What is Harrison Ford's net worth and salary?
Harrison Ford is an American actor, aviator, pilot, and producer who has a net worth of $300 million. As the legend goes, Harrison Ford was a struggling actor working as a carpenter to make a living when he was cast in the role that would launch him into movie superstardom. While building cabinets for George Lucas, he was asked to read opposite other actors coming to audition for a new project called "Star Wars." His read was so good, that he was eventually cast in the role of Han Solo, and the rest is history.
Post-"Star Wars," he went on to star in the blockbuster "Indiana Jones" franchise, as well as a steady string of commercially and critically successful stand-alone projects, such as, "Blade Runner," "Witness," "The Devil's Own," "The Fugitive," and "What Lies Beneath." He also played the character of Jack Ryan in "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger." Though his career throughout the late 90s and early 2000s was less than stellar, he has made a full resurgence in recent years, appearing in the commercially successful films, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "Cowboys & Aliens," "The Expendables 3," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," "Blade Runner 2049," and "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." In 2023, he reprised the role of Indiana Jones in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Three of Ford's movies are ranked in the top five box-office hits of all time.
Early Life
Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. He studied philosophy at Ripon College in Wisconsin. To get over a lifelong shyness, Harrison decided to take a drama class in the last quarter of his senior year. He quickly became hooked on acting. After graduating, he stayed in Wisconsin, where he appeared in various local theater productions. In 1964, he traveled to Los Angeles to audition for a radio voice-over job. He didn't land the gig, but he decided to stay in Los Angeles anyway.
He was eventually accepted into a new talent program at Columbia Pictures, which paid $150 per week. Between 1966 and 1973, he landed just a handful of tiny and often un-credited parts.
He had a wife and two young sons, so to support the family, Harrison became a carpenter. By chance, he actually did some carpentry work for George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. Through Coppola, Ford got on the radar of producer Fred Roos (a producer on The Godfather). Roos secured Harrison an audition for George Lucas' next project, American Graffiti (which was also being produced by Coppola). Harrison won the part and had a memorable turn as Bob Falfa. American Graffiti would go on to be one of the most profitable films of all time, earning over $140 million on a budget of just $770,000. The success allowed Lucas to get financing from Fox to begin production on a space epic he had been dreaming up for years.
Harrison earned small but memorable parts in Coppola's 1974 film The Conversation and his 1979 film Apocalypse Now. But it was George Lucas' space epic that would turn Harrison Ford into an international superstar. That movie, as you may have guessed, was 1977's Star Wars.
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Star Wars
Lucas initially hired Harrison to read with other actors during the casting process, but he eventually decided to cast him as Han Solo. After earning $500 per week on American Graffiti, Harrison earned $10,000 from Star Wars. That's the same as around $42,000 after adjusting for inflation.
Star Wars Earnings
Harrison earned $100,000 for the 1980 sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, and $500,000 from 1983's The Return of the Jedi. Those two salaries, after adjusting for inflation, are worth the same as around $1.6 million in today's dollars.
Fast forward a few decades, and Harrison earned a base salary of $15 million to reprise his role as Han Solo in 2015's The Force Awakens. He also had a small percentage of the box office gross, which brought his total earnings from the film to $25 million.
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Indiana Jones
Aside from Han Solo, Ford is equally beloved for his role as Indiana Jones. His Indiana Jones debut came in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark. The second installment, Temple of Doom, came in 1984. The third installment, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade debuted in 1989. Unfortunately, not much is known about Harrison's earnings for the first three Indiana Jones movies, however, we do know he earned an enormous paycheck to reprise the role in 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He had only appeared in four movies in the previous eight years, preferring instead to live in semi-retirement. He returned to the franchise for 2023's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Payday
In order to lure Harrison out of retirement, studio Paramount Pictures agreed to fork over an extremely lucrative split of profits after it earned back production and advertising costs. The profits were essentially evenly split between the studio, Harrison, and executive producers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
When it was all said and done, Harrison, George, and Steven each earned $65 million from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As of this writing, it's the 12th-largest paycheck in acting history.
(Photo by Paramount/Getty Images)
Other Notable Salaries
In the early and mid-1990s, Harrison consistently earned $10-12 million per movie. For example, he earned $9 million for 1992's Patriot Games and $10 million for the 1994 Jack Ryan sequel, Clear and Present Danger. In 1997, his salary jumped to $20 million for The Devil's Own. He also earned $20 million for Air Force One, Six Days Seven Nights, Random Hearts, and What Lies Beneath. Harrison earned $25 million plus 20% of the gross for 2002's K-19 The Widowmaker. It's been reported that Ford earned $25 million for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" after taking a $40 million pay cut to reprise the role one last time.
Personal Life
Harrison was married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 to 1979. They had two sons together, including restaurateur Benjamin Ford. In 1983, Harrison married E.T. screenwriter Melissa Mathison. They also had two children. When they divorced in 2004, Harrison paid Mathison a $90-100 million divorce settlement. It is one of the most-expensive celebrity divorces of all time.
Harrison married actress Calista Flockhart in 2010. They began dating in 2002 after meeting at the Golden Globe Awards. They are parents to her adopted son Liam.
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Real Estate
In 1983, Harrison paid $1 million for a large home in LA's Brentwood neighborhood. He sold the gated 3/4-acre estate in 2012 for $8.2 million. In 2011, Harrison and Calista spent $12.6 million on a different Brentwood home, which has been their longtime primary residence in LA. Property records show that he still owns at least three other homes in LA. These slightly more modest properties are either investments or occupied by family members.
In 2001, Harrison spent $5.3 million to acquire a penthouse in NYC's Flatiron District. He listed this property for sale in 2010 for $16 million but ultimately pulled it from the market. The penthouse is 5,500-square-foot, with four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. The penthouse features an elevator, 11 rooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen and security system, a gym, an office, and a library. The floors are made of anigre wood and poured concrete, all equipped with radiant heat. At the top of the penthouse, there is a 2,300-square-foot private rooftop terrace, complete with a wet bar and views of Manhattan and the Hudson River.
In Wyoming, Ford owns an 800-acre ranch along the Snake River near the town of Jackson. He has donated half of the property as a nature reserve.
Private Planes
Harrison is a somewhat notorious aviation buff/pilot. We say "notorious" because he has had a handful of incidents over the years, including a crash onto an LA golf course and the time he made a dangerous landing on the takeoff runway in Orange County. Harrison owns as many as ten planes and a helicopter. His most impressive plane is a 2009 Cessna 680 which cost $18 million brand new. Harrison keeps his plane and helicopter collection at Santa Monica airport, which is a roughly 10-minute drive from his Brentwood home. He can Uber to the airport, hop on to his plane, and fly himself to Wyoming in less than 20 minutes. And he has been known to do this quite frequently!
When in Wyoming, He makes his helicopter available for fire and other emergency rescues. In 2000, Harrison answered the call of a stranded hiker who collapsed from dehydration. Wearing a t-shirt and cowboy hat, the hiker and a companion did not learn until later that their rescue pilot was the A-lister.
