George Lucas
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In the most amusing rivalry ever, George Lucas has bested Kylie Jenner.  According to Forbes, Lucas is the wealthiest American celebrity, with a net worth of $5.4 billion.  The majority of that came from his 2012 deal to sell Lucasfilm LTD to Disney for $4 billion.

Jenner is a new addition to this listing.  But that pauper only managed to accumulate $900 million, thanks largely to her Kylie Cosmetics line which has generated $630 million since it launched two years ago and Jenner owns 100% of the company, making her a “Self-Made” millionaire and landed her the cover of Forbes.

She might be popular with the kids, but she’s still way down on the list of the richest celebrities.  Falling behind Lucas are Steven Spielberg with $3.7 billion, Oprah with $2.8 billion and Michael Jordan with $1.7 billion.  Jordan earned $400 million from the sale of his signature Nikes, but the larger chunk comes from his 90% ownership of the Charlotte Hornets.  Jenner is also tied for fifth place with Jay-Z, who also made $900 million.

Here’s where it gets strange.  The #7 wealthiest celebrity is magician David Copperfield.  Why?  Seriously, I think I went through all of 2018 and didn’t think of the name “David Copperfield” once.  Yet he made $875M.  How?  Following him is Diddy, who made $825M and then sex addict Tiger Woods and author James Patterson tied for ninth place with each earning $800M.

It should be noted that Lucas’ earnings are based solely on the buyout.  He sold Lucasfilm LTD wholesale to Disney, so he no longer gets a cut from ticket sales, DVD/Blu-Ray or– and most lucratively– merchandising.  Since Disney bought Lucasfilm, it has released ‘The Force Awakens’, ‘The Last Jedi’, ‘Rogue One’ and ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’.  At least the first three were huge hits.

Will Lucas remain on top next year?  Only time will tell.