(AllHipHop News) Tyler Perry is now part of a very exclusive list of African-Americans. The actor/writer/director joined Robert Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, and Kanye West in the billionaire club.
Forbes broke down Perry’s billion-dollar empire. The 51-year-old creator’s assets include $300 million from cash/investments, $40 million from homes, $60 million from his stake in BET, $320 million from his content library, and $280 million from his Atlanta studio complex.
From “poor as hell” to billionaire: Here's how Tyler Perry changed show business forever https://t.co/9ZIe370Lq6 by @MadelinePBerg pic.twitter.com/dzgb4C7EHh
— Forbes (@Forbes) September 1, 2020
“You got to understand, I had no mentors,” Perry told Forbes. “My father doesn’t know anything about business, and my uncles and mother, they know nothing about this. I didn’t go to business school. Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned in progress.”
Perry’s career began by producing stage plays such as I Know I’ve Been Changed, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, and Diary of a Mad Black Woman. He went on to create films and television shows such as Madea’s Family Reunion, For Colored Girls, Acrimony, House of Payne, Meet the Browns, and The Oval.
In 2019, the New Orleans-born mogul hosted a grand opening for his Tyler Perry Studios which sits on 330 acres. A-list celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Viola Davis, Phylicia Rashad, Ava DuVernay, and Halle Berry were on hand at the event to dedicate 12 soundstages to Black entertainment icons.