How Arnold Schwarzenegger Became A Billionaire

Forbes

Arnold Schwarzenegger has played many roles in his 76 years: bodybuilder, box office star, bureaucrat, and now, billionaire.   The Terminator and Kindergarten Cop star used his muscles and charm to be crowned Mr. Universe four times, then conquer Hollywood and win California’s top political office. Along the way he has spun his fame into fortune. The 76-year-old star is now worth more than $1 billion, according to Forbes’ estimates.              Schwarzenegger initially struggled to secure acting roles because of his thick accent. But, between 1970 and 2019, he churned out around 50 films, which made $5.5 billion at the box office.   Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2024/05/30/how-arnold-schwarzenegger-became-a-billionaire/?sh=37d2ee1274fb  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 [EXPLOSION]

00:03 [TIRES SCREECHING]

00:05 Arnold Schwarzenegger has played many roles in his 76 years--

00:10 bodybuilder, box office star, bureaucrat, and now billionaire.

00:15 Schwarzenegger was born into a poor family

00:17 in the tiny Austrian village of Tal,

00:20 where he later discovered his father had

00:22 been a member of the Nazi party.

00:24 The Terminator and Kindergarten Cop star

00:26 went on to use his muscles and charm

00:28 to be crowned Mr. Universe four times,

00:30 then conquer Hollywood and win California's

00:33 top political office.

00:35 Along the way, he has spun his fame into fortune.

00:38 The 76-year-old star is now worth more than $1 billion,

00:42 according to Forbes estimates.

00:44 Schwarzenegger initially struggled

00:46 to secure acting roles because of his thick accent.

00:49 But between 1970 and 2019, he churned out

00:52 around 50 films, which made $5.5 billion at the box office.

00:58 He was early to negotiate a cut of sales.

01:00 For his blockbuster 1988 comedy Twins,

01:04 Schwarzenegger pocketed nearly 20% of gross receipts,

01:07 or about $35 million.

01:10 In all, Schwarzenegger made about $500 million

01:13 in paychecks and profit-sharing deals from his movies.

01:17 By his own estimate, he gave up another $200 million

01:20 in Hollywood income to serve as California's governor

01:23 from 2003 to 2011.

01:26 From the outset, Schwarzenegger put his cash to work.

01:29 Soon after arriving in California,

01:31 he used his bodybuilding earnings

01:33 to buy up apartment buildings in Santa Monica.

01:35 He claims he was a millionaire before getting

01:37 any major movie roles in the 1970s.

01:40 As the founding client of celebrity investment firm

01:43 Main Street Advisors, he also pumped money

01:45 into private equity and stocks,

01:47 including shares of Starbucks and Google.

01:50 28 years ago, he picked up just under 5%

01:53 of privately held Dimensional Fund Advisors,

01:56 the now giant $718 billion investment firm.

02:00 But not all of his investments have been winners.

02:02 In 1991, he teamed up with Bruce Willis

02:05 and Sylvester Stallone to invest in Planet Hollywood.

02:09 The themed restaurant chain peaked at a valuation

02:11 of more than $3 billion in 1996,

02:14 only to end up in bankruptcy three years later.

02:17 He also had a costly divorce in 2021

02:20 from former newscaster and Kennedy family member

02:23 Maria Shriver.

02:24 Armath assumes the pair didn't have a prenup

02:26 and split their assets 50/50.

02:29 Had they drawn up a premarital agreement,

02:31 Schwarzenegger might be worth

02:33 nearly double his current fortune.

02:35 (upbeat music)

02:37 (upbeat music)

02:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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