One of the Secrets to Dwayne Johnson's Success? His Ex-Wife

Jordan Zakarin
·Writer
Updated


Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and ex-wife/business partner Dany Garcia in 2009

In a new profile of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Fortune, the actor-wrestler-marketing machine pulls back the curtain on his growing empire. At the center of it is 7 Bucks Productions. Johnson runs the Florida-based production company with his ex-wife, Dany Garcia. (The 7 Bucks name comes from the amount of money he had in his pocket before he started wrestling.)

Johnson and Garcia, who have a 13-year-old daughter, divorced in 2007, after ten years of marriage. "We will continue to advance and manage our business interests, our philanthropic efforts and most importantly the raising of our child together, as a loving team," the pair told People magazine at the time. “We’ve been fortunate enough to spend the last 17 years together as a couple and look forward to spending the rest our lives together as best friends and business partners.”

They kept their word, too, founding 7 Bucks in 2012. Business is booming for Johnson and Garcia, with several TV series on the way. Perhaps most notably, they’re executive-producing an HBO show with Mark Wahlberg called Ballers, in which Johnson will play an athlete working to become an agent. Between that series, the Fast & Furious saga, his role as Black Adam in DC’s Shazam, and his lead role in the Baywatch reboot, Johnson will be busy for quite a while.

"Life is amazing. Life is f--king messy. Life is what you make of it,” Johnson told Fortune, inadvertently creating a new quote for edgy Pinterest users around the world. “I’m happy to say we’re all together working nicely, but it took a lot of work. With Dany, it was going through the sludge of divorce and then having the clarity to say, ‘We’re still friends, we respect each other, let’s do business. And let’s do big business.’”

Johnson and his longtime girlfriend Lauren Hashian at the Hercules premiere in July

In fact, they’re so cool that while Johnson has been living with his girlfriend Lauren Hashian, Garcia married trainer Dave Rienzi, who’s now Johnson’s strength and conditioning coach — and you know how much time The Rock must spend with that guy.

Photo credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images, Rodriguez/WireImage