George Lucas, creator of “Star Wars,” has an estimated net worth of $6.4 billion.
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“Star Wars” creator George Lucas is creating a compound in Carpinteria, California: He purchased a two-acre beachfront property for $28 million next to one he already owns, reported Katherine Clarke for The Wall Street Journal.Lucas has an estimated net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes.The filmmaker also co-created “Indiana Jones” and has earned several Academy Award nominations.Lucas, 75, spends some of his fortune on real estate and philanthropy.Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.Filmmaker George Lucas is expanding his real estate.He recently purchased a two-acre beachfront property in Carpinteria, California, for $28 million — and it’s right next door to a beachfront property he already owns, reported Katherine Clarke for The Wall Street Journal, citing court records.Lucas almost didn’t become rich or famous, though — at least by Hollywood standards.He dreamed of being a race car driver, but that all came to a halt after a car crash, according to a 1979 profile of Lucas in The Atlantic. Inspired by a cinematographer he had built a racing car for, Lucas enrolled in film school. He went on to helm one of the biggest franchises of all time — “Star Wars” — and co-create another box-office franchise, “Indiana Jones.” The director, screenwriter, and producer has been nominated for an Academy Award four times. He’s also accumulated an estimated net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes.Lucas is currently married to his second wife, Mellody Hobson, with whom he has one biological child. He also adopted three children during his first marriage and as a single parent.Lucas has a reputation for being quiet on the media front, so not much is known about how he spends his fortune. However, he has cultivated a California real-estate portfolio, including Skywalker Ranch, and donates a lot of his money to charity. A representative for Lucas declined to comment on Lucas’ personal finances when reached by Business Insider.Here’s how Lucas, now semi-retired, accumulates and spends his billions.
Filmmaker George Lucas has an estimated net worth of $6.4 billion, thanks to his creation of two entertainment franchises with cult-like followings.
Michael Tran/Getty Images
Source: Forbes
In 1971, George Lucas launched his production company, Lucasfilm, and with it, his claim to fame.
Wally Fong/AP Images
Source: Forbes
The following year, Lucas directed coming-of-age film “American Graffiti” — one of the most profitable movies of all time. Made on a budget of $777,000, it earned $140 million in revenue.
AP Images
Source: Pajiba via Business Insider
But Lucas is most well-known for creating the “Star Wars” trilogy. The first installment, “A New Hope,” was released in 1977. It’s grossed a total of $621 million worldwide.
AP Images
Source: Box Office Mojo
The second installment, 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” grossed a total of $457 million worldwide.
Lucasfilm
Source: Box Office Mojo
And the third installment — “Return of the Jedi,” released in 1983 — grossed a total of $418 million worldwide.
Disney
Source: Box Office Mojo
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lucas returned to “Star Wars” with a prequel trilogy: “The Phantom Menace,” “Attack of the Clones,” and “Revenge of the Sith.”
Lucasfilm
Source: Box Office Mojo
Collectively, the “Star Wars” prequel movies grossed a total of $2.4 billion worldwide.
LucasFilm/Disney
Source: Box Office Mojo
And these figures are only for the original films. The original, special editions, re-issues, or 3D versions of the “Star Wars” franchise have collectively grossed a total of $9.4 billion worldwide. That’s an average of $558 million per movie.
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Source: Box Office Mojo
But the cinematic arm of the “Star Wars” franchise isn’t what really made Lucas rich.
Gerardo Mora/Getty Images
Convinced the original “Star Wars” would be a flop, Fox (the film’s distributor) let Lucas give up an additional $500,000 in directing fees in exchange for ownership of licensing and merchandising rights.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Source: The Hollywood Reporter via Business Insider
That turned out to be a strategic move for Lucas. In 1978, the year following the first “Star Wars,” more than 40 million “Star Wars” figures sold for gross sales of $100 million-plus.
AP Images
Source: The Hollywood Reporter via Business Insider
As of February 2012, the “Star Wars” series had earned $20 billion in merchandise and $3.8 billion in home entertainment products.
Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
But “Star Wars” isn’t the only movie franchise Lucas is known for — he also created the “Indiana Jones” series with his good pal and fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
Jason Kempin / Getty Images
Source: Vanity Fair
Released from 1984 to 2008, the series consists of four installments: “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
Paramount
Source: IMDB
Collectively, they’ve grossed a total of $1.9 billion worldwide.
ABC
Source: Box Office Mojo
“Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” both spawned TV spinoffs, on which Lucas worked as a producer.
ERIC RISBERG/AP Images
Source: Business Insider
Lucas has also expanded his scope outside the two franchises. He has a number of other producer credits, from Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” to the animated film “The Land Before Time.”
Universal Pictures
Source: Business Insider
He’s also helped Lucasfilm pioneer techniques in special effects, sound, and computer animation, from THX Ltd. and Skywalker Sound to Industrial Light and Magic. The latter is one of the most successful companies in the industry.
Getty Images
Source: Business Insider
Lucas owned 100% of Lucasfilm until 2012, when he decided to semi-retire and sold it to Disney for $4.1 billion in stock and cash.
Getty Images
Source: Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter
But Lucas’ fortune keeps on growing. In 2018, Forbes named Lucas America’s wealthiest celebrity.
Matt Sayles/AP Images
Source: Forbes
He’s also one of the richest people in Silicon Valley.
Getty Images
Source: Business Insider
But Silicon Valley isn’t the only place where Lucas spends his time. He owns several properties in California, including a beachfront property in Carpinteria on Padaro Lane that he purchased in 2010 for $19.5 million, according to public records.
trekandshoot/Shutterstock
Source: The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal
In late 2019, he purchased another Carpinteria beachfront property right next door for $28 million, creating a compound. It’s two acres and reportedly includes a guesthouse, treehouse, and barn.
Views from Padaro Lane (not Lucas’ house).
Google Maps
Source: The Wall Street Journal
North of San Francisco is the famous Skywalker Ranch, which sits on 4,700 acres.
Google Maps
Source: Business Insider
Lucas has spent $100 million developing the property since 1978, but has only built on 15 acres of the land. But Skywalker Ranch isn’t Lucas’ home.
via Google Maps
Source: Business Insider
The estate includes a fitness center with racquetball courts and a swimming pool. There’s also a movie theater, several screening rooms, and mostly underground parking.
via Google Maps
Source: Business Insider
Skywalker Ranch even has its own fire brigade to protect the estate. The brigade is an active part of the Marin County Fire Mutual Aid program.
via Google Maps
Source: Business Insider
From 2008 to 2010, Lucas owned a Hollywood house Bette Midler previously lived in. In June 2019, it was put on the market for $4.3 million.
Maks Ershov/Shutterstock
Source: The Washington Post
Known as “Mi Patria,” it has nine bedrooms and eight bathrooms. It also has a library, courtyard, gourmet eat-in kitchen, and tropical gardens.
Getty Images
Source: Variety
Since semi-retiring, Lucas is focusing on experimental movies, he told The Telegraph. “I’m finishing all my obligations and I’m going to retire to my garage with my saw and hammer and build hobby movies,” he said.
David McNew/Reuters
Source: Forbes, The Telegraph
But he’s also focusing more on his philanthropy efforts. In 2012, he announced that he planned to donate most of the $4 billion Disney sale to charity for education.
Gerardo Mora/Getty
Source: Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter
The move wasn’t a surprise, considering that Lucas has always been philanthropically inclined. He signed The Giving Pledge in 2010, promising to donate the majority of his wealth to improving education.
ERIC RISBERG/AP Images
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
His George Lucas Family Foundation is endowed with more than $1 billion.
George Lucas and daughter Katie Lucas.
Michael Kovac/Getty Images
Source: Forbes, Inside Philanthropy
In 2015, the foundation donated more than $64 million to over 200 organizations, from wildlife initiatives and refugee aid to inner-city youth support and various museums.
Getty
Source: Inside Philanthropy
Lucas has also given to other charities, such as the Film Foundation, Stand Up to Cancer, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Ted S. Warren/AP Images
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
He also makes grants through the George Lucas Educational Foundation, which he founded in 1991. He’s donated $175 million to his alma mater, USC.
AP Photo/Reed Saxon
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Lucas gave $1 million to help build the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington DC.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images
Source: Business Insider
In 2017, Lucas announced plans to build the $1 billion non-profit Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. That includes building costs, his art, and a $400 million endowment.
Brandon Williams/Getty Images
Source: Los Angeles Times
It will also feature daily film screenings in two theaters, a free public research library, and hands-on and digital classrooms.
Damian Dovarganes/AP Images
Source: Lucas Museum
It’s currently under construction and will create 1,400 jobs. It’s slated to open in late 2021.
Damian Dovarganes/AP Images
Source: Lucas Museum
He’s well-respected and has received many awards and honors. In 2005, he received the Life Achievement Award in 2005 from the American Film Institute.
Bob Galbraith/AP Images
Source: Business Insider
In 2008, he was named one of the 100 “Greatest Americans” by the Discovery Channel.
Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Source: Business Insider
But he was never in it for the fame or the money. “After interviewing him twice and watching his movies repeatedly, I’m convinced he’s driven by a huge, restless imagination,” wrote Windolf.
Image Group LA/Getty Images
Source: Vanity Fair
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