Have you ever found yourself puzzled about Tyler Perry’s net worth? Tyler Perry is a director, actor, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist in America with an estimated net worth of $1 billion as of 2023.
He has directed and produced over 30 films, 20 stage productions, and 8 television shows throughout his career. Meanwhile, he is popular for his iconic Madea character.
All of his assets are gained from his hard work as he grew up poor. Here we will talk about how he earned his wealth from scratch as well as what we can learn from his success story.
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Early Life
Tyler Perry was born to Emmitt Perry Sr. and Willie Maxine Perry on September 13, 1969, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Unknown to some, his birth name was Emmitt Perry Jr.
His father worked as a carpenter, and his mother was a preschool teacher. Perry has three siblings. Two sisters: Yulanda Wilkins, Melva Porter, and a brother who is a director like himself named Emmbre Perry.
Emmitt Perry Sr. was an alcoholic who physically abused Tyler’s mother. It’s unknown if Tyler’s siblings suffered physical abuse because they haven’t mentioned any childhood abuse publicly as he has. Tyler Perry is the father of one. A boy was born in 2014 named Aman Tyler Perry. Who he had with his ex-girlfriend Model Gelila Bekele.
Becoming Tyler
Emmitt Perry Jr. legally changed his first name to Tyler when he was sixteen. As a way to disassociate himself from his father. He dropped out of high school but earned his GED.
What may surprise some is that Tyler never was formally trained as a writer or director. His writing began as a therapeutic means where he could solve his problems while being able to determine the end of his story.
Career Development
He burst upon the scene in January of 2001 with his stage play titled, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” That same stage play was made into his first feature film under the same name and released in February of 2005.
Perry is known for releasing his films without prior screenings from Film Critics. He gained a ton of recognition early in his career because he was unique in promoting his films without any backing from major Hollywood Studios.
Start His Journey in Atlanta
Around 1990 Tyler Perry moved from New Orleans to Atlanta, Georgia. Two years after the move to Atlanta he bet on himself and took his entire life savings of $12,000 to finance a play that he wrote and performed in titled, “I Know I’ve Been Changed.” The play told the story of two adult survivors of child abuse. The play was performed at a community theater in Atlanta.
The play was a financial failure and the reviews were not good at the beginning. Perry continued to work as a waiter, bartender, used car salesman, and bill collector at a law firm to help finance his playwright career. He even stumbled upon a period of being homeless and sleeping in his car.
While pursuing his dream of becoming a successful Playwright. He got himself back onto his feet scrimping and saving. After six years of retooling the play, he toured with it successfully in the Urban Theater Circuit from 1998 to 2000.
Film
In 2005 with a springboard of having sold over $100 million in tickets to his stage shows. Perry raised a 5.5 million budget to fund his first move, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” Part of the money funded for the movie came from his stage show earnings. What makes his movies successful is that they contain themes of difficult family relationships that are healed through understanding.
Television
After gaining notoriety from his second movie “Madea’s Family Reunion” Perry produced, “Tyler Perry’s House of Pain” which was a television sitcom that ran from 2006 to 2014 on TBS. During the show’s run, Perry would sometimes act in it. He portrayed a character named “Madea” who is probably the most famous character that he has ever portrayed.
Perry was an executive producer for the Oscar-Nominated Movie ‘Precious’ in 2009. He has received many NAACP Awards and had his star put on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019. He partnered with Oprah Winfrey in 2012 to bring scripted television to Winfrey’s OWN Channel.
Studio
In 2015 Perry became only the 2nd African-American to own a major film studio. Tyler Perry Studios as it is called. Lies on 330 acres of land which used to be Fort Mcpherson in Atlanta, Georgia. Not only is it used for the work that he produces with the OWN Channel. “The Walking Dead” also shoots at Tyler Perry Studios.
BET+
In 2019 Perry started working with and became a co-owner of BET. He began developing content for the Channel and brought forth shows like “The Oval” and “Sistas” which debuted that same year. He is responsible for producing at least ninety TV Shows per year until 2024.
Tyler Perry’s Net Worth in 2023
Tyler Perry has a total wealth of $1 billion, which is mainly from the income of film, television, studio, BET+, and real estate.
Perry has made around $500 million from his movies. With $30 million of that worth being made from sales of videos of his stage shows. He has garnered an additional $20 million from sales of his merchandise. He signed a $200 million deal with TBS back in 2007 for producing the television series, “The House of Payne.”
He has real estates in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Wyoming.
What Can Tyler Perry Teach Us?
Watch Every Penny
Tyler Perry’s success is built on discipline. Breaking into the industry he didn’t spend money on things that he did not need. Even without high-paying jobs because in his words, “It was expensive to be poor.” Before his riches, he cashed his checks at Check Cashing Stores. The amount that was taken from his checks to get them cashed taught him this was valuable.
Focus
Don’t be overly ambitious. Find something and stick with it. Become an expert in one thing. Instead of trying to be good at several things. Perry focused on his writing. Sure. You’ll go through your ups and downs with a singular focus. But the benefits that can be reached from that focus on one as opposed to focusing on many.
You can know more about him here: https://tylerperry.com/
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