Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV has piloted his way to what could be the biggest payday for an actor for a single movie, thanks to the success of Top Gun: Maverick. In the process, he could overtake Bruce Willis’ reported $114 million payday for 1999’s Sixth Sense, which took $672.8m worldwide.
At an estimated $160m in US box office takings over its four-day opening weekend, according to Paramount Pictures Studios, the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun has recorded the biggest opening over the Memorial Day holiday.
Not accounting for inflation, it overtook Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which made $153m in 2007. When global box office revenues are factored in, Maverick took $253m, according to Forbes.
This could power Cruise to record earnings, thanks to his status as one of the few actors to command a share of gross box office revenue, rather than a percentage of final — or back-end — profits. The practice is known in film finance parlance as “first-dollar gross”.
In addition to a base salary of between $12m and $14m, as per Variety estimates, Cruise will receive 20 per cent of first-dollar gross for Maverick, in addition to potential revenue from streaming sales, wealth-tracking website Celebrity Net Worth reported.
The film was made on a production budget of $170m. Within the US, it is expected to earn in excess of $300m, becoming Cruise’s biggest earner, after War of the Worlds’ $234.4m, according to Comscore.
In total, the movies where Cruise is a leading actor have grossed close to $8.5 billion in worldwide revenue, according to estimates by box office aggregator The Numbers. He has also produced 12 movies, which have reaped $4.8bn globally.
Recently described by The New York Times as the last great movie star, Cruise’s net worth is estimated at $600m by Celebrity Net Worth.
Two new Mission Impossible movies are planned for 2023 and 2024. The star will also appear in Luna Park, which seeks to be the first action motion picture to be filmed in outer space, in partnership with billionaire Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX.
Besides his income from movies, Cruise has bought and sold homes in Beverly Hills and Hollywood Hills in California, New York City and Telluride, Colorado, as well as West Sussex in the UK. He now lives in a luxurious penthouse in Clearwater, Florida, a city known as the home of Scientology.
Nicole Kidman
Academy Award-winning actor Nicole Kidman has joined hair wellness brand Vegamour as an investor and brand advocate, the company said last week.
The announcement came as Vegamour looks to expand into the UAE, the UK, Europe, China and Australia this year after taking its products into more than 400 Sephora stores in the US in May.
Kidman said Vegamour’s appeal lies in the company’s focus on formulating its entire line from organically grown, wild-harvested ingredients for a healthy hair and scalp.
“It wasn’t about being the face of the brand or selling products, but being an advocate for a holistically-minded lifestyle that prioritises self-care,” she says.
She partnered with the brand after noting how its products left her with fuller and less frizzy hair.
“When I was younger, I didn’t pay enough attention to my hair, especially considering the demands of my career,” she says. “I’ve realised that our hair deserves as much attention and care as we give to the rest of our bodies.”
Kidman, 54, consistently ranks as one of the highest-paid performers in the world and has a net worth estimated at $250m, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
She earned $22m over 12 months to September 2020, including a reported $10m pay cheque for Netflix production The Prom and a $1m per episode for her work on the HBO drama The Undoing.
Kidman has reportedly earned more than $350m from acting alone, including $7m for Moulin Rouge and $15m each for The Stepford Wives and Cold Mountain.
She earns a similar amount from endorsements. For her work as the face of Chanel No 5, she was reportedly paid $12m. Kidman has also been an ambassador for other brands, including Omega Watches, Neutrogena and Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways.
She and her husband, Keith Urban, reportedly have a real estate portfolio worth $30m, including homes in Nashville, Tennessee, Beverly Hills, California and New York City.
In 2010, they paid $9.6m for a duplex in New York City. The apartment is notable for its car elevator, which brings you straight from the street to the door.
In Australia, the couple’s holdings are reported to include a 111-acre farm in Bunya Hill and a penthouse in Sydney.
Hugh Jackman
Australian actor Hugh Jackman has invested an undisclosed amount in sunscreen producer Supergoop! He participated in the round alongside golfer Michelle Wie, fashion designer Jenna Lyons, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and chief executive of dating app Bumble, and other investors.
The new partnership follows a majority investment in Supergoop! by funds managed by equity fund Blackstone Growth in late 2021.
As an investor, Jackman also owns 5 per cent of the Australian boots maker RM Williams. In 2012, he invested in the wildflower-infused bottled water brand Balance Water.
Jackman, 53, donates 100 per cent of his profits from his Laughing Man coffee to support Fair Trade Farmers.
The actor is thought to have a net worth of $180m, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
His income principally stems from his work in movies, where he earned a reported $20m per movie as a base salary before backend participation as Wolverine in the X-Men franchise.
Jackman’s popularity with audiences was underscored recently when Broadway musical The Music Man took in $3.45m over a single week in March, out-grossing Hamilton by a wide margin, according to the Broadway League trade organisation.
Overall, 22 shows grossed $26.65m, a huge $4m leap from the previous week.
In 2012, Jackman earned an annual salary of $55m on the back of Les Miserables, putting him on Forbes’ list of highest-paid actors. As of 2022, his annual income is estimated at $10m.
The actor has had a successful side hustle as the face of several high-profile brands over the course of his career. In addition to being an ambassador for Montblanc and Keurig, he has had a long-time role endorsing Australian airline Qantas.
In 2019, the actor went on his first world tour, performing songs from the soundtrack of The Greatest Showman, as well as Hollywood and Broadway numbers at more than 90 venues. The tour grossed in excess of $23m over 26 dates in Europe, according to Billboard.
With his wife Deborra-Lee Furness and business partner John Palermo, he owns production company Seed Productions.
Nusret Gokce
D.ream Group, one of the owners of the popular Nusr-Et steakhouse founded by butcher Nusret Gokce, is in talks to sell a 20 per cent stake to Qatar Investment Authority for about $300m, Bloomberg reported, quoting Turkey’s Sozcu newspaper.
The deal would value the company at $1.5bn.
The Qatar fund wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Gokce, 38, has a 25 per cent stake in Nusr-Et, according to The Sun. A third owner is textile designer Mithat Erdem.
Gokce, who is equally famous for his viral Salt Bae meme, has an estimated net worth of $60m, according to the UK’s Daily Mirror.
In 2019, he purchased the Park Hyatt in Istanbul — Macka Palas — for a reported €50m ($53.3m).
'Salt Bae' opens his first restaurant in Saudi Arabia
D.ream Group is owned by Turkish billionaire Ferit Sahenk’s Dogus Holding and has been trying to raise cash and deliver on pledges it made to banks as part of a debt restructuring, according to Bloomberg.
Other investors in the company include Singapore’s Temasek and London-based private equity firm Metric Capital Partners, who bought a 17 per cent stake for $200m in 2018, valuing the company at $1.18bn.
As of last year, there are Nusr-Et branches in Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Greece, the UK and the US.
