Actor, Film Producer, Voice Actor, Presenter, Singer
Arnold Schwarzenegger Net Worth
Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, model, actor, businessman, and politician. He is one of the most famous actors in the world and at times has been the highest-paid person in the entertainment world. As of 2024, Arnold Schwarzenegger has a net worth of $400 million.
Schwarzenegger began lifting weights at the age of 15, and went on to win the Mr. Universe title at age 20 before winning the Mr. Olympia contest seven times; he remains a prominent presence in bodybuilding and has written many books and articles on the sport. The Arnold Sports Festival, considered the second most important bodybuilding event after Mr. Olympia, is named after him. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, as well as the sport’s most charismatic and famous ambassador.
Schwarzenegger gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action film icon. His breakthrough film was the sword-and-sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian (1982), a box-office hit that resulted in a sequel in 1984. He appeared as the title character in James Cameron’s critically and commercially successful science fiction film The Terminator (1984), and subsequently played similar characters in the sequel films Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Genisys (2015) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). He also starred in other successful action films such as Commando (1985), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987), Total Recall (1990) and True Lies (1994), in addition to comedy films such as Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994) and Jingle All the Way (1996).
As a Republican candidate, Schwarzenegger was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis. He was sworn in on November 17, to serve the remainder of Davis’ term. He was then re-elected in the 2006 California gubernatorial election, to serve a full term as governor. In 2011, he completed his second term as Governor and returned to acting.
Schwarzenegger was nicknamed the “Austrian Oak” in his bodybuilding days, “Arnie” or “Schwarzy” during his acting career, and “The Governator” (a portmanteau of “Governor” and “Terminator”) during his political career. He married Maria Shriver, the niece of 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in 1986. They separated in 2011 after he admitted to having fathered an illegitimate child with their housemaid in 1997, and their divorce was finalized in 2017. The name of his production company is Oak Productions.
Largest Paycheck
For the 1988 movie “Twins”, Arnold, Danny Devito and director Ivan Reitman all agreed to take zero salary from the studio in exchange for owning 40% of the film (13.33% each). The movie was a smash hit and went on to earn more than $215 million worldwide at the box office alone. It was also a hit on VHS and on cable. In a March 2014 interview, Arnold claimed that he earned more from “Twins” than any of his other movies throughout his entire career. He said the same is presumably true for Reitman and Devito. Assuming Arnold and Danny and Ivan each made $35-40 million from the movie in 1988, after adjusting for inflation that’s equal to earning $70-$80 million The trio would go onto reunite in the film “Junior”.
Other Notable Salaries
Arnold earned $2 million for “Commando”, $3.5 million for “Predator”, $11 million for “Total Recall”, $12 million for both “Kindergarten Cop” and “Terminator 2”. In Terminator 2, Arnold only had 700 words of dialogue, equating to $21,429 per spoken word.
He earned $15 million for “True Lies”, “Junior” and “Last Action Hero” then $20 million for “Eraser” and “Jingle All The Way”. Arnold’s paychecks topped $25 million for “Batman & Robin”, “The 6th Day” and “Collateral Damage”.
In 2003, Arnold negotiated an upfront salary of $29.25 million PLUS a 20% royalty on gross profits over $380 million for “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”. The movie went on to earn $433 globally, bringing Arnold’s total paycheck up to an estimated $35 million.
During his career to date, Arnold has earned at least $400 million from film salaries alone, before taxes.
