Tyler Perry is among the richest entertainers in the world, with a billion-dollar fortune that includes four homes, two planes, a studio—and the rights to all his creative ventures.
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The 51-year-old entertainment mogul has come a long way from his “poor as hell” beginnings in New Orleans, where he was abused as a child and never finished high school.
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But Perry was a born entertainer, and in his early 20s felt inspired by an episode of Oprah Winfrey’s talk show to turn his pain into art.
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Soon enough he was saving money to stage I Know I’ve Been Changed, a play about child-abuse survivors, which was so slow to turn a profit it left him homeless for a few months.
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His fortunes changed in 2001, however, when Oprah saw the show and interviewed Perry, causing a $150 million boom in ticket sales, merchandise and DVDs.
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Backstage, she gave him words of advice—“write your own checks”—that became his key to success.
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Back in Atlanta, Perry began work on what would become TV’s House of Payne, writing, filming and producing 10 episodes while paying for it all himself.
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In 2006, those ready-to-air episodes were attractive to a new network, CW, and ratings were so high TBS took notice, offering Perry $200 million to join them.
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The successes continued: When looking to turn Diary of a Mad Black Woman into a movie, Perry talked Lionsgate into splitting funding and profits, with Perry keeping control.
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The studio didn’t think that first Madea movie—which cost $5.5 million to make—would earn more than $20 million at the box office. It hauled in $51 million, and an additional $151 million since.
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Fourteen years later, the 11-movie Madea franchise has grossed more than $670 million at the box office.
Tyler Perry Studios
Those Lionsgate titles are joining the 1,200 TV episodes and two dozen plays Perry now owns, meaning he can market them overseas while working on new projects.
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All of which he’s been doing from another asset: a 330-acre, $280 million Atlanta studio that he can film in, rent out and use to create more happy endings for years to come.