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On September 1, Forbes added a new name to its list of Hollywood billionaires: Tyler Perry. With an estimated net worth of $1 billion, Perry joined the six-figure net worth ranks of Oprah Winfrey, George Lucas, John de Mol, and Steven Spielberg.
Source: Forbes
Forbes broke down his empire into five key areas, among which are his cash and investments, his stake in the video-on-demand service BET+, and his sprawling Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
Source: Forbes
Perry, 50, was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He shared a close relationship with his mother, who died in 2009. He is estranged from his father.
Source: Forbes, Seattle Times
Perry and his long-term partner, the model and activist Gelila Bekele, have one son, Aman. He is based in Atlanta.
Source: AJC
Perry had got his start in theater. His first play — I Know I've Been Changed — opened to a mostly empty theatre. Thirteen years and many other plays later, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, in 2005, jumpstarting his Madea franchise. The movie made $22.7 million in its opening weekend.
Source: Tyler Perry, Fox
One of Perry's best-known projects is the movie franchise Madea, in which Perry himself dresses as an elderly Black woman and plays the titular role. In an appearance on the Today show, Perry said that him playing the role happened by accident.
Source: Today
Perry made 11 Madea movies over the course of 15 years. The final installment — A Madea Family Funeral — made $27 million in its March 2019 opening weekend. Perry made the highest-grossing Madea movie, Madea Goes to Jail, exactly a decade prior to that. It brought in $90 million in total box office earnings in 2009.
All of Perry's Madea movies were distributed by studio giant Lionsgate. The films collectively brought in over $1 billion in ticket sales while the production cost of each was approximately $20 million. It is unclear how much Perry has personally made from the franchise.
Source: Variety, New York Times
Perry and Lionsgate had a "first look" deal for eight years from 2008 to 2014. In a first-look deal, the creator owns the copyright to his material.
Source: Variety, Kennington Groff
Since parting ways with Lionsgate, Perry has had a number of much-talked-about partnerships with Viacom, BET's parent company, and the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Source: THR
Forbes estimates that approximately $60 million of his billion-dollar net worth comes from his stake in BET+.
Source: Forbes
In 2017, Perry signed a contract with Viacom, BET's parent company, to produce exclusive original content for BET. The deal is slated to run through 2024 and didn't start until 2019, after Perry's contract with OWN ended.
This multi-year partnership grew into a creating a video-on-demand subscription service in 2019 known as BET Plus, Variety reported. It will feature Perry's extensive library of work as well as BET programming.
Source: Variety
In 2015, Perry forked out $30 million to buy over 300 acres of a former US Army base in Atlanta. Tyler Perry Studios sits on that plot. Forbes estimates the studio is worth $280 million.
Source: Curbed Atlanta,Forbes
IndieWire noted that the land used to be a base for the Confederate Army, a point Perry has acknowledged. In a 2019 BET awards speech, he said, "while you're fighting for a seat at the table, I'll be down in Atlanta building my own."
Marvel megahit "Black Panther" was one of the first movies shot at the studio's new stages, AJC reported. Perry took Architectural Digest on a tour of the property in 2019, which gave viewers an inside look at the studio, which comes with neighborhoods, mansions, and even a replica of the White House.
Source: AJC, Architectural Digest
Perry has built an impressive real estate portfolio over the years that consists of several multimillion-dollar properties in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Wyoming.
Source: Forbes
Perry bought a 34,000-square-foot house in Atlanta in 2007 for $9 million. It has seven bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a helipad, an infinity pool, and a tennis court.
Source: Architectural Digest
He sold the home to David Turner, an entrepreneur and evangelist, nine years later in 2016 for $17.5 million. Steve Harvey bought the house for $15 million in June 2020.
Source: Architectural Digest, Variety
Perry owns a mansion worth $18 million in the swanky Beverly Hills neighborhood. The eight-bedroom and 12-bathroom villa played host to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex earlier this year. It is unclear if they rented the property or stayed there as guests. The couple's representatives declined to comment to Insider at the time.
Source: Business Insider, Insider, Daily Mail
Architectural Digest reported in November 2019 that Perry also owns a log cabin in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and a "previously uninhabited island in the Bahamas" although it's unclear how much they are each worth. Perry told Ellen DeGeneres that he once saw a grizzly bear in the backyard of his Jackson Hole cabin.
Source: Architectural Digest, The Ellen Show
Real estate isn't his only major investment. Perry owns a $150 million private jet that he used to fly water and other necessities to the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.
Source: CNN
Perry is also known to be generous with his wealth. In July 2020, he gifted approximately $50,000 in grocery store gift cards to those to needed help. He's also run The Perry Foundation since 2006. The foundation works on helping those at an economic disadvantage and has a focus on areas like education, human rights, and health.
Source: Today, The Perry Foundation