George Lucas, ‘Star Wars’ Creator, Named America’s Richest Celebrity
The Star Wars fandom has a lot to thank George Lucas for. The creator’s brainchild has resulted in 10 films in the franchise (so far) with another due for release in December 2019. There was also an animated series and enough merchandise of all kinds to satisfy even the geekiest of fans.
Lucas, on the other hand, probably has just as much to thank the fandom for. As reported by IGN, despite the fact that Lucas hasn’t directed a Star Wars film since Revenge of the Sith in 2005, he is still one of the richest people in America, and on top of the list where celebrities are concerned.
The Forbes list of richest people in the country notes Lucas’ net worth at approximately $5.4 billion. According to Forbes, the Star Wars creator can attribute the majority of this, an amount of $4.1 billion, to his sale of the rights to his film production company, Lucasfilm, and the Star Wars franchise to Disney back in 2012.
The result of that sale is the newest trilogy in the Star Wars universe, which so far consists of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. There have also been two spin-off movies since Disney took over: Rogue One, which details the battle that resulted in the Rebel Alliance getting the plans to the Death Star, and Solo, the story of Han Solo before he met Luke and Leia Skywalker.
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas leads this year's ranking of America's richest celebrities with a net worth of $5.4 billion https://t.co/13NzY1BP4k pic.twitter.com/W33PUnhNVL
— Forbes (@Forbes) December 18, 2018
Second on the list of celebrities — by quite a long way — is fellow director and Indiana Jones co-contributor Steven Spielberg with an estimated wealth of around $3.7 billion. Media mogul Oprah with around $2.8 billion and basketball player Michael Jordan with approximately $1.7 billion — largely attributable to his sneaker fortune and his 90 percent stake in the Charlotte Hornets — round out the list of celebrity billionaires. Tying for fifth on the list with an estimated $900 million are rapper Jay-Z and reality star Kylie Jenner.
David Copperfield ($875 million), Diddy ($825 million), and Tiger Woods and James Patterson with $800 million each close out the list.
The combined wealth of the top 10 on the list equates to $18.7 billion, up four percent from last year where that total was $18 billion.
The only newcomer to the list this year is Jenner, who is well on track to become the youngest ever self-made billionaire given her current wealth. She was just 19-years-old when she launched Kylie Cosmetics, and the company has since moved more than $630 million in makeup. This is largely attributed to her massive social media following, and her own wealth is calculated based on the fact that she owns 100 percent of the bare-bones business.
