What’s in His Wallet? Samuel L. Jackson’s Jaw-Dropping Net Worth
The actor gets a big paycheck every time he's in a MCU film, even a small cameo.
One of Samuel L. Jackson’s most famous characters, the hitman Jules Winfield, notoriously had a wallet that was embroidered with the phrase “Bad Motherf---er.” You can buy a replica of the wallet from Pulp Fiction, but you’ll never fill it as fat as Jackson’s personal wallet. The man works, and his net worth shows how handsomely he's paid for that work.
In 2011, Samuel L. Jackson set a Guinness World Record for being the highest-grossing actor of all time. His work as Nick Fury, founder of the Avengers, had a lot to do with that record. But some attention must also be paid to Mace Windu from the Star Wars prequels, his character in Jurassic Park, Frozone in the Incredibles franchise, and the eternal fandom surrounding Pulp Fiction. At the time, Jackson was averaging four movies a year, most of them blockbusters. Read on to learn more about Samuel L. Jackson’s net worth, other records he has or hasn’t broken, and what you really get paid as an Avenger.
What is Samuel L. Jackson’s net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Samuel L. Jackson is worth $250 million. A lot of that money is from his Nick Fury paychecks, but also his spokesman deal with Capital One, and his bicoastal real estate holdings. Jackson and his wife, sports producer LaTanya Richardson bought a mansion in Beverly Park, Beverly Hills from Roseanne Barr. According to Celebrity Net Worth, they paid $8.35 million for the mansion that is most likely now worth up to $30 million. The Jackson family also owned a condo in Manhattan, which they listed at $13 million in 2018.
Jackson met his wife when the two attended Morehouse College. The two have been together for over 40 years (per People)."In the beginning, we always said the most revolutionary thing that Black people could do was stay together, raise their children with the nucleus of having a father and a mother, since everybody likes to pretend that that's not the dynamic of the African American family. That it's just children out here being raised by women, which we know is false," LaTanya said. "In order to change that narrative, we made a decision to say, 'We are going to stay together no matter what. We'll figure it out.'" The pair have even worked together, with LaTanya acting as a producer on Samuel’s projects (and earning her own salary on them).
How much did Samuel L. Jackson make as an Avenger?
Samuel L. Jackson commands a $10 million-$20 million salary for every lead role he performs, per Celebrity Net Worth. But even in Avengers movies in which he briefly cameos, Jackson makes at least $2 million to $3 million. Jackson secured this sweet deal because Marvel used his likeness to create Ultimate Nick Fury without his permission.
"Sam is famously the coolest man alive, and both myself and artist Bryan Hitch just liberally used him without asking any kind of permission,” comics writer Mark Millar said. “You have to remember, this was 2001 when we were putting this together. The idea that this might become a movie seemed preposterous, as Marvel was just climbing out of bankruptcy at the time." Rather than sue Marvel back into bankruptcy, Jackson merely asked that he be cast as Fury in any future projects. And when the MCU took off, that paid off handsomely.
What sponsorships does Samuel L. Jackson have?
Samuel L. Jackson’s biggest spokesman deal is for Capital One. The Hollywood Reporter says he makes eight figures a year off the credit card ads, meaning at least $10 million. Jackson is the spokesman for Capital One’s Quicksilver card. Most of the spots revolve around his rep as a superhero, since Jackson has played two superheroes (three depending on if you count John Shaft), and two supervillains.
The ads pair him opposite some random nerd. In one, he’s skydiving with actor Matt Oberg, who has a different connection to superheroes. While Jackson is in the MCU, Oberg is in the DCAU as Kite-Man. Kite-Man was the one-time fiancé of Poison Ivy in Harley Quinn, until Ivy left him at the altar for Harley. That’s love for you.
In another ad, Jackson is shown haranguing a man about not getting cash back for his action figure collection. The ad has an additional layer of backstory when you learn that Jackson is an avid action figure collector himself, but only for a very specific collection.
Samuel L. Jackson's action figure collection
Samuel L. Jackson has a collection of all the action figures made in his image. "They're in my office, in different places. I have a Frozone doll on my desk that looks down on me as I'm working on the computer,” he told WENN. “I've got a Shaft doll that totally looks like me that's over in the corner looking over at the Mace Windu doll. The first Mace Windu doll didn't look like me at all. Now they look a lot more like me because George Lucas actually scanned all of them which means if he really wanted to make another movie 20 years later he could use my digital image. I actually found some Pulp Fiction characters in a novelty store in Canada.”
Jackson is actually the most action figure-ified actor, according to Gizmodo. The website identified 11 characters that Jackson has played which have gotten the “life in plastic, it’s fantastic” treatment. But it wasn’t always so. “I remember way back when I was in Jurassic Park and everybody had an action figure but me and Wayne Knight,” Jackson said. “I was kind of bummed, but now I'm OK."
Related: Everything You Need To Know About Marvel's Secret Invasion
Samuel L. Jackson’s swearing reputation precedes him
A record that does not belong to Samuel L. Jackson, despite his reputation to the contrary, is that he's the most swearingest actor. That award belongs to Jonah Hill, who beefed up his f-bomb arsenal with The Wolf of Wall Street and raunchy comedies like Superbad. According to Buzz Bingo, Jackson is actually third in overall cussing, after Hill and his Wall Street co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. When Jimmy Fallon told Jackson that he wasn’t the motherf---iest motherf---er, he didn’t take it too well. “That’s bulls---!” he said on The Tonight Show.
Jackson loves his rep as one of the swearingest actors alive. “You know how many actors go through their careers and people can’t repeat one f-----g line they ever had?” he told THR. “I’m a walking T-shirt. It’s better than not being known for anything.”
Next, See 8 Stars Who Found Success Later in Life, Including Samuel L. Jackson