Dutch entertainment mogul Joop van den Ende has an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. He earned his net worth as a media tycoon, theatrical producer, co-founder of Endemol, and founder/owner of Stage Entertainment. Born Johannes Adrianus van den Ende on February 23, 1942 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he started his career as a party-supply salesman. He later partnered with fellow billionaire John de Mol to create Endemol, a reality television production company. The company is the producer of popular TV formats including the popular Big Brother, Deal or No Deal and Fear Factor, and is active on 25 countries in five continents. In 2000, they sold Endemol to Spanish telecom giant Telefonica for $5.3 billion.

Van den Ende bought the Endemol live entertainment division in 1998. This started the Stage Entertainment, an international entertainment group with theatres, productions, office and ticket sale organizations in eight countries, which he founded and owned. It now puts on between 40 and50 plays, ice shows, dance events, and concerts annually. Its U.S. division has won 46 Tony Awards on blockbuster musicals such as The Lion King and Mamma Mia. Together with his wife, Janine, he established the VandenEnde Foundation, one of the largest Dutch private funds, in 2001. It supports a wide variety of activities in the arts, theatre, and educational fields.

In 2008, Joop stepped down as chairman but remained president of the supervisory board. He received an honorary doctorate as a cultural entrepreneur from Nyenrode Business University in Netherlands. As of March 2013, he is #931 in the Forbes Billionaires List and #5 in Netherlands.