Ellen DeGeneres’ net worth is $75 million. The Ellen DeGeneres net worth sum comes from mostly from her show. Ellen has earned a grand total of $216 million in her lifetime from nine known income streams. Taxes take a $128 million chunk out of the Ellen DeGeneres net worth figure and expenses take another $22 million. DeGeneres’ biggest income stream by far is The Ellen DeGeneres Show with $76 million. Another estimated $75 million comes from product endorsements with companies like American Express and CoverGirl. The remaining $65 million comes from a mix of acting, producing and business deals including a 15% interest in the Halo pet food company, a signature video streaming site called EllenTube and a clothing line called ED Clothing. Investments add about $20 million.
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Facts
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Facts | |
|---|---|
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth | $74,853,633 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Oprah Winfrey net worth | 1/40th as big |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Larry King net worth | Half as big |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Jimmy Fallon net worth | 3 times bigger |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Judge Judy net worth | Twice as big |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Whoopi Goldberg net worth | Twice as big |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Anne Heche net worth | 9 times bigger |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Jennifer Aniston net worth | Half as big |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs Hillary Clinton net worth | Twice as big |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth vs typical American family | 1,101 times bigger |
The Ellen DeGeneres net worth sum of $75 million is 1/40th the size of Oprah Winfrey’s massive fortune of $3 billion. It’s half as big as Larry King’s net worth stockpile of $144 million and 3 times bigger than late night host Jimmy Fallon’s nest egg of $25 million. Judge Judy’s net worth of $45 million is 1/2 the size of the Ellen DeGeneres net worth mountain, which is 9 times bigger than ex Anne Heche’s pile of $8 million. Ellen has half as much wealth as Jennifer Anniston at $150 million and double Hillary Clinton’s $32 million. Finally, Ellen DeGeneres has 1,001 times more net worth than the median American family’s savings of $68,000.
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Timeline
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth By Year | |
|---|---|
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2000 | $889,922 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2001 | $1,019,918 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2002 | $1,175,918 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2003 | $1,827,586 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2004 | $2,845,710 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2005 | $4,513,926 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2006 | $6,503,714 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2007 | $9,201,154 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2008 | $12,589,283 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2009 | $16,695,321 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2010 | $21,239,256 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2011 | $26,184,018 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2012 | $31,602,700 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2013 | $37,788,974 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2014 | $49,555,299 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2015 | $61,808,912 |
| Ellen DeGeneres net worth 2016 | $74,853,633 |
The Ellen DeGeneres net worth story started out following a pretty standard actress trajectory back in 1978. The star kicked off her career by appearing in a smattering of TV shows like The Big Laff Off and Comedy Tonight. Ellen made the jump from successful comedian to TV, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson six times between 1986 through 1989. A 24-Episode gig on the TV series Open House gave DeGeneres her first steady entertainment work. From there it looked like Ellen’s career would follow the same course as many actresses and entertainers. Namely, she’d earn progressively more money but would never break into the high-dollar world of a hugely successful entertainer. All that changed in 2003 when it became clear that an heir would soon be needed for the Oprah Winfrey throne. That show didn’t end its run until 2011, but several contenders were groomed as eventual Winfrey replacements, with Ellen chief among them.
According to a MoneyNation media analysis, DeGeneres started off earning somewhere around $500,000 a year from her own daytime talk show in 2003. That money is from a contract that includes writing, performing and production of the show. Since then, Ellen’s pay has climbed to an estimated $10 million per year, based on about four million viewers for every episode. For comparison, that’s about as many viewers as a Super Bowl gets for every 31 days her show is on the air. Considering that a single Super Bowl ad placement costs $5 million, DeGeneres’ $10 million paycheck makes a lot of sense. It’s about the same as Kelly Ripa makes per year for her daytime show, which beats Ellen’s by a small ratings margin. It’s also about 30% less than a judge on The Voice makes every year.
Related: Kelly Ripa Net Worth
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Sources
Where does the Ellen DeGeneres net worth fortune come from? According to our research, most of it comes from The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The star has earned a reported $76 million from the series since its first episode kicked off back in 2003. She has starred in and produced nearly 2,000 episodes. Next comes $75 million in endorsement pay, $30 million from the ED Clothing line and $15 million from the video streaming site EllenTube, which offers a family-friendly, edited alternative to the sometimes tenuous morass of YouTube. Next comes $9 million from a 15% stake in the Halo natural pet food company, $4 million from acting and another $3 million from appearances on talk shows and other non-fiction productions. The table below shows total Ellen earnings, salary and taxes, plus expenses and investment estimates.
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Sources | |
|---|---|
| The Ellen DeGeneres Show | $76,500,000 |
| Acting | $4,077,017 |
| Appearances (Self) | $2,895,000 |
| Producing | $2,300,000 |
| Endorsements | $75,000,000 |
| Apps | $1,757,968 |
| ED Clothing Line | $30,000,000 |
| EllenTube | $15,000,000 |
| Halo Pet Food | $9,000,000 |
| Ellen DeGeneres Total Earnings | $216,529,985 |
| Ellen DeGeneres Salary (avg) | $15,228,457 |
| Ellen DeGeneres Salary 2016 | $36,681,823 |
| Taxes (48.42%) | -$128,185,751 |
| Expenses (10%) | -$21,652,998 |
| Investments (6% of Ellen DeGeneres net worth/yr) | $8,162,397 |
| Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth | $74,853,633 |
Also see: Blake Shelton Net Worth
$76 Million from The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has contributed a reported $76 million to the Ellen DeGeneres net worth sum. The table below shows how the money breaks down by year since 2003. The networks don’t release salary info publicly. That said, Ellen gets about 4 million viewers per day. The ad revenue from that suggests a smaller salary for its host than shows like The Voice, but a comparable salary to Live With Kelly and Michael. Ellen most likely earns about $10 million per year from the show, according to an analysis of comparable shows and media reports.
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth From "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" | |
|---|---|
| 2003 | $15,000,000 |
| 2004 | $15,000,000 |
| 2005 | $15,000,000 |
| 2006 | $15,000,000 |
| 2007 | $15,000,000 |
| 2008 | $8,000,000 |
| 2009 | $15,000,000 |
| 2010 | $15,000,000 |
| 2011 | $15,000,000 |
| 2012 | $15,000,000 |
| 2013 | $50,000,000 |
| 2014 | $50,000,000 |
| 2015 | $50,000,000 |
| 2016 | $45,000,000 |
| Total Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" | $338,000,000 |
Endorsements Pump $75 Million into Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth
Endorsements add an estimated $75 million to the Ellen DeGeneres net worth figure. The star is no lightweight when it comes to sponsor money. The talk show star has landed multi million dollar deals with American Express, Vitamin Water and CoverGirl, to name a few. In Ellen’s ad for BeatsByDre, the classic story of The Three Bears is retold with Ellen and different kinds of music. The 60 second spot cost $10 million to air. While Ellen’s compensation for the ad hasn’t been released to the public, it almost certainly reached into seven figures. We estimate Ellen DeGeneres’ endorsement pay at $8 million per year. She most likely started out at about $2 million per year after she hit the big leagues in 2003. To see our full Ellen Degeneres endorsement calculations, see the table at the bottom of this article.
Related: Adam Levine Net Worth
Halo Pet Food and Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth
Does Ellen DeGeneres own a pet food company? Yes and no. She owns part of a pet food company. 15% of one to be exact. The company is called Halo and it offers a natural alternative to other pet foods. One trouble with standard pet foods is, they’re often not very nutritious for cats and dogs. Many pet foods are mostly corn, and since cats and dogs are carnivores, they don’t naturally thrive on corn and other grains and fillers. Information hasn’t been released on how much DeGeneres earns from her deal with Halo, but it’s safe to assume it’s not more than $1 million per year at this point. That assumes the company pulls in about $7 million a year in revenue and 15% of that goes into the Ellen DeGeneres net worth sum. In the video below, DeGeneres discusses the promised benefits of the natural pet foods with veterinarian Dr. Donna Spector.
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EllenTube and Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth
EllenTube is an interesting idea that seems to be paying off. YouTube is a fantastic invention, but it can at times be a little hard to filter the massive pool of billions of videos to find the entertaining ones. In other words, there’s a lot of chaff. But what if there was a YouTube channel that was family friendly and that someone edited, taking out the garbage and leaving only those videos that are genuinely fun to watch. That’s exactly what EllenTube attempts to do. The website is packed in clips from Ellen’s show and other, vetted, entertaining videos. We don’t have solid data on the figures for the site, but many videos get views stretching up into the millions. The table below estimates the growth of the Ellen DeGeneres net worth figures from the channel. A word of warning: it contains several educated guesses.
EllenTube | |
|---|---|
| Views Per Day | 1,000,000 |
| Per Year | 1,000,000,000 |
| Money Per View | 0.01 |
| Money Per Year | $10,000,000 |
| Costs | $5,000,000 |
| Ellen Earnings | $5,000,000 |
| Since 2014 | $15,000,000 |
Other Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Streams: Acting, Producing, Clothing
Other contributors to the Ellen DeGeneres net worth math include acting, producing and a clothing line. Ellen’s production company has turned out 16 shows. The income from the biggest, The Ellen DeGeneres Show is listed above. Other DeGeneres productions include the TV movie Couple Time, the movie Jekyll and the TV series Little Big Shots. All in all, DeGeneres has earned an estimated $2.3 million from producing.
DeGeneres doesn’t make as much from acting as most people might think. The star has made a total of $4 million from acting, with more than half of that coming from Finding Nemo and the upcoming sequel Finding Dory.
A clothing line called ED Clothing also makes a contribution to the star’s net worth. The line started up in 2014 and adds an estimated $10 million a year to DeGeneres’ bottom line.
Related: Taylor Swift Net Worth
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Calculations
Earnings of $216 million only tell one part of the Ellen DeGeneres net worth story. The rest is taxes, expenses and investments. DeGeneres’ California residence gives her a 13.3% state tax on top of her 39.6% top federal tax bracket. That means the talk show star has shelled out $128 million in taxes in her lifetime. Another $22 million in expenses from agent fees, staff and other costs take their toll as well. Investments estimated at 6% of net worth per year add back about $8 million. The table below shows all the details.
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Calculations | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Acting | Appearances (Self) | Producing | Endorsements | ED Clothing Line | Halo Pet Food | Heads Up App | EllenTube | Ellen DeGeneres Total Earnings | Taxes (59.2%) | Expenses (10%) | Net | Investment Income (6% of net per year) | Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth |
| 2000 | $5,000 | $152,911 | $60,000 | $217,911 | $129,003 | $21,791 | $67,117 | $22,613 | $889,922 | ||||||
| 2001 | $112,500 | $47,911 | $180,000 | $340,411 | $201,523 | $34,041 | $104,847 | $25,149 | $1,019,918 | ||||||
| 2002 | $75,000 | $157,911 | $180,000 | $412,911 | $244,443 | $41,291 | $127,177 | $28,823 | $1,175,918 | ||||||
| 2003 | $500,000 | $1,300,000 | $187,911 | $20,000 | $2,007,911 | $1,188,683 | $200,791 | $618,437 | $33,231 | $1,827,586 | |||||
| 2004 | $1,000,000 | $20,000 | $117,911 | $2,000,000 | $3,137,911 | $1,857,643 | $313,791 | $966,477 | $51,648 | $2,845,710 | |||||
| 2005 | $2,000,000 | $15,000 | $120,184 | $20,000 | $3,000,000 | $5,155,184 | $3,051,869 | $515,518 | $1,587,797 | $80,420 | $4,513,926 | ||||
| 2006 | $2,000,000 | $46,184 | $4,000,000 | $6,046,184 | $3,579,341 | $604,618 | $1,862,225 | $127,564 | $6,503,714 | ||||||
| 2007 | $4,000,000 | $161,184 | $4,000,000 | $8,161,184 | $4,831,421 | $816,118 | $2,513,645 | $183,795 | $9,201,154 | ||||||
| 2008 | $4,000,000 | $156,184 | $5,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $10,156,184 | $6,012,461 | $1,015,618 | $3,128,105 | $260,025 | $12,589,283 | |||||
| 2009 | $5,000,000 | $176,184 | $6,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $12,176,184 | $7,208,301 | $1,217,618 | $3,750,265 | $355,773 | $16,695,321 | |||||
| 2010 | $6,000,000 | $10,000 | $211,184 | $6,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $13,221,184 | $7,826,941 | $1,322,118 | $4,072,125 | $471,810 | $21,239,256 | ||||
| 2011 | $6,000,000 | $105,654 | $7,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $14,105,654 | $8,350,547 | $1,410,565 | $4,344,541 | $600,221 | $26,184,018 | |||||
| 2012 | $7,000,000 | $160,654 | $30,000 | $7,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $15,190,654 | $8,992,867 | $1,519,065 | $4,678,721 | $739,960 | $31,602,700 | ||||
| 2013 | $9,000,000 | $165,654 | $20,000 | $7,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $17,185,654 | $10,173,907 | $1,718,565 | $5,293,181 | $893,092 | $37,788,974 | ||||
| 2014 | $10,000,000 | $129,106 | $20,000 | $8,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $585,989 | $5,000,000 | $34,735,095 | $20,563,176 | $3,473,510 | $10,698,409 | $1,067,916 | $49,555,299 | |
| 2015 | $10,000,000 | $141,606 | $510,000 | $8,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $585,989 | $5,000,000 | $35,237,595 | $20,860,656 | $3,523,760 | $10,853,179 | $1,400,433 | $61,808,912 | |
| 2016 | $10,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $135,833 | $460,000 | $8,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $585,989 | $5,000,000 | $36,681,823 | $21,715,639 | $3,668,182 | $11,298,001 | $1,746,720 | $74,853,633 |
| Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth Totals | $76,500,000 | $4,077,017 | $2,895,000 | $2,300,000 | $75,000,000 | $30,000,000 | $9,000,000 | $1,757,968 | $15,000,000 | $216,529,985 | $128,185,751 | $21,652,998 | $66,691,235 | $8,162,397 |
All Ellen DeGeneres net worth figures in this article are based on a deep analysis of income streams and media reports. In cases where direct figures could not be sourced, estimates were made based on reports of similar deals released to the media. All net worth figures in this post are published here for entertainment purposes only.