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If there’s one thing we’ve learned from studying Hollywood’s most successful celebrities, it’s that the financial situation you’re born into doesn’t determine how you’ll spend the rest of your life. Some of the wealthiest figures in the industry were born into poverty and had to work from the ground up to make a name for themselves. So it’s definitely possible!
Of course, there are also those millionaires and billionaires who were born into privileged situations. Though that’s not to say that they haven’t worked hard to make their own money too. Keep reading to find out which celebrities have always been rich, and which ones rose from the bottom to the top.
Inherited: Psy
Psy rose to fame after his song ‘Gangnam Style’ went viral back in 2012. While Psy worked hard to set himself apart with a hit track that was truly unique, he didn’t exactly start at the bottom. According to Refinery 29, the Korean artist was actually born into an incredibly wealthy family.
His father, Park Won-ho, is the chairman of a company that manufactures equipment for semiconductors. And his mother, Kim Young-hee owns a restaurant. Psy actually grew up in the neighborhood of Gangnam, an affluent district that inspired his song. He is worth around $60 million.
From The Bottom To The Top: Nicki Minaj
With a net worth of $85 million, Nicki Minaj is widely considered to be one of hip-hop’s most successful artists. For a decade she’s released an onslaught of hit songs that have topped the charts and has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the industry. She’s at the top now, but she had to come a long way to get here.
Born Onika Tanya Maraj, Minaj grew up in Queens after moving from Trinidad and Tobago when she was a young child. As a young woman, she had to take jobs in the service industry to try and support herself while making her music dreams come true.
Inherited: Rooney And Kate Mara
The Mara sisters are making a name for themselves in show business. Both Rooney and Kate have won roles in notable projects in recent years, with Rooney appearing in films such as 2013’s Her opposite Joaquin Phoenix and 2018’s Mary Magdalene, and Kate appearing on the show House of Cards as Zoe Barnes.
The sisters have millions to their names, and though they’ve worked hard, they come from a family that is worth billions. Their father’s side of the family founded the New York Giants in 1925, while their mother’s side of the family founded the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1933.
From The Bottom To The Top: Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is one of the world’s most loved self-made billionaires. Today she can count herself as one of the richest and most successful celebrities on the planet, and that has come through years of hard work and persistence.
Winfrey is now worth over $2 billion, but as a child, she was so poor that at times she had to wear potato sacks instead of real clothes. Her mother was only a teenager when she had her in rural Mississippi in 1954. Winfrey grew up in poverty with no idea that she would one day be an inspiration to women right around the world.
Inherited: Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard has enjoyed some impressive acting roles during her career. In 2004, she starred in the M. Night Shyamalan thriller The Village before filming The Help in 2011, Jurassic World in 2015, and Rocketman in 2018. She has garnered an impressive net worth of $15 million, though she came from a rich family before she started making her own family.
Howard is the daughter of filmmaker Ron Howard, who has directed such films as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cinderella Man, and The Da Vinci Code. He is worth approximately $160 million.
From The Bottom To The Top: Ellen DeGeneres
Other than Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres is the stand-out talk-show host of the age. Now a household name, she is one of the most successful TV personalities on the planet, with her own incredibly popular daytime talk show other business ventures under her belt.
DeGeneres was born in Louisiana in 1954, and though she wasn’t born into poverty, she also wasn’t born into a situation that had her set up for life. She had to work as a waitress at TGI Fridays and work at JC Penney to support herself after college. Today, she is worth $450 million.
Inherited: The Hadids
Gigi, Bella, and Anwar Hadid are making waves in the modeling world. With all three children finding success in the fashion industry, the family is now almost famous enough to rival the Kardashian-Jenner clan. It’s true that the Hadid kids work extremely hard and sacrifice a lot to have the careers that they have, but they also weren’t born at the bottom.
Their father is Mohamed Hadid, is a luxury real estate developer who has a net worth of $450 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. It looks like Gigi, Bella, and Anwar have followed in their mom Yolanda’s footsteps, as she has a successful modeling career too.
From The Bottom To The Top: Halle Berry
Halle Berry is considered one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actresses. A true A-lister, Berry has appeared in several major flicks including 2004’s Catwoman, where she played the titular character, 2007’s Perfect Stranger, and recently, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. But she wasn’t always in demand.
Berry’s father was abusive towards her mother before he abandoned the family when she was just four years old. She moved to New York to become a model after high school, where she had to sleep in a homeless shelter. Nowadays, she has a net worth of about $80 million.
Inherited: The Kardashians
Love them or hate them, there’s no denying that the Kardashians have left their mark on pop culture. As we’ve watched this famous family live their lives in front of the cameras, it’s become clear that they do make a lot of sacrifices to maintain their position at the top.
Though the Kardashians and Jenners have risen to unprecedented levels of wealth and fame, they were never poor to begin with. After his death in 2003, Robert Kardashian Senior, the patriarch of the family, left the family a $100 million estate.
From The Bottom To The Top: Justin Bieber
Today one of the world’s most famous pop stars, Justin Bieber has certainly come a long way. Born to a single mom, Bieber grew up in low-income housing. His mom, Pattie Mallette, had to work in office jobs that paid very little just to support her son. At the age of 12, Bieber started busking on the street and singing in local competitions in his native Ontario, hoping to be discovered.
To date, Bieber has released more than four studio albums. According to Wealthy Gorilla, he has a net worth of more than $285 million.