According to Forbes, Tyler Perry has joined the list of Hollywood billionaires.
The American business magazine revealed that Perry’s networth is $1 billion and that he has earned over $1.4 billion in pretax income since year 2005. Also, Forbes reported that the filmmaker owns the whole of his creative output that includes over 1,200 television episodes, 22 films, a minimum of two dozen plays and a 330-acre studio lot in Atlanta.
While talking to Forbes, the filmmaker said he learnt the value that is attached to ownership at a young age. He said: “My father was a subcontractor, and he would get paid on Fridays and be so happy that he had made $800.
“But I would watch the man that owned the house sell it and make $80,000. So I always knew that there was more power in the man that owned the house rather than the man that actually was working on it and building it. So I always wanted to be the guy that owned the house.
“Ownership for me was easy because I was underestimated. They said, ‘Sure, you can own it.’ They didn’t think it’d be worth anything.”
While talking about his movies’ lack of diversity, he said: “I wanted to foster an environment where minorities and women and LGBTQ, anybody who wanted to come and work and do a great job was welcome.
“What I found is, if you invest in the underdog, if you invest in the people who haven’t had the opportunity, the level of gratitude and understanding for what is happening for them is so powerful. It’s just wonderful.”
Perry joins the list of Black billionaires which includes Oprah Winfrey, Robert F. Smith, Kanye West, Michael Jordan, David Stewart and Jay-Z.
Also, it was reported that his movies alone have generated around nearly $1 billion to date and he owns full rights to them.
