Three years after rising to billionaire status, ace film producer and director, Tyler Perry, has achieved another historic first. The actor-director-writer-studio mogul is now the first Black entertainer to make Forbes World’s 10 Highest-Paid Entertainers list for the second consecutive year.
According to Forbes, he made $175 million in 2022 from his films, BET TV shows, and his sprawling production backlot in Atlanta. He sits third on the highest-paid entertainers list compiled by Forbes.
The premier magazine reported that this year’s biggest earners hauled in $1.35 billion, almost half as much as last year’s top 10, which included Jay-Z, “Ye” West, and Bruce Springsteen. Meanwhile, Tyler Perry and South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were the only two people from last year’s list to appear again this year.
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In 2019, the filmmaker threw a star-studded party to commemorate the opening of his $250 million film studio in Atlanta.
The facility was built on land that used to be a Confederate army base where whites fought to keep blacks enslaved in Atlanta. Perry acquired the 330-acre land at Fort McPherson for the studio in 2015, which has 12 fully furnished sound stages for movie productions. Other structures include a replica of the White House, a diner, a mobile home park, and a prison yard.
He recently acquired an additional 37 acres of land at the cost of $8.4 million to expand his film studio.
Sources say the billionaire will likely use the land to add an entertainment, retail, and restaurant district to the production campus. In 2020, he told the Atlanta Business Chronicle of his plan to build a 3,000-seat theater similar to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.
Perry began his career as a playwright, actor, and director; but it hadn’t always been easy for him. At one of the lowest points in his life, he had to sleep in his car. However, that did not stop him from chasing his dream of becoming an elite entertainer; and now, several years later, he owns a multifaceted studio – a remarkable feat worthy of admiration.
Perry has succeeded in creating movies and plays that resonate with primarily black audiences. His “Madea” character and franchise have been one of the most financially rewarding artistic imaginations in American art history.
It was therefore not surprising when he was officially recognized as a billionaire by Forbes in 2020, with an estimated net worth of $1 billion, and his Fortune spanning $300 million in cash and investments, $320 million from his catalog of movies, shows, plays, etc, $280 million for his 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, $60 million for his BET+ equity stake and $40 million in homes and toys.
