Actor and Director Jordan Peele made history in early 2018. People everywhere cheered when Peele became the first African American to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
His film “Get Out”, is a social thriller that tackles the hidden horrors of racism in a suburban American family.
Peele, the child of a black father and white mother, was raised by his single mom in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Peele’s first career choice was a computer-oriented field. After spending some time in the Computer School in Manhattan, he dropped out to pursue a comedic career.
Peele worked at several well-known comedy clubs in the early 2000’s, such as The Second City in Chicago. When he joined Mad TV in 2003, he was paired up with Keegan Michael Key and the comedic chemistry of the two was recognized instantly.
But comedy isn’t his only talent. Peele’s career is ripe with variety; he’s also donevoice acting, and musical parodies along with acting and directing.
Along with getting to pursue his passion, Peele’s hard work has put him in a good place financially too.
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Get Out Catapult’s Peele’s Net Worth
If Jordan Peele’s bank account wasn’t plush before Get Out (for the record, it was), the film certainly gave him a boost. The film, which cost just $4.5 million to make, brought in an estimated $255 million at the box office.
It’s fairly unheard of for low-budget films to bring in such massive gross earnings. In fact, Get Out’s earnings highly surpassed some of its low budget/high earning competitors, such as:
- God’s Not Dead ($2 million budget, $60.7 million box office)
- Halloween ($347k budget, $47 million box office)
- Rocky ($1.175 million budget, $117 million box office)
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($5 million budget, $241 million box office)
Peele’s current estimated net worth? An admirable $12 million.
That’s almost double the net worth of his friend and former comedy partner Keegan Michael Key, whose net worth is estimated at a “paltry” $7 million.
The Movie That Almost Never Was
The fact that Get Out ever hit the theaters is a bit of a miracle itself. You might find it surprising that this box office hit was shot in just 23 days.
Peele says he stopped writing Get Out about twenty times. He thought no one would ever agree to make the movie, which battles racism head-on.
After a meeting with film producer Sean McKittrick in 2013, things changed. McKittrick listened to Peele’s pitch and agreed to buy the movie on the spot.
The story was only partially finished, but McKittrick saw something special in it. When Peele approached him with the idea behind the story, McKittrick’s response was “We HAVE to make this movie…”.
He knew nothing like this had ever been done, and he wanted in. Peele completed a draft script in just two short months.
On finishing the story so quickly, Peele says “By the time I sat down and actually started writing, I already knew every scene”.
The years and years Peele spent conceiving the movie in his head made writing the script easy. As Peele worked on the script, he realized that only he could direct the movie in line with his vision.
Obviously, Jordan Peele’s instinct was spot on.
Life Today
Today Jordan Peele is enjoying time with his wife, Brooklyn-Nine-Nine star Chelsea Peretti. The family also has a three-year-old son named Beaumont Gino Peele.
As for future endeavors, Peele will focus on directing. His intention is to stay away from acting only because directing is so much more fun for him.
His latest horror thriller, Us, is set to be released in March of 2019. However, its storyline is being kept largely under wraps. All we know for sure is that the story involves two couples: one white and one black.
In addition, Peele is set to produce in a remake of Candyman through his own company, Monkeypaw Productions.
Kudos to Jordan Peele for taking on the establishment and following his dreams. I’m certain there will be many more riveting films coming from this great mind.
Increase Your Own Net Worth
Do you like the idea of increasing your own net worth? While you may not ever become a world-famous director, there are steps you can take to increase your own wealth. Here are some ideas.
Invest in the Stock Market
The stock market has long been a favored avenue for building wealth. Billionaires such as Warren Buffett built his $82.5 million net worth primarily through stock market investing.
But don’t just throw your money into the market and hope for the best. Instead, educate yourself on successful investing. John C. Bogle’s The Little Common Sense Book of Investing is a good place to start. Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor is another good read.
If you are a new investor consider buying shares in index funds. These are low-cost investment vehicles that will help you keep more of the returns.
Invest in Real Estate
Another option for growing your net worth is to invest in real estate. You could purchase rental properties and use those for wealth increase, living off the rental income.
Or, you could invest more passively in real estate by purchasing shares in crowdfunding companies. Companies such as Fundrise and Realty Shares help you invest in real estate by allowing you to back those who buy and rent out commercial and residential real estate properties.
You get a piece of any profit in exchange for your investment. While not risk-free, investing in crowdfunding has its benefits. This type of platform allows you to invest in real estate at a much lower up-front cost. It also keeps you free from having to maintain properties and deal with renters.
Whichever path you choose, real estate investing has the potential to grow some serious wealth.
Business Ownership
A third popular route to increasing your net worth is business ownership. You could start a business that gros into something lucrative, or you could buy into an existing business.
I have one friend, for instance, who built an SEO business from the ground up. He helps businesses expand their web presence.
While the beginning years required much of his time, the business now allows him substantial income with little input. He’s handed the reins off to management experts and takes income in a primarily passive manner.
Whether investing, owning real estate, owning a business or simply saving a portion of each paycheck, wealth increase is possible. Simply plan a slow and steady path of spending less, reducing debt and saving more.
Get a Side Hustle
Increasing your net worth doesn’t have to be a big production or take a long time. You can save more money or pay down debt simply by picking up some extra work.
That might be a part-time job, some extra hours at your current job or sharing your skills on a site like Upwork.
When you earn more and spend less, you put yourself in a position to increase your net worth. It’s really that simple.
What do you think about Jordan Peele’s rise to fame and net worth? Do you have plans for increasing your own net worth? Leave a comment and share what you know.
