Step aside Kim Kardashian! Angelina Jolie and Billie Eilish worked their
butts off too! Whether riches or cashing in on their parents' fame,
these and other celeb-kids inherited more than just their parent’s genes!
Back in 1992, Billy Ray Cyrus was telling the world about his "Achy Breaky Heart," in turn
becoming a breakout country music star. He earned a whopping $40 million from the song. But Billy
Ray decided to leave private jets and champagne behind to focus on caring for his family.
And that really paid off. Miley Cyrus first rose to prominence as a teen, thanks to the Disney
Channel's "Hannah Montana," which debuted in 2006. She soon became a music superstar, and by the time
she was 18, Miley was incredibly rich. But Billy Ray told GQ that he never profited from her fame.
"You got a lot of people have made percentages off of her. I'm proud to say to this day I've
never made one commissioned dollar, or dime, off of my daughter."
He's still done okay for himself. According to Stylecaster,
Billy Ray's net worth is around $20 million, while Miley's is an estimated $160 million.
Before he became a conservative talking head, Jon Voight was a highly popular actor,
starring in classic films such as "Midnight Cowboy" and "Deliverance." These days, however,
his fame has been overshadowed by that of his estranged daughter, Angelina Jolie.
Jolie, of course, is one of the biggest stars in the world, and her estimated
net worth of $120 million is more than twice her father's. For over two decades,
she has been making bank at the box office, with a string of hits that began with 2001's "Lara Croft:
Tomb Raider" and hasn't stopped since. Meanwhile, she's also making bank from endorsement deals,
with her Louis Vuitton deal reportedly worth $10 million.
Whereas Jolie has continued to enjoy an A-list lifestyle, her father has been
reduced to appearing in right-wing videos and movies, something Voight blames on
so-called "Hollywood communism." Given the weak performance of his own recent films,
though, some might argue that it's simply the free market at work.
"No one really confronts me, because they don't have the answers. They fear my knowledge."
Although Donald Sutherland has enjoyed a steady film career spanning six decades,
he didn't make as much money as he could have. For instance, he lost millions when
he made "Animal House," turning down an offer to make 2% profit participation. He told Variety,
"I told them, 'No, you need to pay me my daily rate.' So I got
$25,000 for the day, when I could have ended up with $14 million."
Nevertheless, Celebrity Net Worth estimates his fortune at $60 million. That's a lot,
but not as much as his son. Keifer Sutherland earned a whopping
$550,000 per episode from his role on the hit series "24" before moving
on to "Designated Survivor," where he made a reported $300,000 per episode.
What's more, he's been lending his iconic voice to popular video game franchises "Call
of Duty" and "Metal Gear Solid," per IGN. All of that cheddar really adds up, and accordingly
Kiefer has an estimated net worth of $100 million, almost double his father's riches.
Born into immense privilege, Kim Kardashian has achieved the
impressive feat of surpassing both her parents' riches. When he died in 2003,
Kim's lawyer dad Robert was worth an estimated $30 million. And her mother Kris Jenner has
done pretty well for herself too, with an estimated net worth of $170 million.
But Kim is in a different league. In 2022, she made it onto the Forbes billionaires list
when it was announced that she was worth a whopping $1.8 billion. Kim's wealth is
attributable to her shrewd business acumen, having starred in the TV series "Keeping up
what the Kardashians" before founding the highly lucrative lingerie brand SKIMS and
the beauty line KKW Beauty, which she sold for $200 million in 2020.
Discussing the secret to her enviable bank balance with Variety, Kim infamously declared,
"I have the best advice for women in business:
get your f***ing a** up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days."
This led to an inevitable backlash, with Glamour arguing that Kim would have never
become a billionaire were it not for growing up in a rich and famous family in the first place.
One of the original nepo babies, Michael Douglas is the son of acting legend Kirk
Douglas. The elder Douglas had a glittering career in the golden age of Hollywood,
starring in films like the iconic "Spartacus." At the time of his death in 2020 at the age of 103,
he was worth $61 million, the majority of which he reportedly gave away to charity.
Although Michael didn't inherit a dime from his late father,
he needn't worry. According to Celebrity Net Worth, in a career spanning six decades,
he has made an eye-watering $350 million. For his role in "Basic Instinct," he made $14 million,
significantly more than co-star Sharon Stone. And he's still bringing home the bread to this day,
having entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hank Pym in the "Ant-Man" franchise. Moreover,
he has an enviable property portfolio, including a $21.5 million New York home.
Despite his vast riches, Michael does not resemble his famous character from
the 1987 film "Wall Street." He told Gentleman's Journal,
"I said it as Gordon Gekko, but I don't believe that greed is good. The size of fortunes in
finance have increased. It's an accumulation of our political system over the past 30 years."
Gwyneth Paltrow is the daughter of actor Blythe Danner and the late Bruce Paltrow.
The elder Paltrow found mild fame producing shows such as "St. Elsewhere" and "The White
Shadow" before eventually directing his daughter in the 2000 film "Duets."
"I think my father was all about honesty, in his life, and in his art."
Meanwhile, Danner starred in a number of films and TV shows in
the '70s before finding fame later in life thanks to the "Meet the Parents" franchise,
where she played Robert De Niro's long suffering but loyal wife.
As a result, Danner has an estimated Net Worth of $40 million. But her daughter
has far surpassed that. Gwyneth Paltrow is now worth a whopping $250 million thanks in
large part to her film roles, but also due to her entrepreneurial ventures. Notably,
she founded the wellness company Goop in 2008, telling CEO Magazine,
"People initially were like, 'This is nuts.' They thought I was insane [...] Now look:
it's a billions of dollars market."
Addressing claims that she has only been able to enjoy a lucrative career thanks
to her parents' fame, Paltrow insists she's a self-made millionaire, telling Glamour,
"People think, 'She's just a rich kid.' Until I was 18,
I was. Then I was broke. I've never taken a dime off my parents."
The son of musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, it was perhaps
inevitable that the precocious Rufus Wainwright would follow his parents'
footsteps into the musical realm. Loudon found moderate success in the 70s and 80s,
particularly in the U.K. where he became a resident singer on the
BBC show "Carrott Confidential." Meanwhile, McGarrigle, who sadly died of cancer in 2010,
had a modestly successful career as part of a folk duo with her sister, Anna.
While his dad is reportedly worth $8 million, Rufus has amassed slightly more,
with a net worth of $10 million. And that's by design. In a 2007 interview with Spin,
Wainwright admitted to being motivated by money, saying,
"I'm so culturally minded — and snobby, really — but that doesn't
mean I don't want to make money. It's quite the opposite. When you have expensive tastes,
you need expensive money. So I'm just being honest."
Although she first rose to fame singing about London town in a Cockney accent,
Lily Allen is actually a nepo baby, the daughter of British actor Keith Allen.
The elder Allen has had a number of roles on British TV shows and films, but is perhaps
best known for penning the song "Vindaloo," which spawned soccer chants the world over.
Unfortunately, Lily's father is also famous for all the wrong reasons, as he's been a tabloid
staple, having affairs with numerous celebs and getting embroiled in drug busts. Lily has lamented
her father's inability to channel his talents, and he doesn't exactly disagree, telling The Guardian,
"That’s true, yeah. I couldn’t channel anything. You could say
I wasted a lot of years. You could also say I had a f—ing great time."
"I'm only there to have a good time."
Meanwhile, Lily has enjoyed a productive career and was once richer than her father. In 2017,
she made headlines when she complained that she had nowhere to stay for Christmas because
the tenants living in her swanky house refused to leave. At the time, her net worth was reportedly
$20 million, double her father's. But in 2018, Lily claimed to be over $1 million in debt, and
though she has apparently rebounded, it's unclear at this point just how much money she has left.
She's a multimillionaire girlboss and the wife of Justin Bieber;
her dad is the star of Christian dramas such as "I'm in Love with a Church Girl." So it should
come as little surprise that Hailey Bieber is richer than her dad, Stephen Baldwin. Hailey
has a stunning net worth of $20 million thanks to her modeling career and business ventures,
including the sustainable beauty brand Rhode Skin, which has a wait list of 700,000 people.
As Hailey has flourished, her dad has floundered. Beset by years of money woes,
the one-time star of "Bio-Dome" had to file for bankruptcy in 2009, as he had
racked up a debt of over $2 million, consisting of unpaid mortgages and credit card debt. Sadly,
his money woes continued, and in 2017 the Daily Mail reported that he was facing
foreclosure on his New York home. Having initially bought the home for $812,500,
Baldwin struggled to keep up with the mortgage repayments and it was sold for just $100.
Despite facing accusations of being a nepo baby, Billie Eilish's parents,
although moderately successful, never reached her level of fame and fortune.
The singer's mom, Maggie Baird, is an actor and writer. Most notably,
she appeared in "Friends," playing a casting director in the Season 6 episode "The One Where
Joey Loses His Insurance." Meanwhile, Eilish's father, Patrick O'Connell,
is also an actor, having had minor roles in shows like "Supergirl" among other things.
Although Eilish's parents' net worths are unknown,
they undoubtedly don't come close to matching hers. In 2019, the then 17-year-old was paid
a colossal $25 million for her Apple documentary, per Billboard. In 2020,
Forbes reported that Eilish had made an incredible $53 million that year;
a year later she released her titular fragrance, which was set to see her make $60 million.
Eilish told Rolling Stone that she felt her parents should have been stars.
"Acting is super weird. You can work for years and years and be the best in the world and never
get a role, and you can be mediocre, do one audition, and become a huge star. For years,
I saw my parents beat up over the fact that they didn't have it better. And that drove me insane,
because they were really good! [...] I wish they'd had more recognition."
Benedict Cumberbatch is another star who you may not realize had famous parents. His mother,
Wanda Ventham, starred in the classic British sitcom "Only Fools and Horses,"
playing the prim and proper mother-in-law of Rodney Trotter; his father, Timothy Carlton,
has appeared in countless British TV shows since the early '60s.
Despite both being prolific actors, Ventham and Carlton have been overshadowed by the success
of their superstar son. With his Emmy-winning turn as "Sherlock" and starring roles in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cumberbatch has an estimated net worth of $40 million dollars.
It turns out Cumberbatch's success was no surprise to his parents,
though. Cumberbatch told The Scotsman,
"I did Glengarry Glen Ross when I was 19, and afterwards my dad did
this extraordinary thing. He said, 'You are better than I ever was or
will be and you can make a living at this.' It knocked me sideways."
While Jake Gyllenhaal has gained fame on screen, his parents found it behind
the scenes. His father, Stephen, has a long career as a director for film and TV shows
such as "Numb3ers," while his mother, writer and director Naomi Foner, received an Oscar
nomination for writing the screenplay to the 1988 River Phoenix film "Running on Empty."
Stephen is worth an impressive $10 million, while Naomi's personal wealth is unknown. However,
it seems unlikely that she has as much money as Jake, whose fortune is reportedly a whopping $80
million. He credits his father for encouraging him to take acting seriously, telling Howard Stern,
"My Dad would always say things and encourage me, and stuff, so,
saying like oh, there's this thing you should do, you're so good at it, you should keep doing it."
Despite his privilege, though, Jake told The Guardian that it
was his mother who always keeps him grounded no matter how big he gets.
"My mother would say that there are people who have so much money who don't
give any of it away [...] It should all be about giving something back."