The world’s richest celebrity has been revealed. It’s a sci-fi director and producer whose biggest franchise is about to continue.
Science fiction is anything but a breadless art. At least that’s true for perhaps the genre’s most famous director: Star Wars creator George Lucas was recently named the world’s richest celebrity by Forbes magazine. That’s surprising when you consider who he leaves behind
Sci-fi money shower? George Lucas is richer than Steven Spielberg and Taylor Swift
Forbes puts Lucas’ wealth at 5.5 billion US dollars. This puts him well ahead of his friend and colleague Steven Spielberg in second place, but also puts him ahead of athletes such as Michael Jordan (3rd place) and media personalities such as Kim Kardashian (6th place). Even superstar Taylor Swift only comes 14th on the list
George Lucas’ last directorial work: Watch the trailer for Stars Wars: Episode III:
The celebrity list sets itself apart from Forbes’ regular list of the richest people, which is topped by businessmen like Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg. Where exactly the industry magazine draws the line between artists and entrepreneurs is not entirely clear.
After all, Lucas did not acquire his wealth directly through the popularity of his films. Rather, he moved up the list by several billion mainly through the sale of his company Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012. His last directorial work was Star Wars: Episode III in 2005. It is not known how much he will earn from the upcoming Star Wars films, for which he is neither director nor producer.
