George Lucas is the richest movie mogul in Hollywood, according to a new survey published by Wealth-X.
According to the list, George Lucas comes in at #1 with a personal net worth of $5.4 billion. That shouldn't be surprising considering Lucas' involvement in all six Star Wars films, his control over the film's merchandising, and his recent sale of LucasFilm to Disney for $4 billion. And that isn't even Lucas' only huge franchise: he also created the iconic Indiana Jones franchise with Steven Spielberg.
It should be noted, though, that Lucas has donated a tremendous amount of his earnings to charity. The director donated a substantial portion of his profits from the Disney sale to charity, according to Forbes. Lucas founded the George Lucas Educational Foundation, dedicated to improving K-12 education.
So although Lucas tops the list of richest Hollywood moguls, he is also near the top of the list of most generous philanthropists.
What might be surprising to some is that the #2 name on the list is someone most people have never heard of: Arnon Milchan, an Israeli film producer who is the owner of New Regency Films and who has produced films such as Once Upon a Time in America and Pretty Woman. Though we don't see them on the red carpet, never underestimate the role of the producer in Hollywood.
At #3 on the list is Steven Spielberg, worth $3.3 billion, who has made a tremendous amount from his library of films and from his ownership of Dreamworks Studios.
Other notable names on the list include Jerry Bruckheimer at #8, worth $850 million, and James Cameron at #10, worth $670 million. That's a little surprising considering Cameron has directed the two highest grossing films of all time, but he doesn't have quite as extensive of a library as Lucas or Spielberg.
Also interesting to note is that the majority of people on the list are over 50, and there is not a single woman on the list. That's kind of unfortunate, and hopefully something that will change when similar lists are published in the future and Hollywood becomes less of a boys club.
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com