Four years ago, Forbes magazine did a deep dive into Tyler Perry’s finances and declared he had enough assets to be a billionaire.
Earlier this month, Forbes updated its billionaire list and the Atlanta media mogul remains a member of this semi-exclusive club that numbers 2,781 worldwide.
Even at a time when inflation has eaten away the value of being a millionaire, becoming a billionaire is still an impressive achievement.
Perry, who grew up poor and briefly lived in his car, is the true definition of self-made. Forbes now estimates his worth to be $1.4 billion, ranking him 2,152.
In a current Forbes mini-profile of him, the magazine notes that “Perry’s wealth comes both from his cut as a producer and from a library dating back to the early 1990s: he owns 100% of the content he’s created.” His “Madea” franchise, as noted, generated more than $600 million in box office grosses, although his last “Madea” film went straight to Netflix. He has current deals with Viacom, Netflix and Amazon and attempted to buy BET last year. (Paramount Global ended up keeping BET instead of selling it.)
On the billionaires list, Perry’s mentor Oprah Winfrey, at $2.8 billion, is ranked 1,187. Hip-hop legend Jay-Z is at $2.5 billion, ranked 1,330. CNN founder Ted Turner is at $2.5 billion. Taylor Swift entered the list for the first time with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion.
