Richest Directors in the World
Who are the richest directors in the world?
Nothing beats a good movie or TV series, right?!
Depending on what you’re into, the directors listed below are more than likely responsible for some of your favourite films and TV series.
Check out our list of the 10 richest directors in the world and find out who directed your favourites!
The 10 Richest Directors in the World
The list of directors and figures mentioned below have been compiled from various sources around the web.
10. Christopher Nolan
Net Worth: $180 Million
Breaking into the top ten richest directors in the world with a net worth of $180 million dollars, is British-American director, screenwriter and producer, Christopher Nolan.
Christopher specialises in dark, psychological dramas. Some of his most recognisable films include, “Memento”, “Inception”, and the “Batman” franchise starring Christian Bale.
The success of the resurrected Batman movies made Christopher Nolan a highly regarded film director in the industry.
9. Roland Emmerich
Net Worth: $200 Million
Roland Emmerich is a German-born director, film producer and screenwriter who has a net worth of $200 million dollars.
He earned his fortune by writing and directing films like The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, Patton, The Outsiders, and Dracula.
He is a multi-Academy Award winner, for writing and directing, and is known as one of America’s most off-beat and controversial filmmakers.
8. Francis Ford Coppola
Net Worth: $300 Million
Francis Ford Coppola has a net worth of $300 million dollars.
He earned his fortune by writing and directing films like The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, Patton, The Outsiders, and Dracula.
He is a multi-Academy Award winner, for writing and directing, and is known as one of America’s most off-beat and controversial filmmakers
7. Ridley Scott
Net Worth: $400 Million
Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and Hannibal are all down to one man, Ridley Scott.
Ridley is an English film director and producer who was born in the UK in 1937, in Tyne and Wear, South Shields
His breakthrough in the film industry came when he released, the 1979 sci-fi horror film, Alien.
Since releasing that film, Scott went on to write and direct a number of box office hits, including Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangster and Robin Hood.
6. Michael Bay
Michael Bay Net Worth: $430 Million
Micheal Bay is an American Bay is an American director and film producer that is most famous for directing films like Bad Boys I & II, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and the Transformers trilogy.
As well as his film career, Michael has also produced television series: No Way Out and Cocaine Cowboys and has won five MTV Awards.
The Transformers Trilogy with Steven Spielberg as the producer has been Michaels biggest career success, earning him $200 million dollars.
5. Peter Jackson
Net Worth: $500 Million
Lord of the Rings fan? Well, you can thank director, writer and multi-award winning producer, Peter Jackson for that.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy earned Jackson $180 million dollars, and paved the way for even more success, with films like “King Kong” and “The Lovely Bones”.
King Kong was a major contributing factor to his net worth, as he was paid $20 million dollars plus 20% of the box office sales!
After banking the cash, he went on to write, direct, and produce the Hobbit trilogy and is one of the richest directors in the world!
4. Tyler Perry
Net Worth: $600 Million
Next on the list is American actor, director and producer, Tyler Perry.
Tyler has a net worth of $600 million dollars, and personally earns between $100 and $150 million per year from his empire.
He is also the only filmmaker in history to have five films open #1 at the box office in the last five years
He writes, directs and produces all of his movies which means he takes a much bigger share of the profits!
3. James Cameron
James Cameron Net Worth: $700 Million
Taking third place on our list of richest directors is James Cameron.
Canadian born director, Cameron, is responsible for some great films, such as Aliens, Rambo II, Terminator and Titanic.
He has earned over $1.9 Billion dollars from his movies and has the credit of directing two of the highest grossing movies of all time: Titanic & Avatar.
Amongst many other achievements, Cameron was the first person ever to direct a $100 million dollar movie.
2. Steven Spielberg
Net Worth: $3.7 Billion
Three-time Academy Award winner, Steven Spielberg, is one of the most famous and richest directors in the world.
His career began at Universal Studios. He then directed a twenty-four-minute short film called “Amblin”, which caught the attention of Sidney Shainberg, vice president of production at Universal’s television division.
From there, Spielberg became the youngest director to sign a long-term contract with a major studio.
He has since gone on to direct a number of films over four decades, including Jaws, ET, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park!
1. George Lucas
Net Worth: $5.4 Billion
With a net worth of $5.4 billion, George Lucas is the richest director in the world!
George is a director, writer and producer and is probably most famous for directing the Star Wars franchise.
Other films he’s worked on include, Body Heat, Labyrinth and The Indiana Jones film franchise.
Lucases net worth rocketed in 2012, when he sold his entire company, Lucasfilm, to Disney for a whopping $4 billion dollars!
Because he owned all of the company, all the proceeds went directly to him.
His impressive net worth now makes him the richest director in the world
Summary
We hope you enjoyed our list of the top 10 richest directors in the world.
It’s mind-boggling to think that there’s so much money to be made in the movie business!
Here’s a quick recap of the top 10 richest directors in the world:
- George Lucas – $5.4 Billion
- Steven Spielberg – $3.7 Billion
- James Cameron – $700 Million
- Tyler Perry – $600 Million
- Peter Jackson – $500 Million
- Michael Bay – $430 Million
- Ridley Scott – $400 Million
- Francis Ford Coppola – $300 Million
- Roland Emmerich – $200 Million
- Christopher Nolan – $180 Million
