‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas is the richest celebrity in the U.S; here’s why Disney still won the ‘Star Wars’ deal

Dec 20, 2018

George Lucas may not own “Star Wars,” but he’s definitely rich.

Lucas was ranked as the wealthiest celebrity in the country, according to Forbes’ new list of wealthiest celebs.

• His net worth rests at about $5.4 billion, which is largely from the $4 billion he received from Disney when the company bought Lucasfilm and the “Star Wars” properties back in 2012.

• His net worth is higher than Steven Spielberg ($3.7 billion), Oprah Winfrey ($2.8 billion) and even Michael Jordan ($1.7 billion), according to Entertainment Weekly.

• Kylie Jenner was tied for fifth with Jay-Z with net worths of $900 million.

Though Lucas’ net worth is high, Disney made a profit off of the “Star Wars” purchase.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock back in October 2012. In the six years since that time, Disney has already turned a profit, CNBC reports.

• Disney earned more than $4 billion alone from box office streams. The numbers will only continue to grow with “Episode IX” on the way next year and an entire other trilogy in development.

• Don’t forget — there are DVD, BluRay and digital sales. Throw in toys, merchandise, novelizations and other products, and there’s so much money going around.

• “With $4.8 billion in box office receipts and a ton of other revenue streams, it turns out that owning Star Wars is one of the best things you can do with your money,” Uproxx reports.

Flashback: This reminds me of my report from December 2017. Back then, The Hollywood Reporter explained that “Star Wars” films already eclipsed the $4 billion mark, surpassing how much it paid to buy Lucasfilm.