George Lucas is famously known for being the brain behind two of the most successful film franchises in movie history, Stars Wars and Indiana Jones. This success has made him one of the most successful film directors in the business—not to mention one of the wealthiest.
However, aside from the entertainment business, George Lucas also had other ventures that catapulted him to the billionaire status. So, what made this entertainment genius incredibly rich?
George Lucas’ Climb to the Ladder of Success
The screenwriter became a photography and filmmaking enthusiast when he was in college. Just like any other rookie, he started small by filming car races and other clips with an eight mm camera.
He then transferred to the University of Southern California and became a friend of fellow entertainment genius Steven Spielberg. From there, he won accolades, including a Warner Brothers student scholarship.
His 1967 film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB became his full-length feature film, THX 1138.
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Though it was poorly received, his next projects became incredibly successful. American Graffiti earned several accolades, $115 million in domestic revenue and $140 million worldwide.
In fact, with a budget of only $777,000, it was deemed the most profitable movie in history.
His next film, Star Wars, became a much bigger hit and sealed George Lucas’ status as a Hollywood movie legend.
The movie became a global phenomenon when it hit the big screen in 1977. It was followed by two equally successful sequels in the 1980s and a trilogy in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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The sequel trilogy and spinoff movies came when he sold the movies’ rights to Disney. The franchise reportedly earned more than $12 billion in revenue worldwide.
George Lucas’ Other Ventures
Although George Lucas only directed a few movies, he also served as a producer, executive producer and writer. He’s only known for the successes of Body Heat, Labyrinth, The Land Before Time and The Indiana Jones movie franchise.
He once again worked in the latter movie with Harrison Ford and even collaborated with Steven Spielberg, earning $2 billion at the box office.
He also founded THX, Skywalker Sound, Industrial Light and Magic and LucasArts as subdivisions of his parent company, Lucasfilm Ltd.
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Selling Star Wars Rights to Disney
George Lucas announced that he sold his entire Lucas company to Disney for $4.1 billion in cash and stock.
He reportedly received $2.21 billion in cash and 37 million shares of stock, probably earning him about $64 million in dividend payments per year.
So, from $3.3 billion net worth, his fortune instantly doubles to $7.3 billion in just a night, per Celebrity Net Worth.
Now, his fortune is a whopping $10 billion, making him the richest celebrity, director, and person in the entertainment industry in general.
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