Star Wars creator George Lucas built an empire upon his galaxy far, far away, and it has gone on to land him atop the list of Hollywood’s wealthiest billionaires. The report from Forbes states that Lucas debuted as a billionaire in 1997, and owes his fortune in large part to his production company LucasFilm, which he sold to Disney in 2012 for more than $4 billion in cash and stock. He is now worth $5.5 Billion.
Steven Spielberg comes in at the number two slot with $4.8 Billion, and he landed on the list in 1994 as the first director to make the cut. After a string of hits that included Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, it makes sense. “I’m a gambler,” he told Forbes that year. “I haven’t taken a salary for almost a decade now.” Instead, he negotiated to get a percentage of gross sales for his movies, and he still gets a slice of every ticket sold at Universal theme parks thanks to the Indiana Jones series.
It’s cool to see two guys who started out as young filmmakers with a dream make it this far. They have been champions for up and coming directors, and have given so much to the fans. They deserve their spots on that list.
