Jerry Seinfeld has officially joined the ranks of celebrities who can officially call themselves a billionaire.
Over the weekend, Bloomberg reported that thanks to royalties, syndication deals, and other earnings from “Seinfeld,” which premiered in 1989, Jerry Seinfeld is now worth around $1 billion.
In 2019, Netflix reportedly bought streaming rights to the show for an estimated $500 million, while other syndication deals were reportedly worth an additional $465 million — including Hulu’s in 2015, at $160 million for five years of rights.
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Seinfeld also boasts an impressive real estate portfolio worth roughly $40 million, including a house in the Hamptons and a massive apartment on Manhattan’s coveted Central Park West.
A 2020 report from Forbes claimed that Seinfeld had earned over $20 million from his stand-up comedy tours and that during Seinfeld’s final season in 1998, he was earning $1 million per episode, which made him the highest-paid television actor at the time.
However, a representative for Seinfeld, Amy Jacobs, told Bloomberg that the report is “inaccurate” without further comment.
“Bloomberg News spoke to more than a half-dozen experts in entertainment and finance, including in television rights investment and valuation, to inform the analysis,” the outlet explained of its Seinfeld wealth analysis methodology. “Earnings from sitcom licensing were calculated assuming Seinfeld received a 15% stake in syndication deals, based on analyst and banker estimates.”
“Seinfeld” aired on NBC from 1989 to 1998 for 180 episodes. The “show about nothing” featured four friends in Manhattan and the absurdity of their daily interactions and conversations. The show’s iconic characters continue to be a part of pop culture decades later.
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