played in her becoming a billionaire only goes as far as allowing her and her husband to meet.
On the other hand, Tyler Perry’s $1b fortune is entirely built on his career as an actor and producer.
From starting as a comedy performer on stage, primarily as his character Mabel ‘Madea’ Simmons, Perry has created multiple television and film franchises. The Madea franchise, which made him, is still his biggest overall earner, with him pocketing a whopping $670million from the 11 Madea movies alone.
He has since had his own studio complex built, is paid over $150m annually by Viacom CBS for TV show rights, and owns a stake in Bet+ streaming. Late last year, he also signed an exclusivity deal for new content with Netflix.
Because Perry owns all of his own productions, sets, characters and published material, he takes a far bigger cut of the revenues than someone in any of his roles would usually be able to.
How about the highest-paid actor?
Nevertheless, it remains the case that, as with Jami Gertz, Perry didn’t become a billionaire just through acting. While he is the producer of all the content he earns, he doesn’t star in every film or TV show. The sitcom House of Payne is one obvious example.
On the other hand, comedian Jerry Seinfeld is on the brink of becoming a billionaire, with his net worth currently estimated at $950m. And he does star in pretty much everything he earns from.
That includes the legendary TV show Seinfeld, which he co-created with Larry David, which is his primary earner via favourable syndication deals he’s negotiated in the years since it ended. Or his stand-up comedy career, which has been ongoing for more than four decades. Other income streams include his Netflix series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, his advertising endorsements for brands such as American Express, and the minor movie roles for which he commands large fees, like the animation Bee Movie.
Still, not all of his almost-billions come from his starring roles. Most of his Seinfeld syndication income comes from his credits as co-creator and producer of the show. The same goes for his Netflix series.
This brings us back to Mr Cruise, the actor who, we can probably say, has made the most money from acting alone.
What is Tom Cruise’s net worth?
Although he may have reached the billion-dollar mark in terms of career earnings, Tom Cruise seems to have spent quite a lot of that money because his net worth is hovering somewhere between $600 and $700m.
This figure puts him well below the amounts of wealth held by Gertz and Perry, who are both billionaires and Seinfeld, who is worth at least $250m more than Cruise.
