What is Reese Witherspoon's net worth?
Reese Witherspoon is an American actress, producer, and entrepreneur who has a net worth of $400 million. Reese Witherspoon is one of the most popular and highly-paid entertainers in the world. She has received numerous awards and accolades throughout her career, including an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film "Walk the Line" and a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on the television series "Big Little Lies." She has also been recognized for her performances in films such as "Legally Blonde," "Sweet Home Alabama," and "Wild."
In addition to her acting work, Witherspoon is also a successful producer and entrepreneur. In 2016, she founded the production company Hello Sunshine. Through Hello Sunshine, she has produced a number of successful television shows and films, including "Big Little Lies," "The Morning Show," and "Little Fires Everywhere." As we detail in the next section, Reese sold Hello Sunshine in August 2021 at a $900 million valuation.
Witherspoon's biggest box office successes include films such as "Sweet Home Alabama," which grossed over $180 million worldwide, and "Legally Blonde," which brought in over $141 million. Other successful films include "Sing," "Water for Elephants," and "This Means War."
Production Company Founding and Sale
In 2000, Reese founded her own production company, Type A Films. In 2012, it merged with a company called Make Movies, which was founded by Bruna Papandrea. The new company was renamed Pacific Standard. Pacific Standard produced the Oscar-nominated movies "Gone Girl" and "Wild."
In 2016, several major events occurred at Pacific Standard. First, the company began producing the HBO series "Big Little Lies." Secondly, Reese became the majority owner, and Bruna Papandrea exited the company. And third, Reese and a private equity executive named Seth Rodsky formed a new company called Hello Sunshine as a joint venture with Otter Media. Pacific Standard became a subsidiary under Hello Sunshine.
In February 2019, Steve Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs made a major investment in Hello Sunshine. At the same time, Otter Media increased its stake.
On August 1, 2021, it was announced that a private equity firm backed by the Blackstone Group had acquired a majority stake in Hello Sunshine. The company reportedly sold at a $900 million valuation. Blackstone paid $500 million in cash to buy out Laurene Powell Jobs and Otter Media, and the remaining equity stakes owned by Reese and other insiders have been rolled into the newly formed entertainment company. Reese is believed to own 18% of the new firm.
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Early Life
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976, in New Orleans, Louisiana. When she was born, her father John Draper Witherspoon was in medical school at Tulane University. He was an otolaryngologist in private practice. Her mother, Betty (Reese) Witherspoon, obtained her Ph.D. in education and was a professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University. When she was seven, Witherspoon was cast in some TV commercials or a local florist, which motivated her to take acting lessons. When she was 11, she took first place in the Ten-State Talent Fair. Witherspoon was an exceptional student and loved reading. She graduated from the all-girls Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, where she was a cheerleader. She enrolled at Stanford University as an English literature major. She dropped out to pursue a career in acting.
Career
Reese Witherspoon began her career in 1990 in a film called "The Man in the Moon." The role earned her a nomination for Best Young Actress at the Young Artist Awards. Later that year, she starred in the cable TV movie "Wildflower." In 1992, she appeared in another TV movie, "Desperate Choices: To Save My Child," and in the next year on a CBS mini-series titled "Return to Lonesome Dove." In 1996, she starred in two major movies, "Fear" alongside Mark Wahlberg and "Freeway" with Brooke Shields.
In 1998, Witherspoon had starring roles in three films, "Overnight Delivery," "Pleasantville," and "Twilight." In "Pleasantville," a film Celebrity Net Worth's Amy Lamare also worked on, Reese starred opposite Tobey Maguire in a story about teenage siblings from the 1990s who are magically transported into the setting of a television series set in the 1950s. She won the Young Hollywood Award for Best Female Breakthrough Performance for her role in "Pleasantville."
In 1999, Witherspoon co-starred with Sarah Michelle Gellar and future husband Ryan Phillippe in the drama film "Cruel Intentions." That same year, Reese starred in the film adaptation of the novel "Election," for which she won Best Actress from the National Society of Film Critics and the Online Film Critics Society. She also earned a Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nomination. In 2000, she appeared in "American Psycho" and made guest appearances in "Little Nicky" and an episode of season six of the TV show "Friends," where she played Jennifer Aniston's character's sister.
In 2001, Witherspoon's career made another peak with the feature film "Legally Blonde," for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Her next feature film was "Sweet Home Alabama" in 2002, which starred actors Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey.
The sequel to "Legally Blonde," released in 2003, grossed $90 million at the box office and paid Witherspoon $15 million, making her one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses. In 2004, she starred in the film "Vanity Fair," which received excellent reviews. In 2005, she starred in "Walk the Line," the film portrayal of the life of singer/songwriter Johnny Cash, for which she won several awards, including a Golden Globe, Academy Award, and awards from the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA.
In 2014, Witherspoon produced and starred in the film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir "Wild." Witherspoon portrayed Strayed on her 1,000-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail.
In January 2016, Witherspoon began filming the seven-part miniseries adaptation of the Liane Moriarty bestseller, "Big Little Lies." She produced the miniseries, along with her co-star, Nicole Kidman, and the show's director, Jean-Marc Vallée.
Witherspoon produces and stars in the Apple TV+ drama series "The Morning Show" alongside Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell. Witherspoon was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama for her work in the series. Witherspoon also serves as an executive producer on the Apple TV+ drama series "Truth Be Told" starring Octavia Spencer, which premiered in December 2019 and was renewed for a second season in March 2020. Witherspoon stars and serves as an executive producer on the Hulu drama miniseries "Little Fires Everywhere" opposite Kerry Washington, the televised adaption of Celeste Ng's 2017 novel of the same name.
In 2023, Reese Witherspoon played Debbie Dunne in "Your Place or Mine" alongside Ashton Kutcher. She currently has other projects in the works as an executive producer after the release of the drama series "Daisy Jones & the Six."
Personal Life
After co-starring in the 1999 film "Cruel Intentions," Reese began dating Ryan Phillippe. They soon married and were together until 2006 after having two children together. Their divorce was finalized in 2008. She then dated Jake Gyllenhaal for a period.
In 2011, Reese married entertainment executive Jim Toth. Toth formerly served as the co-head of Creative Artists Agency's motion picture talent division, where he represented clients like Matthew McConaughey and Scarlett Johansson. They met at a party and were engaged less than a year later. They had a son together in September 2012. In March 2019, Toth left CAA to become the head of content acquisitions at short-form video platform Quibi. Reese and Jim announced their divorce in March 2023.
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Salary and Earnings Highlights
Reese Witherspoon has consistently been one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood since the early 2000s. One of Reese's biggest early paychecks was the $200,000 she earned for 1996's "Fear." Three years later she earned $250 thousand for the role that arguably put her on the map, 1999's "Cruel Intentions." Her first multi-million paycheck came from 2001's "Legally Blonde." The success of Legally Blonde bumped her paycheck for 2002's Sweet Home Alabama to $12.5 million. In 2003, she earned $15 million for Legally Blonde 2. She also earned her first Executive Producer credit for the sequel. From this point on, Reese earned a standard $15 million minimum base salary per movie. Between 2001 and 2012 alone, she earned more than $120 million in base movie salary. To date, her film salary totals top $250 million.
Apple TV Salary
For her role on the Apple TV show "The Morning Show," both Reese and her co-star Jennifer Aniston earned $1.25 million per episode. As of this writing, that's the fifth-highest amount of money ever paid to an actor on a per-episode basis.
Between August 2017 and August 2018, Reese earned $20 million between film salaries, producing income, and endorsements. Between August 2018 and August 2019, she earned $35 million.
Reese Witherspoon Real Estate
Ojai: In 2006, Reese paid $3.955 million for an historic 7-acre ranch property in Ojai, California. Reese and Jim Toth got married at this property. In 2012 she listed the property for sale for $10 million. Unfortunately, the market was cold at this time, and she ultimately chose to accept $4.983 million in December 2013. Fast forward a decade, and the property was once again worth at least $10 million.
Pacific Palisades: In 2014 Reese spent $12.7 million for a large home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. At the time of purchase, construction was not fully complete. Reese proceeded to spend additional millions on upgrades that included a guard station that was manned 24 hours a day, much to the chagrin of her neighbors. She listed this home for sale in 2016 for just under $20 million without success. Fast forward to April 2020, and she finally found a buyer for $17 million.
Malibu: In August 2019, Reese spent $6.25 million to acquire a property called Zuma Farms in the hills of Malibu. In November 2020, she sold this property for $6.7 million. Here's a video tour of Zuma Farms:
Nashville: Reese owns several properties in her native Nashville, Tennessee. In June 2022, Reese paid $18 million for a 4-acre Nashville property that features a 15,000-square-foot mansion, guest house, tennis court, pool, and much more. In 2018, she bought a mansion for $3.7 million that she ended up selling in 2022 for $7.3 million.
Bahamas: Reese owns a multi-million-dollar mansion in the Bahamas located within a members-only gated community.
Brentwood: In March 2020, Reese paid $15.895 million for a 10,300-square-foot mansion on 3 acres in LA's Brentwood neighborhood. She listed this home for sale in March 2022 for $25 million. Within a month, she found a buyer for $21.5 million. The buyer was an heiress to the Hot Pocket fortune.
