George Lucas just left out Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and also Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey and Taylor Swift. Image source: Lucasfilm
George Lucas is the richest celebrity in the world – at least if you Forbes asks. The Star Wars creator tops the US business magazine's latest list of the 14 celebrities with the most money in their bank accounts.
How much is George Lucas right now value
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George Lucas reigns supreme there with a whopping net worth $5.5 billion at the top, followed directly by Steven Spielberg with “only” 4.8 billion. The decisive factor for George Lucas' fortune is, of course, the Star Wars trademark, which the (former) filmmaker no longer owns.
Lucas sold the rights to Star Wars and his production company Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 for more than $4 billion. It is not known how much Lucas still earns from new films, TV series and merchandising sales. Under Disney, the first new Star Wars film opened in cinemas in 2015 with Episode 7 – The Force Awakens.
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The first trailer for Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens
But even before that, Lucasfilm was able to boast some pretty impressive fortunes, having secured the merchandising rights to the very first Star Wars in 1977. A move that would turn out to be a veritable goldmine for the creator of Star Wars.
By the way, in case you're wondering: Forbes distinguishes between the richest celebrities and the richest entrepreneurs in two lists. On The latter For example, you can find business people like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk. How exactly Forbes differentiates between celebrities and entrepreneurs is not known.
George Lucas last directed a feature film in 2005, when Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith was released. Since then, Lucas has stayed in the background and only appears as a producer and consultant on new Star Wars films and series. He always gave Disney or his protégé Dave Filoni a helping hand.
Are you interested in who else is on the Forbes list of the 14 richest celebrities in 2024: George Lucas is followed by Steven Spielberg, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian and Peter Jackson, among others.
You can find out more about what is currently happening in the world of Star Wars and what new films and TV series await us under the links above.