Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth – How Much Does the Comedy Icon Make?

A bona fide household name, Ellen DeGeneres rose to fame thanks to her magnetic personality, witty jokes, and willingness to speak up. Ellen wears many hats – actor, writer, comedian, producer, entrepreneur, talk show host – and she does so with grace and enthusiasm. But what about her fortune? As you might expect, one can’t mention the phrase Ellen DeGeneres net worth without highlighting her many professional accomplishments, thanks to which she became one of the richest self-made women in the US. Read on to find out more about her career, personal life, and income.

Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth: How Rich Is the Hollywood Star?

According to the Ellen DeGeneres net worth Forbes release, the famous Hollywood star is worth 330 million dollars as of June 2019. Last year alone, she made $87M, which puts her at #15 on the list of the highest-paid celebrities. That had a lot to do with her Netflix comedy special, for which she made history, becoming the first woman to receive $20 million for a single set. Titled Relatable, the special was her first in 15 years.

Besides, Ellen also takes home 60% of profits from advertising for her popular daily talk show, with money coming in from her producing gigs and digital platform Ellentube as well. Her salary has steadily increased over the years, which made her a consistent presence in the top paid Hollywood celebrities over the last decade.

Let’s Get to Know Ellen a Little Better

Ellen is a famous American actor and comedian, best known for her TV show Ellen and talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She was born in Louisiana, to parents Elliott and Elizabeth’s family. She is the family’s second child, after her brother, Vance, who is a famous actor, musician, and film producer. Even though Ellen is now popular all over the world, Vance is also a successful artist, with plenty of accomplishments under his belt.

Ellen’s parents filed for divorce when she was only thirteen years old. After that, she moved to Texas with her mother, while Vance remained with their father. Once she became a student, she was forced to take several jobs to help pay the bills – including waitress, retail worker, hostess, house painter, and more.

Her showbiz adventures began when she was a little over 20 years old. She started performing stand-up routines at clubs in the early 1980s and even went on a successful tour around America. Her endless charisma makes Ellen instantly likable – so much so that she was named Showtime’s funniest person in America in 1984. However, her career really started to take off thanks to the sitcom Ellen, which premiered in 1994.

Fun & Interesting Facts About Ellen DeGeneres

• She makes approximately 220,000 dollars per day. She currently earns around $77 million a year for her talk show hosting duties alone.
• As I mentioned above, Ellen has humble beginnings and has had plenty of jobs before gaining success in Hollywood. She also worked as a paralegal, vacuum cleaner salesperson, and bartender.
• As a kid, Ellen dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. As it turns out, she had other hidden talents.
• She even wanted to become an interior designer at one point. That’s the main reason behind why she wrote a book with tips and ideas on how to create your dream house. Titled simply Home, the book shares some of Ellen’s experiences after buying and renovating nearly a dozen homes over the course of multiple decades.
• In 2009, several record labels sued the producers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. They stated that in the part of the show in which Ellen dances with the audience, more than 1,000 songs were played without paying for licenses.

Ellen DeGeneres: Professional Life

Ellen became well-known in comedy circles due to her successful and acclaimed stand-up performances. At first, her appearances were at clubs and coffee houses. She even was the Master of Ceremonies for the Clyde’s Comedy Club in New Orleans in 1980.

In 1986, she appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. That was a first for the show – no other comedian had been invited until that point. Ellen also hosted the Grammy Awards two years in a row, in 1996 and 1997, as well as the Emmys and The Academy Awards.

The actor launched The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2003, to worldwide success and critical praise. She is known for dancing with the audience, giving away prizes, scaring her guests, and overall ensuring that everyone, including at-home viewers, has a tremendous time. Since 2017, she also hosts Ellen’s Game of Games, a game show that airs on NBC.

Ellen also appeared in movies, most notably Finding Nemo and its sequel, Finding Dory. She is a writer as well. Besides Home, she wrote Seriously… I’m Kidding, The Funny Thing Is…, and My Point… And I Do Have One. As an entrepreneur, she has a booming empire, which significantly contributes to the Ellen DeGeneres net worth. The star is known for buying and selling luxury properties, producing shows, and dabbling with various endeavors from launching a record label to trying her luck with a lifestyle brand.

Ellen DeGeneres: Personal Life

DeGeneres was raised in New Orleans as well as Atlanta, Texas. Ellen’s childhood was a typical one. Although she attended communications classes at the University of New Orleans, she eventually dropped out after only one semester. Both her parents are retired now. Her mother was a speech therapist while her father worked as an insurance agent.

Ellen is the first female actress and TV personality who came out as gay in front of the entire nation, on national television. This happened in 1997, during The Oprah Winfrey Show. Unfortunately, she lost a lot of fans and received plenty of backlash as a result. Her career was stunted due to negative tabloid coverage, which also had an impact on Ellen’s mental health. If you were to Google Ellen DeGeneres net worth back then, the results would have been less positive.

Her character on the sitcom Ellen came out as well during Season Four’s The Puppy Episode, one of the highest-rated episodes from the entire series. The show came back for a fifth season but was canceled shortly after.

Ellen started dating Portia de Rossi in 2004. The two got married in August 2008 and have been together ever since.

Ellen DeGeneres: Activism

Besides her incredible career, Ellen is a passionate and outspoken activist. Her coming out changed the world for the better and she has been an activist in the LGTBQ community ever since. She supports the Trevor Project and GLAAD. Furthermore, Ellen is a vegan and militant for animal rights.

Ellen DeGeneres: Achievements

During her successful career, Ellen DeGeneres won several awards. She has numerous Daytime Emmy Awards for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, more than 20 People’s Choice Awards, as well as a Primetime Emmy for comedy writing.

Back in 2016, Ellen received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barak Obama. This is the highest civilian award of the United States, used to recognize people who have made significant contributions to the security or national interests of the country, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

Wrapping It Up

Ellen DeGeneres is a well-known name in the showbiz industry, so her net worth is equally impressive. Her career spans diverse interests, from comedy to entrepreneurship. But above all, Ellen remains a pop culture icon thanks to her warmth, charisma, and feel-good humor. We’re looking forward to watching her grow even more in the following years.

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