Vanessa Hudgens Is So Rich Thanks to ‘High School Musical’

Remember when Vanessa Hudgens sang “Start of Something New” and was all, “The world looks so much brighter with you by my side”? Turns out, she was actually talking about her bank account, not Zac Efron, which makes sense because she’s loaded. I mean, obviously, right? Vanessa has been acting since she was a kid, became mega-famous thanks to High School Musical, is the star of her own Netflix franchise, is basically the unofficial mascot of Coachella, does a ton of Instagram sponcon, and has made some very savvy real estate investments. Let’s dive into some specifics.

How Much Did Vanessa Earn for High School Musical?

The cast of High School Musical was relatively unknown when the first movie came out, so their salaries (which haven’t been reported on) were presumably pretty low. But then HSM became a cultural phenomenon and cash cow for Disney, and the cast suddenly became rich. While Vanessa’s exact salary is unknown, Celebrity Net Worth reports that her costar Zac made $3 million for High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Let’s hope Baby V made the same!

What About The Princess Switch?

Netflix makes a point not to publicize how much it pays celebrities, but now seems like a good time to point out that Daniel Craig got $100 million from the streaming giant for a pair of Knives Out sequels. It’d better take The Princess Switch: Switched Again just as seriously, lemme tell you!

Her Real Estate Portfolio Is Huge

Celebrity Net Worth reports that Vanessa has flipped several homes in her day—including a mansion in Studio City that she purchased for $2.75 million and sold for $3.15 million and a home in Los Feliz that she purchased for $4.9 million and sold (to Ronan Farrow!) for $6.7 million. Casual tour incoming:

That said, apparently, owning so many homes is stressful (a problem I…cannot relate to). As Vanessa told Cosmopolitan UK back in 2020, “I definitely feel more anxiety now than I ever have in my entire life. You become an adult and shit gets real. I have two mortgages and I’m spending way more money than I would like to spend—I think all of that bullshit really takes a toll on your well-being. Paying your taxes—all of this adult shit that you don’t have to deal with when you’re a kid, you can live young and free, then it all kind of…goes away.”

Vanessa also told InStyle that she’s overspent in the past, saying, “I bought my home when I was 19 years old. You’re starting from scratch—you have to get curtains, you have to get furniture, you have to buy all of that stuff. And my mom reminded me how much money I spent on curtains in my house and I was like, ‘Why would you let me spend that much money on curtains?!’ Stuff like that, I think I splurged on because I didn’t really know how hard you have to work to make sure that you have an income. I mean, I used to buy Louis Vuitton bags all the time, and it was kind of a mess.”

She Makes Money From Insta

Vanessa’s per-post rate isn’t known (she isn’t on Hopper HQ’s top 100 earning celebs), but considering the amount of sponsored content she does, gonna assume her engagement is high and she could be making as much as $50,000 to $100,000 per post. Potentially even more when she collabs with a major brand like Fabletics!

So, What Is Vanessa Hudgens’s Total Net Worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, that’d be $18 million! As for how she spends her money, Vanessa told InStyle that she never takes it for granted, saying her parents taught her “that it’s hard to come by, honestly.” Truer words.

You Might Also Like

• Here’s What NOT to Wear to a Wedding

• Meet the Laziest, Easiest Acne Routine You’ll Ever Try