American cartoonist Gary Larson has an estimated net worth of $50 million as of 2012. He is famous for being the creator of the internationally syndicated cartoon series The Far Side.

For 15 years, the cartoon series was syndicated in over 900 newspapers worldwide. His collection of 23 cartoon books earned over 45 million sales copies. His world renowned cartoon series ended when he retired in 1995.

After finishing his communications degree at Washington State University, Gary Larson decided to work in a music store but only to quit shortly after. He later realized that he could make money from cartooning. He started with 6 cartoons which he submitted to Pacific Search. After contributing to another local newspaper in Seattle, Larson began submitting his cartoon strip to The Seattle Times, though under the title of Nature's Way. His work was published every week.

While at San Francisco, he pitched another one of his works to the San Francisco Chronicle. His work was published and it was renamed to The Far Side. In 1985 and 1988, he was a recipient of the Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award from the National Cartoonists Society.