What Is Benjamin Millepied's Net Worth?
Benjamin Millepied is a French dancer, choreographer, director, writer, and producer who has a net worth of $10 million. Benjamin Millepied first became widely-known from his work as a choreographer in the 2009 film "Black Swan," which starred his future wife, Natalie Portman. Millepied also had a small role in the movie.
He has worked with the New York City Ballet, Paris Opera, Metropolitan Opera, School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Ballet de Geneve, and in 2002, he launched his own ballet company, Danses Concertantes. Benjamin has directed the feature films "Portals" (2011) and "Carmen" (2022) and the short films "Time Doesn't Stand Still" (2011), "Hearts & Arrows" (2015), and "Why Can't We Get Along" (2018). He also wrote "Carmen" and "Time Doesn't Stand Still." He directed and produced "Hearts & Arrows" and the 2017 video "L.A. Dance Project: Marfa Dance," and he produced the 2012 short films "Cinema Series: Part 1," "Today's the Day," and "Naran Ja." In 2010, the French Ministry of Culture named Millepied a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Early Life
Benjamin Millepied was born on June 10, 1977, in Bordeaux, France. He is the son of Catherine Flory and Denys Millepied, and he has two older brothers. Catherine is a former ballet dancer, and she began training Benjamin in ballet when he was 8 years old. Millepied later attended the Conservatoire National, where he studied with Michel Rahn.
Career
In 1992, Benjamin took summer classes at the School of American Ballet in New York City, and the following year, he began studying there full-time after earning a scholarship from the French Ministry. Early in Millepied's career, he was mentored by Tony-winning choreographer Jerome Robbins, and at the School of American Ballet's 1994 Spring Workshop, he had a starring role in Robbins' ballet "2 and 3 Part Inventions." In 1995, Benjamin joined the corps de ballet at the New York City Ballet, and he was promoted to soloist three years later. In 2002, he became a principal dancer there. After becoming a choreographer, he created dances for several ballet companies as well as the Metropolitan Opera. From 2006 to 2007, Millepied served as the choreographer-in-residence at Manhattan's Baryshnikov Arts Center. In October 2011, it was announced that he was retiring from the New York City Ballet. In 2011, Benjamin co-founded L.A. Dance Project, which he also directs. L.A. Dance Project's mission is "to inspire, create, educate and change perspectives through the accessible and transformative power of dance in Los Angeles and around the world," and Millepied co-founded it with composers Nicholas Britell and Nico Muhly, art consultant Matthieu Humery, and producer Charles Fabius. L.A. Dance Project has toured internationally, performing at Scotland's Edinburgh International Festival, Italy's Spoleto Festival, and France's La Maison de la Danse. In 2016, L.A. Dance Project entered into a three-year partnership with France's LUMA Foundation.
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From November 2014 to July 2016, Benjamin worked as the director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet. In 2015, "Relève," a documentary about Millepied putting on his first production as the Paris Opera Ballet's director, was released in France. After it was released in more countries, the film earned a nomination for Most Popular Documentary at the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival. Benjamin was the choreographer for the 2009 film "Black Swan," which starred Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. He also played David Moreau/Prince Siegfried in the film. "Black Swan" received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and earned Portman an Oscar. Benjamin's dancing was motion-captured for the animated movies "Barbie in the Nutcracker" (2001) and "Barbie of Swan Lake" (2003). In 2012, he founded the art collective/multimedia production company The Amoveo Company. That year he was also a guest judge on the Fox reality competition series "So You Think You Can Dance," and in 2014, he began working as the Artistic Advisor of the Colburn School's Dance Academy in Los Angeles. In 2022, Millepied directed the 2022 musical drama "Carmen," with Melissa Barrera in the title role. He co-wrote the film with Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and Loïc Barrère.
(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
Personal Life
Benjamin married actress Natalie Portman on August 4, 2012, a few years after meeting her on the set of "Black Swan." Millepied left his longtime girlfriend, American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Isabella Boylston, for Portman. Benjamin and Natalie welcomed son Aleph in 2011 and daughter Amalia in 2017, and they lived in Paris after Millepied took a job at the Paris Opera Ballet. The family moved to Los Angeles in 2016. In June 2023, the French publication "Voici" reported that Benjamin had an extramarital affair. A source told "People" magazine, "It was short-lived and it is over. He knows he made an enormous mistake and he is doing all he can to get Natalie to forgive him and keep their family together." In August 2023, it was reported that Millepied and Portman had separated, shortly after Natalie was spotted without her wedding ring on their 11th wedding anniversary. Their divorce was finalized in early 2024.
Awards and Nominations
In 1994, Millepied won the international dance competition the Prix de Lausanne. In 1995, he received the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise. In 2012, Benjamin and his "Black Swan" co-stars shared a CinEuphoria Award nomination for Best Ensemble – International Competition. "Carmen" earned Millepied a FIPRESCI Prize nomination for Discovery at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and a Jordan Ressler First Feature Award nomination at the 2023 Miami Film Festival.
Real Estate
In 2017, Natalie and Benjamin purchased a 3,991 square foot home in Montecito, California, for $6.5 million. The home includes four bedrooms and five bathrooms, and it sits on more than 10 acres of land. They sold the home for $8 million in 2021.
