Despite The Director’s Own Denial, Forbes Claims James Cameron Is Now A Billionaire

• James Cameron’s net worth has exceeded US$1.1 billion, according to Forbes.
• While the legendary filmmaker behind Terminator, Titanic, and Avatar indicates that the figure has been inflated, what remains true is his innate ability to make a splash at the box office.
• Cameron is reportedly on track to personally earn US$200 million for the upcoming Avatar: Fire & Ash – to date, his films have generated close to US$9 billion at the global box office.

In something of a first, Forbes reports that Academy Award-winning director James Cameron has achieved a net worth of US$1.1 billion – whereas Cameron himself would happily tell you otherwise.

“I wish I was a billionaire,” he remarked during his recent podcast interview with Puck’s Matt Belloni.

“The billionaire thing assumes certain deals that didn’t exist, one, and two, that I’ve never spent a dime in 30 years.”

The finance publication countered: “Even after accounting for Cameron’s extensive underwater exploration, conservationist philanthropy, and real estate transactions – plus his long track record of sacrificing or risking his personal paychecks to maintain creative control – Forbes estimates that his salaries, profit participations, licensing revenues for theme parks and toys, and equity value from his production company Lightstorm Entertainment more than make up the difference.”

RELATED: ‘F1’ Director Joseph Kosinski On The Upside Of Streaming & Sequels Starring Tom Cruise

“It’s an extraordinary rise for the one-time college dropout, who worked as a truck driver in his early 20s before landing a job as a production assistant for Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, which he says paid $175 per week. Cameron’s first directing gig, 1981’s Piranha II: The Spawning, didn’t pay much better, especially after he was fired two weeks into production over creative differences and only received half of the promised $10,000 fee.”

Three-comma club or not, what is clear is that James Cameron’s talent doesn’t merely lie in the visual. It also involves being a box office whisperer: crafting three of the five highest-grossing films in history, and commercially speaking, the man is pretty much his own closest competition behind the camera.

From the Terminator franchise and Aliens to True Lies and Titanic, throughout his 40-year career, Cameron’s films have collectively generated around US$9 billion at the global box office. And for the upcoming Avatar: Fire & Ash, it’s estimated that he stands to personally earn “at least” US$200 million before taxes and fees – assuming the trilogy-completer lives up to both the director’s reputation and the lofty US$2 billion expectations set by the earlier entries.

According to Forbes, Cameron joins an extremely exclusive club of billionaire filmmakers that currently includes Star Wars progenitor George Lucas (US$5.3 billion), Peter Jackson of The Lord of the Rings fame (US$1.7 billion), the one and only Steven Spielberg (US$7.1 billion), as well as human franchise Tyler Perry (US$1.4 billion).

Also read:

• A Breakdown Of Tiger Woods’ $1.1 Billion Net Worth
• Michael Jordan’s Net Worth Soars Beyond $3 Billion After Hornets Sale
• LeBron James’ Net Worth Explained
• Canelo Alvarez’s Net Worth Receives $150 Million Bump Post-Terence Crawford Fight
• Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Net Worth Quietly Crosses Beyond $1.1 Billion
• Johnny Depp’s Net Worth Isn’t As Much As You Might Think
• Jerry Seinfeld’s Net Worth Snowballs Every Year
• Toto Wolff, Legit Billionaire, Is Worth More Than Every Other F1 Team Boss Combined
• Roger Federer Becomes History’s Seventh Billionaire Athlete (And Second Billionaire Tennis Player)
• Gordon Ramsay’s Net Worth Tells A Self-Made Triumph Story
• Christian Horner’s Net Worth Is Surprisingly Modest
• The Secret Behind Tom Cruise’s Net Worth
• ‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan’s Net Worth Has Skyrocketed
• How Much Has Conor McGregor Banked So Far?
• How A Pizza Delivery Driver Became The UK’s Youngest Billionaire
• Is Vladimir Putin Secretly The World’s Richest Person?
• Khaby Lame Net Worth: What TikTok’s #1 Creator Earns