Will Smith Net Worth: What Are The Total Earnings of Actor Will Smith?

By Mohit Kamboj On Aug 13, 2022

Will Smith has been one of the world’s most recognizable faces as an actor, producer, and rapper for over two decades. The actor’s current wealth stands at $350 million as of this writing.

Will Smith earns at least $40 million yearly from his many activities, and in some years he has made as much as $80 million. Will made $45 million, for instance, from June 2019 through June 2020, mostly from film salaries.

In his heyday in the 2000s, Will made $20 million to $30 million per film. Recently, he has been raking in multimillion-dollar paychecks from Netflix for just one film. From what we hear, he made $20 million for the Netflix movie “Bright” in 2017 and another $35 million for the sequel. As a result “King Richard,” made $60 million (plus bonuses) and won an embarrassing Academy Award.

He has also achieved some degree of fame on the internet. With over 45 million Instagram followers, 8 million YouTube subscribers, and 30 million TikTok fans, Will is a social media phenomenon.

Will Smith Early Life

Will Smith began his life in a working-class family in West Philadelphia, where he was born and reared. His father was a school administrator, while his mother worked as an engineer at a refrigerator company. One of his early pals was a man named Jeffrey Allen Townes, who grew up to become a well-known neighborhood DJ and was later recognised by his stage name, DJ Jazzy Jeff.

They didn’t know each other before the fateful moment when Jeff required a hype guy for his performance down the street. Smith leaped at the opportunity, and there was instant chemistry between the two of them. They would go on to establish a band that would one day be known as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

They got the attention of Russell Simmons, who was working at Def Jam Records in 1986, and he signed them to a contract. In 1987, they published their first studio album, titled “Rock the House.”

The album achieved gold status. 1988 saw the release of the group’s second studio album, titled “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper.” It was such a massive success that more than three million copies were sold. In their career together, the team would end up releasing a total of five albums.

Will got the very first Grammy ever given out for the genre of music known as rap in the year 1988.

IRS Problem

Will Smith’s earnings from his profession as a musician totaled close to ten million dollars between the years 1988 and 1990. Will proceeded to spend his money as if it were going out of style because he had the assumption that the good times would continue on indefinitely.

He bought homes, automobiles, clothes, jewelry, and a lot of other things. He didn’t just indulge himself; he went out of his way to indulge his family, friends, and colleagues as well. Unfortunately, just around the time, he won the Grammy, radio audiences were starting to get sick of Will and Jazzy Jeff, so they began to tune out their favorite duo. Their tunes that were considered “radio friendly” were all of a sudden being mocked as “rap sell-outs.”

Will was not paying his taxes during these prosperous times, which is another unpleasant fact. Will was informed when he was 21 years old that he had failed to pay taxes totaling $2.8 million over his years of making a lot of money. After accounting for the effects of inflation, this equates to somewhere near $6 million worth of debt. During an interview in 2018, Smith reflected on his difficult years by saying:

“Being famous and broke is a horrible combo because you’re still famous and people recognize you, but they recognize you while you’re sitting next to them on the bus,” said one person. “Being famous and destitute is a shitty combination because it’s a shitty combination.”

Around this time, Will was approached by the mega-producer Quincy Jones about appearing in a television show. Quincy Jones was interested in Will’s acting abilities. Will’s initial reaction to the suggestion that he should star in a television sitcom was one of adamant opposition. He was petrified that this would make him out to be an even bigger hypocrite than he already was. On the other hand, the employment came with a sizable payout, so there’s something.

Will Smith Film Star

In 1993, following the success of his sitcom, Will was paid $500,000 to star in the critically acclaimed film “Six Degrees of Separation.”

In 1995, he co-starred in the successful action comedy “Bad Boys,” for which he received a $2 million paycheck. A sequel was made years later, and he made $20 million for his appearance in it.

Biggest Paychecks

Will made a total of $200 million in movie wages and bonuses throughout the course of the 20 years that span from 1993 to 2013. As of the time this article was written, his earnings from movies are easily over $300 million, and they could be substantially higher if some of the reported backend arrangements are accurate.

Will’s highest known payday came in 2013 when he got $20 million in upfront payment and $80 million in backend points from Men in Black 3 as a result of his 10% cut of the gross.

This was the year that Men in Black 3 was released. Reportedly, he was also responsible for 20% of the revenue generated by Bad Boys 2, Hancock, and Pursuit of Happyness.

Even said, it is not completely out of the question that he had 20% of the net earnings rather than the gross profits, which would result in drastically different numbers. If he really does have gross points, then he would have earned a total of $355.0 million only from those four movies.

Will made $25 million in 2007 thanks to the success of I am Legend.

The up-front payment of $28 million that he received for his work in I, Robot was by far his largest. For his role in the 2018 Netflix original film Bright, he was paid $20 million. Will reportedly received $35 million from Netflix in order to continue playing his role in Bright 2.

Advance payment to Smith in the amount of $20 million was made for the 2021 film “King Richard.” Because of COVID, Warner Brothers decided to release the film only through the streaming service HBO Max rather than giving it a significant run in theatres. Warner Brothers decided to compensate Smith for the millions of dollars he would have made from the backside points on movie tickets by awarding him a bonus of $40 million. That took his total earnings from the movie up to sixty million dollars.

Will Smith was paid an advance of $35 million for his role in the movie “Emancipation.”

Will Smith Music Career

In addition to his cinematic career, Smith never stopped doing music, releasing four albums under his own name, two of which have reached platinum status. Smith won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2000 and 2001 for his renditions of “Men in Black” and “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”

Will Smith Personal Life

Will and Jada Pinkett, who have been married since 1997, are the parents of two children. Their children Jaden Smith and Willow Smith are both successful actors and musicians in their own right. In addition, he is the father of a son named Trey who he shares with his first wife, Sheree Amino.

Will Smith Property

Together, Will and Jada have amassed a portfolio of roughly ten homes across the country. Some of their most notable current and former properties are as follows:

Will and Jada paid $7.5 million in 1999 for a 100-acre estate in the hills above Malibu and Calabasas. Over the course of the following year, they were able to purchase enough adjacent parcels to create a continuous 150 acres.

This expansive estate has it all: the main home that spans 20,000 square feet, many guest cottages, a private lake, a riding arena, trails for horses, stables, tennis courts, and more. The home also has a recording studio where Willow Smith created her breakthrough single “Whip My Hair,” a meditation room, and a retractable skylight in the main living space.

The backyard of Jada and Will Smith’s home features a man-made lake, a swimming pool styled after a lagoon, volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts, plus a number of facilities to relax in when you’re not engaging in an active activity. After falling in love with actor Gene Hackman’s Santa Fe home, they decided to create their own in the same style.

The project, which was years in the making due to environmental concerns and regulatory difficulties, actually engaged Hackman’s Santa Fe architect. They put the home on the market in stealth mode in 2013 for $42 million, but it went unsold. It is estimated that between $50 and $70 million is the current value of this property.

Will and Jada bought a mansion in Kauai in 2011 for $3.5 million, then in 2017, they sold it for $12 million. For $10 million, they purchased the multi-unit building in 2015. Another 7-acre coastal Hawaiian estate was sold in 2011 for $20 million to Ekaterina Rybolovlev, daughter of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

They also have a 9,200 square foot ski chalet in Park City, Utah, and a 9,000 square foot property in a gated enclave in Hidden Hills, California.

Will and Jada bought a mansion in Hidden Hills, California, with 10,400 square feet and spent just over $11 million on it in September of 2021.

We estimate that the Smiths’ global real estate holdings are valued at least $100 million.