Star Wars Creator George Lucas Named Richest Celebrity 2024

Star Wars creator George Lucas has been named the richest celebrity in 2024. 

In a new list released by Forbes ranking the 14 wealthiest celebrity billionaires of today, George Lucas scored the no. 1 spot with an estimated net worth of $5.5 Billion. Right behind Lucas was his longtime buddy and Indiana Jones collaborator Steven Speilberg, with $4.8B.

The blurb about Lucas explains that "the Star Wars director, who debuted as a billionaire in 1997, is the richest celebrity thanks in large part to his production company LucasFilm, which he sold to Disney in 2012 for more than $4 billion in cash and stock." 

It's a somewhat ironic result to have Lucas and Spielberg topping this list: the pair started out as 'avant-grade' rebels of cinema, making their own style of genre films and/or dramatic prestige pictures. Lucas had a breakthrough hit with Star Wars, while he and Spielberg partnered to make Indiana Jones one of the biggest franchise characters in movies, and suddenly the two rebels were two of the biggest big-money power-players in Hollywood. Lucas will forever be the poster child for the indie-filmmaker-turned-mogul path, while much of Spielberg's wealth comes from being a director to takes big swings and always bets on his results, rather than relying on standard upfront payment ("I'm a gambler, I haven't taken a salary for almost a decade now," he previously told Forbes). 

Furthermore, it's funny to see Lucas and Spielberg at the top of the list, still managing to cash in on modern Hollywood. It was a decade ago now that the two filmmakers were the most openly vocal in their analysis that the movie business was going to undergo the radical change of theaters becoming venues for massive blockbuster franchise films, while mid-budget films and indies would primarily live on home viewing platforms like streaming. That stark prediction didn't prevent the pair from still having lucrative careers in the biz.  

Here's a breakdown of the rest of Forbes' list of celebrity billionaires: 

Forbes' Biggest Celebrity Billionaires List (2024) 

1. Geroge Lucas – $5.5B
2. Steven Spielberg – $4.8B
3. Michael Jordan – $3.2 B
4. Oprah Winfrey – $2.8B
5. Jay-Z – $2.5B 
6. Kim Kardashian – $1.7B
7. Peter Jackson – $1.5 B
8. Tyler Perry – $1.4 B
9. Rihanna – $1.4B
10. Tiger Woods – $1.3B
11. LeBron James – $1.2B
12. Magic Johnson $1.2B
13. Dick Wolf – $1.2B
14. Taylor Swift – $1.1B