Jerry Seinfeld Is *This* Close to Being a Billionaire Thanks to His Incredible Syndication Deals
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Jerry Seinfeld is shockingly rich, and—unlike many rich celebrities who acquired wealth through endorsements and production deals—he did it by keeping things pretty simple. The vast majority of Jerry's wealth comes from the iconic '90s sitcom Seinfeld, both the millions he made while the show was on the air and the millions he made thanks to a lucrative syndication deal that just keeps on delivering. That, combined with stand up specials and the fact that Netflix SIMPLY won't stop handing him money, has Jerry this close to billionaire status. Let's dive in, she said, with tears in her eyes.
Me ^
Seinfeld
Jerry's Per-Episode Pay
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Jerry was earning "just" $20,000 per episode for Seinfeld's first season. He then leveled up to $40,000 per episode for seasons 2 and 3, before renegotiating $100,000 per episode for seasons 4, 5, and 6. At this point Seinfeld was one of the most popular shows on TV, so Jerry got himself a raise to $500,000 per episode for seasons 7 and 8, and finally negotiated a whopping $1 million per episode for season 9 (making him the highest paid person on television at the time).
NBC famously offered (begged) Jerry to return for another season for $5 million per episode, but he turned them down due to wanting to go out when the show was still at its peak.
Early Syndication Earnings
Per Celebrity Net Worth, Jerry and Larry David negotiated ownership stakes of 15 percent, which came in handy when Seinfeld went into syndication in 1998 and they each earned $255 million.
Post-Seinfeld
Touring
Jerry's tours do extremely well. In 2020, Forbes reported that he'd earned $20 million from touring alone.
Seinfeld on Hulu
Before landing on Netflix, Seinfeld found a home on Hulu back in 2015, which reportedly paid $875,000 an episode (or $160 million) for the streaming rights for five years. Their advertising campaign for the deal was truly a choice:
Seinfeld on Netflix
In case you aren't someone who just, like, has Seinfeld on in the background all day/night, the show is currently streaming on Netflix. This deal reportedly cost Netflix $500 million for five years, and Jerry obviously got a huge chunk of that change.
Oh, and speaking of Netflix, the streaming giant paid $20 million for Seinfeld's special 23 Hours to Kill.
WATCH 'SEINFELD' ON NETFLIX HERE
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Back in 2017, Netflix reportedly paid Jerry $100 million for the streaming rights to the show, PLUS a new season, PLUS two stand-up specials.
Jerry's Per-Year Earnings
Jerry is pretty consistently Forbes'top earning comedian thanks to a combination of Seinfeld residuals and stand-up specials, but here are some particularly profitable years for our dude:
2016: Jerry made a reported $43.5 million (side note: his net worth was $670 million at the time).
2017: Jerry made a reported $69 million.
2018: Jerry made a reported $57.5 million.
2019: Jerry made a reported $41 million.
2020: Seinfeld made a reported $51 million.
Me again ^
Jerry's Car Collection
Jerry has over 150 cars worth between $50 to $150 million, according to The Richest. One of his most valuable cars? The 1964 Porsche 911, which is worth over $400,000.
Jerry's Real Estate
Jerry has a $32 million estate in East Hampton, a $4 million townhouse in New York City, and a $4.5 million warehouse in California where he casually stores his cars. So yeah, to be clear, Jerry's cars have a fancier home than most of us.
Jerry Seinfeld's Total Net Worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Jerry has $950 million in the bank, meaning he's "just" $50 million shy of being a billionaire. Seems...inevitable! Now excuse me while I just:
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