Peter Jackson Becomes Highest-Paid Entertainer Of 2021: Tops in the List

Sir Peter Jackson, a Kiwi director, has led Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid entertainers, having made a fortune from the sale of his company, Weta Digital, last year.

Sir Peter is solely the 3rd director in history to become a billionaire, after Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, as per Forbes.

As per the 2022 edition of Forbes’ Highest-Paid Entertainers list, Peter Jackson was the entertainer’s highest-paid last year.

About Peter Jackson

In 2021, the Lord Of The Rings filmmaker made a staggering $580 million, largely due to the sale of his special effects company instead of his feature directing.

Even though Peter Jackson has created several of the most successful blockbusters of all time,

Final year, this was his key visual effects work that earned him a billionaire, such as The Hobbit prequels, Lord Of The Rings saga, and the King Kong remake.

A $1.6 billion agreement to sell a portion of his visual effects firm Weta Digital to Unity Software netted them $600 million filmmakers.

As per Forbes, behind fellow digital effects legends George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, he became only the third director in history to become a millionaire due to the sale.

Others in the Forbes list

Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen, and Jay-Z closed out the top ten; however, most of their vast earnings derived from other company operations or the sales of song libraries instead of from records or touring.

Around $435 million in 2021, Bruce Springsteen was the 2nd highest-paid entertainer.

The majority of his revenues came from a $500 million deal with Sony Music Group throughout December to market his composition credits.

Jay-Z made $340 million last year post selling his shareholding in Tidal, a high-end streaming platform, to Jack Dorsey’s Square for around $302 million.

Reese Witherspoon was the highest-paid female entertainer. She made $115 million from selling a part in her production firm Hello Sunshine and appearing on Apple’s The Morning Show, where she reportedly made $20 million.

Spotify is also a no-no. With $80 million throughout earnings from their music publishing rights to an investment fund, Neil Young placed 19th.