The Rock Net Worth: $256 Million

The Rock’s net worth is $256 million. The sky-high figure for The Rock net worth comes from smart business moves, box office popularity and low taxes. Everybody’s talking about how much Robert Downey Jr. makes as Iron Man, but The Rock commands a super-high talent fee of $10 to $20 million per movie. With estimated percentages of box office take, that climbs as high as $40 million for Furious 7. Does that sound far too high? Consider the revenue. Marvel’s The Avengers earned $1.5 billion. So did Furious 7. Robert Downey Jr. earned an estimated $40 million as the Marvel film’s key actor. With that info, it’s not hard to see why The Rock pulls down such solid paydays.

If he’d built his net worth just on acting, The Rock would be a rich man. He doesn’t. He’s also got major income from his pro wrestling career, plus huge income from merchandise deals and several fat endorsement contracts. All in all, a MoneyNation analysis shows Dwayne Johnson has earned $414 million in his career. Since he lives in Florida, he pays zero sales tax on that money. That move alone has saved him $54 million. Had he lived in California, that’s how much he would have shelled out for state taxes alone. He still pays the top U.S. federal tax rate of 39.6% , which means he’s paid about $164 million in taxes. Expenses take another $41 million and investments add back $47 million, leaving a final The Rock net worth number of $256 million.

The Rock Net Worth Facts

The Rock Net Worth Facts
The Rock net worth$255,073,874
The Rock net worth vs John Cena net worth11 times bigger
The Rock net worth vs Hulk Hogan net worth10 times bigger
The Rock net worth vs Vin Diesel net worth3 times bigger
The Rock net worth vs Arnold Schwarzenegger net worth15% smaller
The Rock net worth vs Dolf Lundgren net worth18 times bigger
The Rock net worth vs Sylvester Stallone net worthHalf as big
The Rock net worth vs Chuck Norris net worthChuck Norris owns the entire universe
The Rock net worth vs Bruce Willis net worthTwice as big
The Rock net worth vs Hillary Clinton net worth8 times bigger
The Rock net worth vs typical American net worth3,763 times bigger

The Rock net worthThe table above shows some top line comparisons for Dwayne Johnson’s net worth. First, The Rock net worth total of $256 million is 11 times bigger than John Cena’s net worth of $23 million. It’s 10 times bigger than Hulk Hogan’s net worth of $25 million. Those two stars haven’t had hugely successful acting careers like The Rock has. It’s true that Cena has a film career, but his movies aren’t pulling down a billion or more at the worldwide box office. Vin Diesel does have a stellar acting career, but his net worth of $75 million is still only 1/3rd the size of The Rock net worth sum. Why? Diesel doesn’t have a successful WWE career or multi-million dollar merchandise deals like The Rock does. What about Arnold Schwarzenegger. The hugely successful actor has a career that spans generations. His net worth of $300 million is bigger than The Rock’s, but only by 15%. That’s impressive, considering that Arnie’s career has been going nearly three times longer than The Rock’s. Sylvester Stallone has a net worth of $400 million. That’s nearly twice the size of The Rock’s. Why is Stallone richer than Schwarzenegger? Mostly because he kept turning out blockbuster movies while Schwarzenegger took a gigantic pay cut for a life of politics.

The Rock Net Worth in the News

As of 5/23/16, Dwayne Johnson’s net worth is set to rise by tens of millions. The hugely marketable movie star is marketing himself brilliantly, with an aggressive production schedule of five movies set to hit the silver screen in 2016, three so far for 2017 and two more after that. Based on his earnings per film so far, that could set him up to add another $200 million pre-tax dollars to The Rock net worth bottom line. That doesn’t even include future merchandise or endorsement money.

The Rock Net Worth Timeline

The Rock Net Worth Timeline

The Rock Net Worth by Year
The Rock Net Worth 1995$91,636
The Rock Net Worth 1996$229,434
The Rock Net Worth 1997$374,745
The Rock Net Worth 1998$1,947,728
The Rock Net Worth 1999$4,446,310
The Rock Net Worth 2000$10,013,761
The Rock Net Worth 2001$19,089,789
The Rock Net Worth 2002$28,454,985
The Rock Net Worth 2003$36,806,614
The Rock Net Worth 2004$42,382,241
The Rock Net Worth 2005$48,429,835
The Rock Net Worth 2006$52,221,460
The Rock Net Worth 2007$56,991,911
The Rock Net Worth 2008$62,476,370
The Rock Net Worth 2009$67,924,930
The Rock Net Worth 2010$79,106,902
The Rock Net Worth 2011$97,756,337
The Rock Net Worth 2012$113,712,776
The Rock Net Worth 2013$156,644,503
The Rock Net Worth 2014$175,678,788
The Rock Net Worth 2015$230,055,455
The Rock Net Worth 2016$255,073,874

The rock net worth timeThe chart of The Rock’s net worth above looks like the path of a rocket taking off. That steeply upward track is largely thanks to rapidly growing movie earnings. If The Rock is in a movie, there’s a safe bet that it will earn a lot of money. How much money? Let’s take a look at Johnson’s first big box office smash. The Mummy Returns in 2001 took in $433 million at the worldwide box office. 2007’s The Game Plan scored $147 million on a relatively low budget. Then there was Fast Five with $626 million, and Furious 7 with $1.5 billion. With reported base pay of $10 to $20 million per movie, it’s no wonder The Rock’s net worth has shot up since the early 2000’s. However, there are two other reasons for the steep Dwayne Johnson earnings uptick. The first is merchandise deals. An analysis of WWE merchandise earnings plus a reported Dwayne Johnson 7% cut shows the star’s merchandise money jumped to $11 million a year since 2010. At the same time, Johnson’s endorsement clout jumped into the tens of millions per year also, thanks to a few high-profile deals with brands like Ford and Under Armour. If The Rock didn’t live in Florida, state taxes would have flattened his net worth curve considerably. Since he does, he doesn’t pay any state tax whatsoever.

Related: John Cena Net Worth

The Rock Net Worth Sources: Acting, WWE and Merchandise Sales

The table below breaks down The Rock’s net worth by source. $184 million from acting rivals megastar Robert Downey Jr.’s screen pay. Merchandise royalties of $139 million add a hefty chunk, followed by endorsement deals worth $51 million and a WWE salary of $33 million. Appearances on talk shows and other news shows add another $4 million, while Johnson’s production business nets him $3.25 million. That gives The Rock an average salary of $19 million, while his 2016 salary is $33 million. Taxes of 39.6% cut out $164 million and expenses of about 10% take a $41 million slice of The Rock net worth pie. Finally, investments add back about $47 million.

The Rock Net Worth Sources
WWE Salary$33,000,000
Non-WWE Acting$184,357,222
Appearances$4,000,000
Endorsements$50,000,000
Merchandise$139,105,871
Producing$3,250,000
Total The Rock Earnings Since 1995$413,713,094
The Rock Salary (average)$18,805,141
The Rock Salary 2016$33,097,638
Taxes (39.6%)-$163,830,385
Expenses (10%)-$41,371,309
Investments (6% of The Rock net worth/yr)$46,562,475
The Rock Net Worth$255,073,874

Acting and The Rock Net Worth

The Rock net worth from actingIt would be easy to make the mistake of discounting The Rock’s acting career. He’s not known for his Oscar-worthy performances and he’s never been in a Marvel movie or a Star Wars film. That said, he has starred in the #6 grossing movie of all time, 2015’s Furious 7 ($1.5 billion). Other The Rock blockbusters include San Andreas ($474 million), G.I. Joe: Retaliation ($376 million), Fast & Furious 6 ($789 million), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ($335 million), Fast Five ($626 million) and The Mummy Returns ($433 million). As a pack, The Rock’s movies account for $6.3 billion. That’s nearly as much as all the Harry Potter films combined. It’s more than every Batman movie put together. An analysis of online sources puts his pay per film at $10 to $20 million, plus a small percentage of ticket sales. At just 1%, The Rock has earned a total of $184.5 million from his acting career. He has been in 96 films and TV shows since 1996. Our deep estimates for each role are based on Screen Actors Guild pay rates, media reports and box office grosses. For the full breakdown of exactly how acting contributes to The Rock net worth figure, see the table at the bottom of this article.

WWE and The Rock Net Worth

The Rock has earned a total of $33 million in WWE salary since his career began in 1995. From 1995 through 1997, Dwayne Johnson trained to be a pro wrestler and then made his WWF debut as wrestler Rocky Mavia. He quickly reached fame status in 1998 as the “People’s Champion.” By estimates, he earned a wrestling salary of $1 million in that year. from there, his wrestling salary climbed to a 2002 peak of $2 million. After that, a sharp drop in salary coincides with the ramping up of The Rock’s Hollywood film career. 2001 saw him appear in the smash action hit The Mummy Returns. As Johnson’s acting star rose, his WWE status dwindled to make room. His salary from 2003 through 2009 sank to $500,000 a year as he reduced his wrestling role to sporadic appearances during that time. Though he has never returned to wrestling as a full time job, his part time work in the field still draws major viewership. More recently, The Rock’s WWE salary has climbed again to the $3.5 million per year that has been “leaked” in the media as of 2016. While “leaked” may just mean “made up,” the $3.5 million figure probably isn’t too far from reality, considering The Rock’s level of fame and pay from other work.

The Rock Net Worth from WWE
YearThe Rock Earnings from WWE
1995-1996Living wageWrestling Training
1997Living wageWWF Debut as Rocky Mavia
1998$1,000,000Becomes popular in WWE as 'People's Champion'
1999$1,000,000
2000$2,000,000
2001$2,000,000
2002$2,000,000Takes a short sabbatical from wrestling
2003$500,000Taking Hollywood stints
2004$500,000Sporadic appearances
2005$500,000Sporadic appearances
2006$500,000Sporadic appearances
2007$500,000Sporadic appearances
2008$500,000Sporadic appearances
2009$500,000Sporadic appearances
2010$2,500,000Assumed figures
2011$2,500,000Assumed figures
2012$3,000,000Assumed figures
2013$3,000,000Assumed figures
2014$3,500,000Part time
2015$3,500,000Part time
2016$3,500,000This is The Rock's "leaked" current WWE salary.
Total The Rock Net Worth from WWE$33,000,000

Related: Ronda Rousey Net Worth

Merchandise and The Rock Net Worth

The Rock has earned a total of $139 million from merchandise royalties. That’s based on data in the table below. The WWE has earned from $126 million to $658 million a year from merchandise sales alone, according to several estimates online. A big percentage of those sales is thanks to The Rock himself, who is rumored to get 7% of all WWE merchandise revenues related to products that are based on him. The table below shows full WWE merchandise sales according to SEC filings. The third column shows the percentage of that merchandise that comes straight from hats, t-shirts and other products that directly feature Dwayne Johnson. The final column shows The Rock’s estimated 7% cut of that money.

The Rock Net Worth from Merchandise Sales
YearWWE Merchandise Sales (from SEC Filings)Estimated Sales attributable to The Rock's performanceThe Rock Merchandise Earnings
1998$126,231,000$25,246,200$1,767,234
1999$251,474,000$50,294,800$3,520,636
2000$379,310,000$120,000,000$8,400,000
2001$456,043,000$152,014,333$10,641,003
2002$425,026,000$141,675,333$9,917,273
2003$374,264,000$124,754,667$8,732,827
2004$374,909,000$37,490,900$2,624,363
2005$366,431,000$36,643,100$2,565,017
2006$400,051,000$40,005,100$2,800,357
2007$485,655,000$48,565,500$3,399,585
2008$526,457,000$52,645,700$3,685,199
2009$475,161,000$47,516,100$3,326,127
2010$477,655,000$159,218,333$11,145,283
2011$483,921,000$161,307,000$11,291,490
2012$484,013,000$161,337,667$11,293,637
2013$507,970,000$169,323,333$11,852,633
2014$542,620,000$180,873,333$12,661,133
2015$658,768,000$219,589,333$15,371,253
2016$176,178,000$58,726,000$4,110,820
Total The Rock Net Worth from Merchandise Sales$139,105,871

Endorsements and The Rock Net Worth

A deep analysis of The Rock’s endorsement deals shows likely earnings of $50 million from endorsements. The Rock has three major endorsement deals. Those come from the Got Milk ad campaign, from Ford and Under Armour. Extensive research doesn’t turn up any other significant Dwayne Johnson advertisements or endorsements. While the actor/wrestler seems to be gaining momentum in the endorsement game only recently, that momentum is considerable. Based on similar deals with Ford and Under Armour, it’s likely that The Rock’s Ford deal accounts for $15 million per year. His Under Armour deal is likely a considerably higher $25 million per year. In the future, sponsor money will likely contribute tens of millions every year to The Rock net worth figure.

The Rock Net Worth Calculations

Totaling up all The Rock’s earnings from the sections above gives the yearly Dwayne Johnson income in the table below. We’ve adjusted the star’s yearly income for taxes, expenses and investments to get the final The Rock net worth numbers by year in the last column.

The Rock Net Worth Calculations
YearTotal The Rock EarningsTaxes (39.6%)Expenses (10%)Investment Income (6% of net worth)The Rock Net Worth
1995$181,818$72,000$18,182$0$91,636
1996$266,818$105,660$26,682$3,321$229,434
1997$271,818$107,640$27,182$8,315$374,745
1998$3,094,052$1,225,245$309,405$13,581$1,947,728
1999$4,817,454$1,907,712$481,745$70,586$4,446,310
2000$10,726,818$4,247,820$1,072,682$161,134$10,013,761
2001$17,287,954$6,846,030$1,728,795$362,899$19,089,789
2002$17,209,092$6,814,800$1,720,909$691,814$28,454,985
2003$14,524,645$5,751,759$1,452,464$1,031,209$36,806,614
2004$8,416,181$3,332,808$841,618$1,333,872$42,382,241
2005$8,951,708$3,544,877$895,171$1,535,932$48,429,835
2006$4,040,731$1,600,130$404,073$1,755,097$52,221,460
2007$5,710,209$2,261,243$571,021$1,892,506$56,991,911
2008$6,783,872$2,686,413$678,387$2,065,387$62,476,370
2009$6,318,288$2,502,042$631,829$2,264,144$67,924,930
2010$17,302,325$6,851,721$1,730,233$2,461,599$79,106,902
2011$31,314,685$12,400,615$3,131,468$2,866,834$97,756,337
2012$24,630,455$9,753,660$2,463,045$3,542,690$113,712,776
2013$77,005,509$30,494,182$7,700,551$4,120,951$156,644,503
2014$26,502,952$10,495,169$2,650,295$5,676,797$175,678,788
2015$95,258,072$37,722,196$9,525,807$6,366,599$230,055,455
2016$33,097,638$13,106,665$3,309,764$8,337,210$255,073,874
The Rock Net Worth Totals$413,713,094$163,830,385$41,371,309$46,562,475

The Rock Full List of Acting Pay

Our full analysis of every acting role adding to The Rock net worth figures is below.

The Rock Net Worth from Acting
YearThe Rock Acting RoleRole TypeThe Rock Pay
1996USWA Championship WrestlingTV Series$10,000
1996-1999WWF SuperstarsTV Series$20,000
1996-2016WWF RawTV Series$1,410,000
1997World Wrestling FederationTV Series$5,000
1997WWF Friday Night's Main EventTV Series$5,000
1997WWF Slammy Awards 1997Video$5,000
1997-1998WWF Shotgun Saturday NightTV Series$25,000
1998Fully LoadedTV Movie$30,000
1998No Way OutTV Movie$30,000
1998WWF Judgment DayVideo$5,000
1998WWF Mayhem in ManchesterVideo$5,000
1998WWF War ZoneVideo Game$0
1999Fully LoadedTV Movie$30,000
1999That '70s ShowTV Series$5,000
1999The NetTV Series$5,000
1999WWF AttitudeVideo Game$0
2000Fully LoadedTV Movie$30,000
2000No Way OutTV Movie$30,000
2000Star Trek: VoyagerTV Series$5,000
2000The Rock - The People's ChampVideo$5,000
2000WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your RoleVideo Game$0
2001LongshotMovie$30,000
2001The Mummy ReturnsMovie$4,360,133
2002The Scorpion KingMovie$5,030,000
2002The Scorpion King: Rise of the AkkadianVideo Game$0
2002WWE Global Warning Tour: MelbourneVideo$5,000
2002WWE WrestleMania X-8Video Game$0
2003The RundownMovie$5,030,000
2003WWE Crush HourVideo Game$0
2003WWE: Brock Lesnar: Here Comes the PainVideo$5,000
2004Walking TallMovie$5,030,000
2004WWE Day of ReckoningVideo Game$0
2004WWE SmackDown! vs. RAWVideo Game$0
2004WWE: The Stone Cold TruthVideo$5,000
2005Be CoolMovie$5,030,000
2005Be Cool: Close-Up - The RockVideo short$5,000
2005DoomMovie$589,873
2005WWE $250,000 Raw Diva SearchVideo$5,000
2005WWE Day of Reckoning 2Video Game$0
2006Gridiron GangMovie$444,809
2006Southland TalesMovie$33,747
2006Spy Hunter: Nowhere to RunVideo Game$0
2006WWE: McMahonVideo$5,000
2007Cory in the HouseTV Series$5,000
2007Hannah MontanaTV Series$5,000
2007Reno 911!: MiamiMovie$30,000
2007The Game PlanMovie$1,508,805
2007WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008Video Game short$5,000
2008Disaster! A Major Motion Picture Ride... Starring You!Short$5,000
2008Get SmartMovie$2,336,855
2009Planet 51Movie$1,086,471
2009Race to Witch MountainMovie$1,093,871
2009Saturday Night LiveTV Series$5,000
2010CubedTV Series$5,000
2010Family GuyTV Series$5,000
2010FasterMovie$386,270
2010The Other GuysMovie$1,734,329
2010Transformers PrimeTV Series$5,000
2010Why Did I Get Married Too?Movie$30,000
2010You AgainMovie$30,000
2010Tooth FairyMovie$1,154,625
2011Fast FiveMovie$16,261,377
2011Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All TimeVideo$5,000
2011WWE '12Video Game$0
2011-2012Clash TimeTV Series$55,000
2012Journey 2: The Mysterious IslandMovie$10,030,000
2012WWE '13Video Game$0
2013America's Book of SecretsTV Series$5,000
2013Empire StateMovie$30,000
2013Fast & Furious 6Movie$39,480,000
2013G.I. Joe: RetaliationMovie$10,030,000
2013Pain & GainMovie$891,753
2013WWE 2k14Video Game$0
2013SnitchMovie$459,305
2014The Rock: Greatest RivalriesVideo$5,000
2014WWE 2k15Video Game$0
2014HerculesMovie$10,030,000
2015Fast & Furious: SuperchargedShort$5,000
2015Furious 7Movie$40,030,000
2015Jem and the HologramsMovie$30,000
2015Manny Pacquiao Becomes a Professional WrestlerShort$5,000
2015WrestleManiaTV Movie$30,000
2015WWE 2k16Video Game$0
2015San AndreasMovie$20,030,000
2015-2016BallersTV Series$65,000
Total The Rock Net Worth from Acting$184,357,222

All The Rock net worth numbers in this article are based on an analysis of the star’s income streams by year and are provided here for entertainment purposes only. Like reading about the wealth of celebrities? Check out our article here on the net worth of John Cena or this post about Jon Jones’ net worth.