Ellen DeGeneres is worth almost half a billion dollars! Here’s how the former talk show host made her fortune

The former TV host became the first female comedian to earn $20 million for a Netflix stand-up special.

Ellen DeGeneres not because of wealth, but over the years as a TV presenter and a successful comedy career, she has become one of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.

According to the former talk show host, his net worth was $450 million as of May 2024. Forbes. While she’s made a name for herself through comedy, acting, and hosting, DeGeneres has also built a reputation as a successful housewife. Next to my wife Portia de RossiDeGeneres has bought and sold more than 50 properties, a stark contrast to how she grew up.

During her 2009 appearance as keynote speaker At her Tulane University graduation, DeGeneres described how she was “lost” throughout her childhood school years.

“I had no ambition, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she said. “I shucked oysters, I was a hostess, I was a bartender, I was a waitress, I painted houses, I sold vacuum cleaners. I had no idea and thought I would finally get some job and make enough money to pay the rent, maybe have basic cable, maybe not, I really didn’t have a plan.”

Although DeGeneres went on to become one of the most profitable businesswomen in the United States, she recalls that when she was younger, she thought “success was something else.”

“Today, my definition of success has changed, and as you grow, you will realize that the definition of success changes,” she added.

From her television career to her real estate portfolio, here’s everything you need to know about how Ellen DeGeneres amassed her net worth.

What is Ellen DeGeneres’ net worth?

In 2020, DeGeneres achieved Forbes list of the 100 highest paid celebrities. At that time, Diversity reported that she received more than $50 million a year from a deal with Telepictures, the production company that produced The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

DeGeneres’s net worth has continued to rise steadily each year and was last reported to be $450 million as of May 2024.

Although she has earned income from many ventures and brand partnerships, Forbes considers television to be the main source of income that underlies her wealth.

How did Ellen DeGeneres accumulate her wealth?

Apart from her show of the same name, which completed in 2022DeGeneres has been involved in several projects in the entertainment and lifestyle industry.

She became an author in 1995 when she released My point of view… And I have it, it was her first of four books written throughout her career.

In 2003, DeGeneres starred in the Disney film. Finding Nemo as the voice of the forgetful fish Dory, and reprized the role in Finding Dory in 2016.

That same year, she and Warner Bros. founded the company A Very Good Production, which subsequently produced The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Through her production company, DeGeneres also created the record label Eleven Eleven in 2010.

In addition to hosting a TV show, DeGeneres has found success as a stand-up comedian, making history as the first woman to receive $20 million for a Netflix stand-up special, according to Forbes.

She produced HBO specials in the early 2000s. Start And Here and now followed by a 2018 Netflix special, related. Her last stand-up show took place in September 2024. For your approvalreleased on the streaming platform.

DeGeneres also owns a lifestyle brand. ED, which sells furniture, home decor and more.

How much real estate did Ellen DeGeneres own?

DeGeneres is known for collecting multi-million dollar homes. In a 2023 issue of local California outlet The Riv, she said she has bought and sold more than 50 homes.

The former TV presenter sold the restored one Montecito, California, $32 million home in May 2024 after selling other real estate in the same city, which she owned for less than a year, for $15 million in April 2022. She also previously sold $6 million cottage in 2022 and House in Malibu, formerly owned by Brad Pittwhich she bought for $12 million in 2011.

In December 2022 Architectural Digest reported that DeGeneres and de Rossi broke the record for the most expensive deal ever negotiated in Santa Barbara County when they spent $70 million on two adjacent parcels of Carpinteria land.

When asked about her home-based job with de Rossi TODAY in October 2018, she said it wasn’t “intentional” and instead attributed it to her being “a little bored.”

“We buy a house and we love it and we stay in it and then we get a little bored because we like a different style or a different aesthetic, and I love furniture and I love decorating,” DeGeneres said. So if I find something else and we make money, it turns out, why not move to another house?”

While dozens of mansions and villas have been bought and sold over the years, the couple most recently sold their Carpinteria estate in August 2024 for $96 million.

Three months later, a source told PEOPLE that DeGeneres went abroad after ‘finding a house in the UK that I fell in love with’

What are Ellen DeGeneres’ biggest brand partnerships?

Apart from her business, DeGeneres has teamed up with many companies through various brand partnerships.

Her lifestyle brand ED partnered with Wayfair in 2015 to create a custom furniture collection tied to her brand.

In 2018, the businesswoman teamed up with Walmart to create the women’s clothing line EV1, which will sell clothing and accessories in more than 2,300 stores. That same year, she entered into a year-long creative partnership with Spotify, creating Ellen’s hub of her favorite music and podcasts on the listening platform.

DeGeneres also had additional business relationships with PetSmart and Bed Bath & Beyond.

What did Ellen DeGeneres say about her worth?

During the April 2018 issue The Ellen DeGeneres ShowThe comedian revealed how growing up “poverty” influenced how she feels about her wealth today.

“When I was poor, I just thought, ‘I’ll never feel like this about money. “I will always just get what I want, I will do what I want because I know there is abundance and I will always have enough,” and that’s how I live,” she said. “You shouldn’t live your life in fear of money, because you will show it.”