American actor, writer, producer, comedian and director, Tyler Perry, is officially a member of the Three Comma Club. The actor and entrepreneur is now worth a billion dollars, according to a Forbes publication which arrived at the conclusion by breaking down Perry’s assets, also detailing his rise from being poor as hell, to rich and powerful. The entertainment mogul joins a group of black billionaires like Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, JayZ, and perhaps Kanye West. The 51-year-old entertainer owns the entirety of his creative output, including more than 1,200 episodes of television, 22 feature films, and at least two dozen stage plays, as well as a 330-acre studio lot at the edge of Atlanta’s southern limits. He used that control to leverage a deal with ViacomCBS that pays him $150 million a year for new content, and gives him an equity stake in BET+, the streaming service it debuted last September. Forbes estimates Perry has earned more than $1.4 billion in pretax income since 2005, which he used to buy homes in Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and Jackson Hole, as well as two private jets. Today, Forbes estimates his net worth at $1 billion, with a clear path to future membership in The Forbes 400. Most entertainers never get a shot at ownership. For Tyler Perry, it was a starting point, with hollywood’s resistance fueling a billion-dollar empire. Here’s a short breakdown of his fortune. In 2005, Perry and Lionsgate began pumping out Madea movies. 11 of them over
[More]
