What Is Aaron Sorkin's Net Worth and Salary?
Aaron Sorkin is an American playwright, screenwriter, and producer who has a net worth of $90 million. Aaron Sorkin first gained prominence as a playwright in the late 1980s with the play "A Few Good Men," which he later adapted into a successful Tom Cruise/Jack Nicholson/Demi Moore film. However, it was his creation of the critically acclaimed television series "The West Wing" (1999-2006) that solidified his reputation. The show, beloved for its portrayal of a fictional U.S. presidency, won numerous awards, including four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series.
In the realm of film, Sorkin has proven equally adept. He won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "The Social Network" (2010), a film that examined the creation of Facebook. He continued to garner critical acclaim with films such as "Moneyball" (2011) and "Steve Jobs" (2015). Sorkin's directorial debut, "Molly's Game" (2017), received positive reviews and secured an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Early Life
Aaron Sorkin was born on June 9, 1961, in Manhattan, New York. His mother was a schoolteacher, and his father worked as a copyright lawyer. Sorkin took an early interest in acting. He attended Scarsdale High School and became involved in the drama and theatre club. Aaron served as the vice president of the drama club in his junior and senior years and graduated in 1979. Sorkin went on to Syracuse University and graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre.
Career
Aaron moved to New York City and spent much of the '80s as a struggling actor who worked odd jobs such as delivering singing telegrams and driving a limousine. One weekend, while he was house-sitting for a friend, Sorkin found an IBM Selectric typewriter and started typing. He continued writing and put together his first play, "Removing All Doubt." He then wrote "Hidden in this Picture," and the quality of his first two plays earned him a theatrical agent. Sorkin's Hollywood screenplay credits started with a courtroom drama called "A Few Good Men." In 1988, he sold the rights for "A Few Good Men" to producer David Brown in a deal that was reportedly well into six figures. Brown produced "A Few Good Men" on Broadway at the Music Box Theater. It ran for 497 performances.
Meanwhile, Brown was producing for TriStar pictures and tried to interest them in adapting "A Few Good Men" for the big screen, but his proposal was declined due to lack of star actor involvement. However, Brown got interest from Castle Rock Entertainment to make the film and landed Rob Reiner as director. Sorkin wrote several drafts for the script for "A Few Good Men," learning the craft on the fly from a book about screenplay format. The film was released in 1992, starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore, and was a huge box office success.
Aaron then wrote the screenplay for the thriller "Malice," which was released in 1993 and starred Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin. Sorkin's last screenplay under Castle Rock was "The American President." It took him several years to write the screenplay.
Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin / John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI
Sorkin then conceived the idea to write about the behind-the-scenes happenings on a sports show. Thus, "Sports Night" debuted on the ABC network in the fall of 1998. Although the series was highly critically acclaimed, it was canceled after just two seasons due to low ratings. Aaron was getting tons of offers to continue the show on another station and for another network, but he declined–he was already working on "The West Wing" by this point.
The show was a political drama that starred Martin Sheen as the president of the United States. The pilot debuted in the fall of 1999 and ran for seven seasons. "The West Wing" garnered nine Emmy nominations for its debut season (winning five). Sorkin wrote 87 screenplays of the show, which is nearly every episode during the show's first four Emmy-winning seasons. Aaron left the show at the end of season four due to conflicts with Warner Bros. Television. Sorkin never watched any episodes after this, describing the experience as "like watching somebody make out with my girlfriend." In 2005, he returned to the theater and wrote several plays for the next few years.
In 2007, Sorkin returned to screenwriting when he adapted "Charlie Wilson's War." The film was released in 2007 and earned five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Screenplay for Sorkin.
In 2008, he won his first Oscar for his screenplay for the movie "The Social Network," which was based on Facebook and founder Mark Zuckerberg and directed by David Fincher. Aaron also snagged a Golden Globe and BAFTA. A year later, he received nominations for all three awards in the same categories for co-writing "Moneyball." The film starred Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
While he was still working on the screenplay for "The Social Network," Sorkin was contemplating a drama about the behind-the-scenes events at a cable news program. Talks began in 2010 and in September, HBO ordered a 10-episode series of "The Newsroom," which premiered in June 2012 and starred Jeff Daniels. Just one day after the second episode aired, HBO renewed the series for a second season. The series concluded after three highly acclaimed seasons.
In 2015, Sorkin wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle's biopic "Steve Jobs," for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. Aaron made his directorial debut with "Molly's Game," and he received his third Oscar nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2020, Sorkin wrote and directed "The Trial of Chicago 7." He had originally written it in 2007 but shelved the project. It was released on Netflix in October 2020 and was met with positive reviews.
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images
Personal Life
Sorkin was married to Julia Bingham from 1996 to 2005. They have one daughter, Roxy. He dated Kristen Chenowith for several years and has also reportedly dated Maureen Dowd and Kristin Davis.
Along with his professional success, Aaron's personal life has made headlines with rumors of substance abuse problems early in his career. He began using marijuana and cocaine in 1987. In 1995, he went to rehab at the Hazelden Institute of Minnesota. In early 2001, Sorkin and his colleagues John Spencer and Martin Sheen received the Phoenix Rising Award for overcoming their drug addictions. However, just a few short months later, Aaron was arrested at Hollywood Burbank Airport after security guards found mushrooms, marijuana, and crack cocaine in his carry-on. He was court-ordered to a drug diversion program but continued working on "The West Wing" during that time. He made a commencement speech at Syracuse University in May 2012, in which he said he had not used any type of drugs in eleven years.
Real Estate
In 2005, Aaron bought a home in Beverly Hills for his ex-wife Julia Bingham. He paid $5 million for the home.
In 2008, Aaron paid $6.1 million for a home in the Hollywood Hills above the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.
