Top 16 World’s Wealthiest Comedians (3 of 4)

Bill Cosby

Valued at $400 million is Bill Cosby. While he is better known now for his scandals, people can’t deny that he was also a comedian at one point in his life and he was good at it. He starred in the comedy show The Cosby Show as Cliff Huxtable in the 1980s and at the time he was a touchstone of American pop culture at the time.

That image was destroyed when he was sentenced for about 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

And while he is still worth a lot at the time of writing this, that may change significantly as dozens of women have stepped forward asking for damages and the lawsuits can make a significant dent in his worth.

Jay Leno

Even though he is no longer in comedy, Leno still remains a powerhouse in the comedy world. Jay Leno was primarily known for his hosting of NBC’s The Tonight Show and stopped hosting it in 2014. Regardless the hosting was a pretty good gig for Leno as he earned $30 million per year for hosting it, plus made another cool $15 million to $20 million per year for his live comedy shows.

He is a massive fan of cars and has a collection of over 200 vehicles and even had a show revolving around them. No doubt his hobby is enough to support the $400 million net worth he has, however there has always been some controversy around him. He owes much of his success to his hosting of Tonight, but people were a bit bothered by him replacing Johnny Carson in 1992 as the role should’ve been passed to David Letterman, the man next in line.

Larry David

Another individual at $400 million is Larry David. A man with a lot of money, though at the same time is pretty cranky all the time. The theories for why he’s cranky are endless, but one big reason his wealth was gashed was due to a divorce settlement with his ex-wife. At the time, David said he lost half of his net worth because of that.

David found most of his success thanks to his and Jerry Seinfeld’s creation of the classic comedy Seinfeld, “a show about nothing.” That being said, he is still involved in the comedy industry, starring in a hilarious, but cringe-inducing sitcom called Curb Your Enthusiasm, which has aired its 10th season.

Ellen DeGeneres

Valued at $450 million dollars you have Ellen, the proud host of her own show, which she’s being paid a cool $75 million per year for. Most people know her and with those kinds of figures it’s clear she’s running a massive popular daytime talk show.

DeGeneres’ journey started in 1982 when she was named by Showtime as “The Funniest Person in America.”

She made her appearance on The Tonight Show, and had a few roles on TV and movies. One of note was her 1996 performance in Mr. Wrong. But what got her further in the limelight was her sitcom show Ellen. Back in 1997 she made massive waves as both the character she played (guess her name) and herself, as well as came out and announced she was gay.