Dwayne Johnson famously had just $7 in his pocket when he transitioned from wrestling to Hollywood, a detail he referenced so often it became the name of his production company, Seven Bucks Productions. He went on to become one of the highest-paid actors in history while building a business empire that includes Teremana Tequila, valued at $2 billion, and various other ventures. His net worth currently sits around $800 million, with the billionaire milestone looking like a matter of when. | © A24
Peter Jackson left school at 16 to work as a newspaper photo-engraver, saving every penny he could to buy a 16mm camera and make films in his spare time. The Lord of the Rings trilogy made him enormously wealthy, but what pushed him into billionaire territory was the 2021 sale of his visual effects company Weta Digital to Unity Software for $1.6 billion. His current net worth stands at around $1.9 billion, making him the wealthiest film director in the world after George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. | © The Late Show with Stephen Colbert / YouTube
Jami Gertz is best known to most people as an actress from 1980s films like The Lost Boys, which makes her place near the top of this list one of the more surprising entries. The bulk of her fortune comes through her marriage to billionaire businessman Tony Ressler, with the couple sharing ownership of the Atlanta Hawks and a stake in the Milwaukee Brewers among numerous other ventures. Her estimated net worth of $12 billion makes her one of the wealthiest people in American sports and entertainment, a fact that most fans of her acting work would never guess. | © Universal Studios
Steven Spielberg has been generating wealth from his films for over five decades, but the money extends far beyond box office receipts. Universal theme park rides based on his movies, his co-founding of DreamWorks Animation, and decades of producing credits have all contributed to a fortune that makes him the wealthiest filmmaker in the world. His net worth currently stands at $7.1 billion, a number that reflects just how much of modern popular culture he has had a hand in shaping. | © The Late Show with Stephen Colbert / YouTube
Oprah Winfrey has spent four decades methodically building one of the most diversified fortunes in entertainment, starting with her talk show and expanding into production, cable television, endorsement deals, and a substantial real estate portfolio. She wasn't just a TV host, she was a brand, and she understood that earlier than almost anyone else in her industry. Her net worth currently stands at $3.2 billion, cementing her place as one of the wealthiest self-made women in American history. | © Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube
Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, became YouTube's first-ever billionaire at just 27 years old. His fortune extends well beyond ad revenue, with an Amazon Prime Video deal for his reality competition show Beast Games, a snack brand, and a meal delivery service all contributing to a net worth currently estimated at $2.6 billion. He's arguably the clearest proof yet that social media fame, handled right, can be worth more than a Hollywood career. | © The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube
Kim Kardashian turned reality TV fame into something far more substantial than most people predicted when Keeping Up with the Kardashians first aired in 2007. Her shapewear brand SKIMS became a cultural phenomenon and the centerpiece of a business empire that has pushed her net worth to an estimated $1.7 billion. She's one of the clearest examples of a celebrity who used their platform not just to stay famous, but to build something genuinely valuable with it. | © Call Her Daddy / YouTube
Taylor Swift is one of the few celebrities on this list whose billion-dollar fortune came primarily from music rather than a side business or investment portfolio. The Eras Tour alone brought in over $2 billion, making it the highest-grossing concert tour in history, and that's on top of decades of royalties, record sales, and merchandise. Her current net worth stands at $1.6 billion, making her the wealthiest female musician in the world. | © The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube
Selena Gomez has been working in entertainment since she was a child, building a career that moved from kids' TV to pop stardom to serious acting over the course of two decades. Like Rihanna, however, it was a beauty brand that pushed her into billionaire territory: Rare Beauty, launched in 2020, grew far beyond what most celebrity cosmetics lines achieve. Her estimated net worth now stands at $1.3 billion, with most of it coming from a company she started less than five years ago. | © Apple Music / YouTube
Tyler Perry built his empire largely on creating, writing, directing, and producing content through his own production company rather than relying on the traditional Hollywood system. The Madea franchise alone generated hundreds of millions, and that's before accounting for his television work and the massive Tyler Perry Studios complex he built in Atlanta. His estimated net worth of $1.4 billion is a testament to what happens when someone controls their own creative output from top to bottom. | © Lionsgate Films
Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived in America as a bodybuilder with big ambitions and somehow managed to max out every single one of them: seven Mr. Olympia titles, a run as one of Hollywood's highest-paid action stars, and two terms as Governor of California. His wealth doesn't come from any one source either, with a substantial real estate portfolio and various business ventures adding to what his film career built. His estimated net worth today sits at $1.2 billion, making him one of the rare people who genuinely did it all. | © Jay Shetty Podcast / YouTube
Paul McCartney has been making money from music for over six decades, starting with the most successful band in history and never really slowing down. Record sales, touring, royalties, and his post-Beatles work with Wings and as a solo artist all stacked up over time, eventually making him the first British musician to reach billionaire status. His estimated net worth currently stands at $1.3 billion, which is a fitting number for someone who helped write the soundtrack to the 20th century. | © Paul McCartney / YouTube
Byron Allen started as a stand-up comedian, which makes his current status as a media mogul one of the more surprising transformations in the entertainment industry. His company, Allen Media Group, has grown into a major force in American broadcasting, with holdings that include The Weather Channel. His estimated net worth sits at $1 billion, not bad for someone who got his start telling jokes. | © Howie Mandel Does Stuff / YouTube
Jerry Seinfeld built his billion-dollar fortune the old-fashioned way, by being funny for decades and never really stopping. Seinfeld continues to generate massive licensing fees long after it went off the air, and he has kept adding to that through stand-up tours, film projects, and Netflix specials. His estimated net worth sits at $1.1 billion, making him one of the wealthiest comedians in the world. | © Graham Bensinger
Rihanna is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, but her billion-dollar status has surprisingly little to do with her music. The bulk of her fortune comes from Fenty Beauty, her cosmetics line, and Savage X Fenty, the lingerie brand she launched in 2018. She's one of the rare cases where the side business completely eclipsed the career that made her famous in the first place. | © Rihanna / YouTube
Most people know these names from movies, music, or TV, but what they don't know is just how much money is behind them. These celebrities didn't just get rich from being famous; they built empires that put them in a league most people never even imagined.
