Elon Musk‘s bank account is reaching new heights.
On June 12th, the world’s wealthiest person achieved a new milestone, becoming the first trillionaire. This boost to his fortune came as his company, SpaceX, reached a valuation of $1.77 trillion after becoming publicly traded.
Before Tesla’s stock went on sale to the public, Elon Musk was already worth an estimated $826 billion. But after the stock price rose to $135 per share, his wealth surpassed $1 trillion, according to Forbes.
Even though Elon Musk’s fortune is set to increase if SpaceX performs well on the stock market, a decline in share price could cause him to fall below trillionaire status. Currently worth $288 billion – more than twice as much as Google co-founder Larry Page, who ranks second – his wealth is sensitive to market fluctuations.
Before trading began, Musk reflected on the company’s journey, saying it was unbelievable that a small startup, initially operating from a warehouse in El Segundo, was now launching the biggest IPO in history. He admitted that if anyone had predicted this success earlier on, he would have thought they were being unrealistic, even believing the company was likely to fail.
I truly believe in SpaceX’s vision – it’s more than just rockets! The team is incredibly optimistic about what we can achieve, and honestly, that’s always been our driving force: to turn those amazing ideas you see in sci-fi movies into a real, inspiring future for all of us. We want to make the impossible, possible.
Musk, who has ten children from three different relationships – including a son with Ashley St. Clair, six kids with Justine Wilson, three with Grimes, and four with Shivon Zilis – stated that their goal is to build a more optimistic future.
He finished by saying that while we always strive to improve things and solve problems, it’s equally important to have things to look forward to – things that fill us with excitement and make us eager to start each new day.
Even though he’s worth a lot – mostly due to how well his companies are doing – the 54-year-old doesn’t spend much time worrying about money.
He admitted in an April 2022 TED Talk that he doesn’t dwell on things much. What does keep him up at night is realizing how much impact even a small amount of his time spent thinking about Tesla and SpaceX has on those companies. He pushes himself to work incredibly hard, almost to the point of exhaustion, because of this.
Responding to criticism about his vast wealth, Musk said he’s become unfazed by it all. He compared the complaints to ‘water off a duck’s back,’ meaning they don’t bother him anymore.
For a closer look at how much money other celebs are making, keep reading.
Jennifer Lawrence, who has won an Oscar, earned $25 million for her role in the Adam McKay-directed comedy Don’t Look Up. However, her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, also an Oscar winner, received $30 million for the same film.
Jennifer Lawrence acknowledged that Leonardo DiCaprio earns more at the box office than she does. While she’s happy with her own earnings, she explained to Vanity Fair in December 2020/January 2021 that it’s often awkward to ask for equal pay. She and other women have found that when they do question a pay difference, they’re often told it’s not due to gender, but aren’t given a clear explanation for the discrepancy.
Jennifer Lawrence’s optimistic outlook didn’t come easily. When leaked emails from the 2014 Sony hack showed she was paid less than her male co-stars in the 2013 film American Hustle, it sparked a widespread discussion about unequal pay for women in Hollywood.
Lawrence expressed gratitude for her career, clarifying that financial gain isn’t what motivates her concerns. In a 2017 interview with Channel 4 News, she explained, “It wasn’t about the amount of money I made on films; it was about the broader issues of unfairness and inequality.”
Compared to Leonardo DiCaprio’s earnings, Jonah Hill made a much smaller $60,000 for his work in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street – before taxes and commissions. Meanwhile, the lead actor earned $10 million.
Hill said on The Howard Stern Show in 2014 that he was offered very little money for the role. However, because it was an opportunity to work with director Martin Scorsese, the actor—who had previously appeared in Moneyball—was eager to finalize the agreement quickly, before anyone reconsidered.
According to actor Jonah Hill, he’d be willing to make huge sacrifices – even sell his house and give away all his money – just for the chance to work with director Martin Scorsese. He explained that while films like 22 Jump Street help pay the bills, true fulfillment comes from projects you’re passionate about. He’d gladly repeat the experience and emphasized that working with Scorsese wasn’t about the money; it was about doing something meaningful.
Although the winner of Dancing With the Stars doesn’t receive a cash prize, everyone who reaches the finale gets paid for their time on the show, plus a bonus, according to season 33 winner Jenna Johnson, who partnered with Joey Graziadei.
Johnson explained that winning doesn’t mean a huge payout—it’s more about getting a trophy. She also clarified that dancers are guaranteed a certain number of weeks on the show. While salaries haven’t been officially confirmed by ABC, reports suggest dancers start earning around $1,200 to $1,600 per episode, potentially reaching $100,000 for the entire season. Celebrities, on the other hand, begin with a $125,000 salary, and those who make it to the semifinals and finals can earn up to an additional $50,000.
The actress hinted that the main cast of Friends – including Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc – each earn around $20 million annually from the show’s continued broadcasts. She jokingly told The Times in April 2026 that the reason for this is likely “Because Phoebe Buffay was so great!”
But in actuality, she praised the talents of her costars for their performances.
I thought my performance was decent, but Jennifer and Courteney were incredible! David and Matt had me in stitches, and Matthew—well, he was on another level entirely.
According to Joe Giudice, he and his ex-wife Teresa Giudice barely earned anything for the first season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. He shared on their daughter Gia’s podcast, Casual Chaos, in August 2025 that they were paid around $25,000, which he considered a very small amount. He added that they accepted it at the time.
Creating the first season of the show wasn’t inexpensive. The father of four remembered hosting a large party at his house and estimated the show initially cost him around $150,000.
Oprah Winfrey happily accepted only a little bit of green to star in 1985’s The Color Purple.
In a 2023 interview with Essence, the media billionaire shared that they were initially offered just $35,000 for their role in the film – but it turned out to be the most valuable $35,000 they ever made. They explained that the experience was transformative and taught them a great deal.
Jennifer Lopez made history when she played the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla in the 1997 film Selena. She was the first Latina actress to be paid $1 million for a movie role.
Looking back at her first big film role, Lopez explained to Variety in 2019 that she was very young and didn’t fully understand what was happening. She remembered being thrilled with the million-dollar offer and believing everyone involved was trying to prove a point.
Honestly, it just launched her into another stratosphere of success – we’re talking hundreds of millions! And the craziest part? Sometimes she doesn’t even need to lift a finger – she gets paid just for being her! It’s unbelievable, but totally deserved, obviously.
Jennifer Lopez shared with GQ in 2019 that she pursues projects out of passion, not just for financial gain. She revealed she wasn’t highly paid for Hustlers, and even produced it herself, choosing to invest in her own vision. She explained this is a consistent approach, similar to her hit song Jenny From the Block, where she prioritizes doing what she loves.
Adrien Brody wasn’t motivated by money when he accepted the role in The Brutalist. He played a Hungarian architect struggling with his work in post-World War II America for a salary of $250,000 and ultimately won his second Best Actor Oscar.
Brody told Variety he’s ready for a big studio film, explaining he’s invested everything – both financially and emotionally – into renovating a unique property: a barn resembling a castle in upstate New York.
When asked about his early spending habits after joining Saturday Night Live in 2014, Pete Davidson joked to New York magazine, “Do you know how much we make?” He explained that he earned around $3,000 per episode, adding with a laugh, “So I probably just paid for dinner.”
It’s notable that pay has stayed consistent for new cast members on Saturday Night Live. In 1975, original stars like John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase each made $750 per episode. When adjusted for inflation, this is about $3,300 in 2014 dollars – or roughly $4,428 today (in 2025).
Kenan Thompson earns significantly more than $3,000 per episode of SNL these days, especially since he’s been on the show for a remarkable 22 seasons. However, like everyone, he had to begin with more modest earnings earlier in his career.
In Demi Lovato’s 2024 documentary, Child Star, a former cast member of All That shared that their first paycheck was $800. They joked that, being 12 at the time, it felt like a fortune – practically a million dollars.
It turns out Gilmore Girls’ status as a beloved rewatchable classic is literally priceless.
Lauren Graham, best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore in the original seven seasons of Gilmore Girls and its 2016 revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, recently shared that she doesn’t receive any royalties from Netflix. Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live in March 2025, Graham joked that she’s been compensated with “love and appreciation” instead.
During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Tommy Dorfman revealed details about her salary from 13 Reasons Why. The strike, along with the WGA strike, was partially caused by streaming services like Netflix not consistently offering extra pay to actors and crew after a show became successful.
Dorfman revealed on Threads on July 24th that she earned $29,953.24 for the first season of 13 Reasons Why before her agency, manager (a combined 20% fee), and taxes were taken out. She worked on 8 episodes over six months, doing all the promotion and appearing in key promotional artwork. She also traveled frequently between New York City and San Francisco to film, often working for days without pay and barely qualifying for health insurance.
Okay, seriously, can you BELIEVE it? Apparently, in just four weeks, Season One racked up a whopping 476 MILLION hours watched! That’s insane! It totally proves how amazing this show is and why we absolutely HAD to fight for it. I mean, those numbers speak for themselves, right?
During a conversation with Lauren Graham on his podcast, Dax Shepard shared that he was one of the lowest-paid actors on their show, Parenthood, which aired for six seasons on NBC. He didn’t reveal specific salaries or names, but indicated he earned significantly less than many of his co-stars.
But, the Armchair Expert host stressed that he did not mind.
As a career expert, I’ve always believed in knowing your worth! Before becoming a parent, I made it a habit to discreetly find out what my colleagues were earning. Whether it was directly asking – sometimes subtly – or working through connections like an agent, I always figured out the salary landscape. It’s just smart to know where you stand!
He deliberately avoided finding out details about his family’s history with the company, which allowed him to appreciate the experience, even when he suspected where he stood in terms of salary and position.
In 2005, George Clooney told the Los Angeles Times that he and Grant Heslov each only made one dollar from the film Good Night, and Good Luck. Clooney explained they had to use all the money from his directing and acting salaries to fund the project.
George Clooney’s passion project, a play about CBS News journalist Edward R. Murrow and his courageous reporting in the 1950s, proved to be a success. Clooney made his Broadway debut playing Murrow, and the production ran from June 2025. Even before its official opening on April 3rd, the play broke Broadway records for non-musicals, earning $3.3 million during previews, proving it was much more than just a labor of love.
Christian Bale revealed in a 2022 interview with GQ that he earned very little for his role as Patrick Bateman in the 2000 film American Psycho. He said he was paid only the legal minimum wage because the production crew wasn’t initially enthusiastic about casting him, with director Mary Harron being his primary supporter.
Bale recounted earning so little that he recalled makeup artists on set joking that he was paid less than they were.
No, the Game of Thrones cast didn’t get paid $300,000 per episode, according to Emilia Clarke.
In a 2026 interview with Variety, she revealed they didn’t make a lot of money from the project. She joked, ‘I could have been driving a couple of Porsches if we had!’
The actress, known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen on HBO from 2011 to 2019, shared that her earnings from the show allowed her to pay off her parents’ home loan.
Despite his uncle being Rico, Jon Heder revealed in 2010 that he originally earned just $1,000 for his role in Napoleon Dynamite.
Once his unexpected comedic success took off, he successfully asked for a share of the earnings. He told the New Zealand Herald that they agreed to increase his percentage.
Despite a successful career with acclaimed films like Amistad and Blood Diamond, Djimon Hounsou feels he isn’t paid enough for his work in Hollywood.
The Beninese actor shared with CNN’s Larry Madowo in January 2025 that despite working in film for over twenty years, and even with two Oscar nominations and appearances in many successful blockbusters, he continues to struggle financially.
In her 2024 memoir, Rebel Rising, Rebel Wilson revealed she earned $3,500 for her work on Bridesmaids, but had to use the entire amount to pay her Screen Actors Guild initiation fee. Essentially, she didn’t take home any money for the film.
Still, she wrote, the experience was “everything!”
I’ve been a huge fan of Rebel Wilson for years, and it’s been incredible watching her career take off! It’s amazing to think about how far she’s come – from earning the standard actor rate of around $65,000 for the first Pitch Perfect movie back in 2012, to commanding a $10 million salary for Pitch Perfect 3. She recently shared that she made a total of $20 million from Pitch Perfect 3, Isn’t It Romantic, and The Hustle. Of course, a big chunk went straight to taxes—she said nearly half!—plus her agents and lawyer took their cuts. Even after paying everyone on her team – her publicist, business manager, assistant – she still ended up with what she calls an ‘absolute fortune,’ and honestly, good for her; she deserves it!
In late 2017, Ellen Pompeo successfully negotiated a new contract for her role on Grey’s Anatomy. She earned $575,000 per episode, plus a significant signing bonus and a share of the show’s profits, estimated to be worth between $6 and $7 million.
In a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 48-year-old Pompeo explained that she’s reached a point in her career where she confidently asks for fair compensation. She attributes this to gaining experience with age. Pompeo acknowledges she isn’t considered one of the most ‘in-demand’ actresses, largely because she’s played the same character for 14 years. However, she argues that while many actors can deliver good performances in a show’s first couple of seasons, maintaining that quality for 14 years demonstrates a real skill.
Ellen Pompeo recently shared that she didn’t resent her “Grey’s Anatomy” costar, Patrick Dempsey, despite consistently earning less than him, even though her character was the show’s namesake.
In a March 2025 episode of her podcast, Call Her Daddy, she explained that she felt she deserved equal recognition, considering the show was named after her. She wasn’t upset that someone else received success, but rather that her contributions weren’t valued as much, and she believed that would always be the case.
Jamie Lee Curtis remembers earning $2,000 per week, totaling $8,000, for her first movie, the 1978 film Halloween. As she explained to Rotten Tomatoes in 2018, “Really, no one was paid much at all.”
Although the lead actress made a good amount of money – four figures – director John Carpenter’s friend Nick Castle felt incredibly lucky earning $25 a day for sharing the role of Michael Myers. (Actually, it’s Anthony Moran you briefly see as the killer without his mask, and editor Tommy Lee Wallace also appeared on screen as Michael.)
Looking back, it was a whirlwind,” said Castle, who went to film school with Carpenter at USC. He explained to Vanity Fair in 2018 that he was mainly interested in being on set to learn how movies were made and to get a behind-the-scenes look at directing. “I thought I’d be working for free, but I ended up making $25 a day just for wearing a rubber mask!”
Taraji P. Henson received an Oscar nomination for her role in the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. However, she was still frustrated years later that she only earned $150,000 for the movie, despite initially requesting $500,000.
In a 2021 interview on the Ladies First With Laura Brown podcast, producer Scott Henson explained that Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett each received around $20 million for the film. He noted that large salaries like that were becoming less common at the time, but he believed both actors were worth the amount they earned.
She explained that she was also bringing value to the project and believed her salary request was reasonable, considering how much the film would likely earn from ticket sales. She wouldn’t have accepted less. Taraji P. Henson said she was very disappointed when they initially offered her only $100,000. Ultimately, she ended up with $150,000, but she admitted it was difficult to accept, even though it wasn’t her ideal amount.
Honestly, I’ve been following her journey closely, and it’s amazing how transparent she is about the realities of her income. She gets that people might think $150,000 sounds like a huge amount, and she’s quick to say she’s definitely not ungrateful. But she explained it so clearly – once you factor in taxes, Uncle Sam takes about half, leaving you with around $75,000. Then, before taxes even get to the government, she has to pay her team, which takes another 30 percent. So, after all that, she realistically might only be left with around $40,000. It really puts things into perspective!
Although Cate Blanchett has earned a significant income throughout her career, her role as the elf Galadriel in the highly successful The Lord of the Rings films – which made $2.9 billion worldwide – wasn’t her sole source of income.
When Andy Cohen suggested on Watch What Happens Live in August 2024 that The Lord of the Rings was her most lucrative role, she jokingly replied, “No!” She explained that the cast didn’t actually receive significant paychecks for the film—she said she essentially earned free sandwiches and was allowed to keep her prosthetic ears.
Orlando Bloom, known for his role as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, revealed on The Howard Stern Show in 2023 that he only earned $175,000 for all three films.
Hopefully he also got to keep his ears.
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2026-06-12 19:20