George Lucas’s Net Worth : Charity & Lifestyle

A multi-talented director, writer, producer, and businessman, George Lucas’s Net Worth is a staggering $10 billion.

He is most known for inventing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises, which have grossed more than $12 billion worldwide.

Moreover, he is also the founder of Lucasfilm, a production firm, and Industrial Light and Magic, a technological effects company.

George Lucas, born and raised in Modesto, California, on May 14, 1944, had his heart set on a career in racing automobiles.

Still, following a possibly fatal accident in high school in which he was broadsided by another motorist, Lucas’ priorities switched dramatically.

Lucas’s father had a stationery store and hoped to work for him after George graduated from high school.

On the other hand, George wanted to go to art school and declared when he left home that he would be a millionaire by 30.

With a net worth of $10 billion today, George Lucas is the richest celebrity globally, the richest director, and the richest individual in the entertainment industry in general.

Lucas has signed the philanthropic “Giving Pledge,” pledging to donate at least half of his fortune to charity by the time he dies.

So, let’s get to know George Lucas a little better, starting with some basic facts about him.

Quick Facts

George Lucas’s Net Worth and Income

George Lucas’s Net Worth

A multi-talented director, writer, producer, and businessman, George Lucas’s Net Worth is a staggering $10 billion.

It all comes down to a brilliant business choice he made in 1973 while negotiating his salary for the first Star Wars film.

Following the phenomenal success of American Graffiti, Lucas was entitled to a $500,000 compensation for his next film. As a result, that was a big increase over his Graffiti salary of $150,000.

Instead of accepting the roughly 300 percent compensation increase, George proposed to the Fox executives.

George graciously offered to keep his salary at $150,000 in exchange for two seemingly minor requests: #1) He keeps all merchandising rights, and #2) that he keeps all sequel rights.

The offer delighted Fox executives, who believed George’s space film would be little more than a blip on the entertainment radar. Obviously, this was a terrible deal for Fox, and George received possibly the greatest film contract in history.

Let’s have a look at his earnings from the year 1968 to 2013:

George Lucas’s Income

George Lucas’s income is estimated to be around $2 billion as of 2023.

Star Wars had made $20 billion in product sales and $4 billion in home entertainment sales by 2012.

On October 30th, 2012, George Lucas stated that he had struck an agreement to sell his entire Lucasfilm company to Disney for a whopping $4.1 billion in cash and equity.

Lucas held 100 percent of the corporation, which meant he pocketed the entire $4 billion. Overnight, his net worth increased from $3.3 billion to $7.3 billion!

George Lucas’s Income / Salary:

Yearly: $10 Million

Monthly: $833,333.33

Weekly: $192,307.69

George Lucas’s Net Worth in Different Currencies

Let’s look at George Lucas’s Net Worth in several currencies, including BitCoin, the cryptocurrency.

George Lucas: House, Cars, and Jet

House

The roughly 6,000-acre Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, is George’s most valuable real estate asset. He bought the ranch in 1978 and has spent more than $100 million transforming it into a private house, movie studio, retreat, and 300-seat screening theater.

Also, there’s a 50,000-square-foot private residence on the site and swimming pools, tennis courts, and other amenities.

Approximately 5,000 acres of the property have been protected in a perpetual conservation easement with the Marin County Agricultural Land Trust.

He paid $33.9 million for a 9,000-square-foot mansion in Los Angeles’ Bel Air district in 2017.

In addition, he bought a seaside mansion in Carpinteria, California, for $19.5 million in 2010. (just south of Santa Barbara). He demolished the old house and replaced it with a considerably larger Cape Cod-style dwelling.

Also, George paid $28 million for the house next door in December 2019. Frances Morehart, who died in 2018 at the age of 93, was the property’s previous owner next door. In Carpinteria, his new combined beachfront footprint is over 3-acres.

Cars

Even though George is a billionaire, he isn’t much of a car person. Hence, he doesn’t have car collections.

He admits, “I don’t actually collect vehicles.” “I own a 1974 Ferrari Dino, a Ferrari 360 Modena, and a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, as well as two Tuckers (vintage American 1940s cars).” That’s the end of it.”

However, Lucas’s fascination with automobiles began long before he could drive, and it would turn out to be the major topic of his youth.

Ferrari 360 Modena

George Lucas has a Ferrari F360 with a 3.6-liter V8 engine positioned in the middle, which costs roughly $80,000-$90,000. At 8,500 rpm, it produces 400 horsepower.

The 360 sports an aluminum space-frame chassis, adjustable aluminum double-wishbone suspension, and a flawlessly smooth body.

Fiat Bianchina

The “Fiat Bianchina” was a coupe car designed by George Lucas and based on the Fiat 500, which he got as a gift from his father. It costs somewhere around $10,000 to $13,000.

Shortly after receiving the automobile, the Hollywood movie mogul modified it for racing and enjoyed fast trips until he was hospitalized after crashing it on a public road.

Mosler MT900S: $203,000

Lucas is the proud owner of an MT900S, a supercar built by Mosler, a niche automaker. He purchased the car as soon as it was introduced in 2006, and it was the first model to leave the factory.

The Molser drew Lucas in because of its speed, power, and agility, and he supposedly fell in love with it after seeing it on the cover of a magazine. It’s not quite the Millennium Falcon, but it’ll do for now.

Gulfstream G550 Private Jet: $61 Million

Lucas takes to the skies in his Gulfstream G550 whenever he wants to go large distances. This corporate jet has a plush interior and can accommodate up to 19 passengers. The call sign N138GL is painted on Lucas’s jet, which is a hue of dark crimson.

Some assume that the number 138 refers to Lucas’ debut feature picture, THX: 1138, but no one knows for sure.

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George Lucas: Lifestyle and Vacation

Lifestyle

Despite amassing a fortune that most mainstream directors would kill for, Lucas is frugal with his money. He promised to donate the majority of his money to charity after the Disney sale.

Also, he’s given billions of dollars to numerous charities throughout the years, with a particular focus on improving education for low-income pupils.

While Lucas has a strong proclivity for providing, he isn’t fully free of self-indulgence. He may not lavish as much as other billionaires, but he has amassed a sizable fortune.

Saying Grace By Norman Rockwell: $46 Million

If there’s one thing Lucas enjoys doing, it’s collecting Norman Rockwell paintings. Lucas grew up viewing Rockwell’s work on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, where he was known for his sympathetic depictions of American life.

‘Saying Grace,’ which sold for $46 million at auction, is perhaps the most valuable piece in his collection. SF Gate believes that Lucas is the owner, although the buyer’s name is kept unknown.

His Entire Art Collection Worth $1 Billion

Lucas has an art collection that matches most galleries, in addition to the Rockwells. While most of it is made up of pop art that Lucas has collected over the years, it also includes artifacts from practically all of his films, including the Star Wars franchise.

Lucas, ever the altruistic man, does not hoard his wealth for himself. He lends artifacts from his collection to galleries across the country regularly, allowing the public to see them.

Museum Of Narrative Art: $1 Billion

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open in 2021, is a museum dedicated to the craft of storytelling via visual expression.

Lucas is now self-funding the museum, including a $400 million endowment that he plans to utilize to get things started once the doors open.

Vacation

Due to a busy schedule, Lucas hardly takes any vacation. However, his shooting for different TV shows allows him to travel across the world.

“Star wars” solely let him travel places like:

• Villa del Balbianello, Italy
• Redwood National and State Parks, California
• Royal Palace of Caserta, Italy
• Matmata, Tunisia
• Skellig Michael, Ireland
• Mos Espa, Tunisia
• Plaza de España, Spain
• Tikal, Guatemala

Disney Sale, Star Wars, Movie, Book Publications

Disney Sale

George sold the Star Wars franchise rights to Disney for $4 billion in cash and equity in 2012.

Lucas received $2.21 billion in cash and 37 million shares of stock (37,076,679), valued at roughly $50 at the time.

As a result, he received $1.85 billion in Disney stock after the deal was completed. Lucas makes about $64 million per year in dividend payments thanks to his share count and Disney’s semi-annual $0.88 payout.

With Disney’s stock hitting $200 in March 2021, the 37 million shares had grown to be worth $7.4 billion.

Star Wars

Star Wars, made on a budget of $11 million and premiered in 1977, became a worldwide hit. Lucas would spend $15 million on restoration costs for the film’s re-release decades later.

In the early 1980s, two more sequels to Star Wars were released, both enormously successful and continued to expand the Star Wars universe.

Lucas directed a second Star Wars trilogy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, concentrating on events before the original films. After selling the rights to Disney, Lucas created the most recent sequel trilogy and offshoot films and shows.

The enormous Star Wars franchise has grossed more than $12 billion worldwide and continues to captivate fans to this day.

Movie

Although he only directed six films, Lucas was involved in countless more as a producer, executive producer, and writer.

Body Heat (1981), Labyrinth (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), and the Indiana Jones film franchise are some of his most notable achievements.

Lucas teamed up with Harrison Ford, who played Indiana Jones and in the Star Wars movie, to create yet another legendary character in the Indiana Jones flicks.

The films that resulted have grossed approximately $2 billion at the movie office.

Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, a student film from 1967, was later adapted into THX 1138, his first full-length feature picture, released in 1971.

Despite its bad reception, the film spawned a more successful sequel, American Graffiti, which received five Academy Award nominations and grossed $115 million domestically and $140 million globally.

American Graffiti is regarded as one of the most profitable films in history, with a budget of $777,000 for production.

Book Publications

Lucas is not just a producer, director, entrepreneur but also an author.

In detail, there is a total of 114 books written on Star Wars novel by George Lucas. It’s available on Amazon.

Career

Until 1967, George Lucas devoted his efforts to studying and comprehending the process of filmmaking.

He then directed Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, a short film he received first place at the National Student Film Festival.

This film was titled THX 1138 and went on to become his first full-length feature film.

Finian’s Rainbow, his next picture, was made possible by a Warner Bros. scholarship, which gave him access to Hollywood.

George founded his own film production business, Lucasfilms, in 1973 and went on to direct the box office hit American Graffiti.

The classic Star Wars film was George Lucas’s next project during this decade. It was excellent for action fans because it was an original space adventure story with drama and action.

As expected, his film set a Box Office record that was only surpassed five years later by Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

George Lucas later turned his concentration from filmmaking to brand marketing. To make up for his losses at this time, he went on to create products such as toys and games.

He was working on his writing and film production at this time, even though he wasn’t actively directing films.

Star Wars was created around this time, with a slew of spin-offs aimed at TV audiences to go along with the picture.

Currently, Lucas intends to focus on low-budget feature films rather than full-fledged blockbuster feature films. He also plans to take over the backset and ‘slowly peel himself away from the filmmaking industry.’

Charity

Because of his extraordinary humanitarian endeavors, George’s net worth is now somewhat reduced. He intends to contribute the majority of his fortune to education-related charities in the future.

Lucas has vowed to contribute half of his income to charity as part of a campaign led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett called The Giving Pledge, which aims to inspire America’s wealthiest people to donate their money to charity.

George Lucas Educational Foundation

The George Lucas Educational Organization was established in 1991 as a nonprofit operating foundation to promote and reward educational innovation.

The Foundation’s material can be found on an award-winning website, social media, and in documentary films under the brand Edutopia.

Proceeds from the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney

Lucasfilm was sold to The Walt Disney Company in 2012 for a reported $4.05 billion. According to reports at the time, Lucas intended to donate the majority of the earnings from the auction to charity.

“George Lucas has declared his intention, in the event the deal closes, to contribute the majority of the revenues to his philanthropic activities,” a Lucasfilm representative said.

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

By June 2013, Lucas was considering creating the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum on Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which would house his $1 billion collections of illustrations and pop art.

Lucas proposed to cover the museum’s estimated $300 million construction costs and endow it with $400 million when it opened, with an extra $400 million added afterward.

Other initiatives

Lucas donated $1 million in 2005 to help fund the construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to honor American civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.

Lucas contributed $175–180 million to his alma mater, the University of Southern California, to enhance the film school on September 19, 2006. It is the single largest gift to USC and the world’s largest grant to a film school.

Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson gave $25 million to the Chicago-based non-profit After School Matters in 2013, where Hobson is the chair.

On April 15, 2016, it was revealed that Lucas had donated between $501,000 and $1 million to the Obama Foundation, which is in charge of managing the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side, through the Lucas Family Foundation.

3 Interesting things about George Lucas

• Since selling his Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 for $4.1 billion in stock and cash, ‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas has essentially retired from filmmaking.
• Lucas has shifted his concentration to philanthropy, with a nonprofit family foundation worth more than $1 billion.
• Before entering USC, Lucas attended junior college in Modesto, California, where his parents had a stationery store.

FAQS

What is George Lucas up to these days?

Since selling his Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 for $4.1 billion in stock and cash, ‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas has essentially retired from filmmaking. Lucas has shifted his concentration to philanthropy, with a nonprofit family foundation worth more than $1 billion.

Is George Lucas still paid royalties from the Star Wars franchise?

Lucas sold the rights to his production empire, Lucasfilm, to Disney for $4 billion in the winter of 2012 and Disney stock as part of the deal. The majority of the money is claimed to have gone to charity, but a significant portion has gone to Lucas, increasing his personal worth.

Why did the Air Force turn down George Lucas?

He attempted to join the United States Air Force as an officer after graduating with a bachelor of fine arts in film in 1967 but was refused due to frequent speeding citations.

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