Who are the top 10 richest comedians? Which comedian has the highest net worth? Know all about the world’s richest and highest-earning comedians.

Comedians become rich and famous by making people laugh with their stories and antics. But, have you ever wondered how much money do famous comedians make in reality? Or, who is the wealthiest comedian in the world?

You do not have to go far to find your answers because here is a list of top paid and richest comedians in the world.

Comedians work in TV shows, movies and stage shows (stand-up comedy) to make a living. Some of the world’s best and wealthiest comedians write their own scripts and sometimes they work in another person’s screenplay.

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The earnings of any great comedian can vary from year to year; hence, a more accurate measure of their riches will be the net worth (assets minus liabilities), which remains more or less steady.

It is possible for the world’s richest comedians to have high net worth but low earnings (in a year). Reasons can be wrapped up TV shows, an unsuccessful movie and so on.

Based upon the net worth figures (derived from CelebrityNetWorth and The Richest), here is a list of the top 10 richest comedians in the world. Earning figures (from Forbes), where ever possible, are also given.

Top 10 Richest Comedians in the World

1. Jerry Seinfeld (Wealthiest Comedian Around)
   

Jerry Seinfeld, American Stand-up comedian, Net Worth – $950 million, Earnings in 2018 – $57.5 million – Richest Comedian in the World

Voted the 12^th greatest comedian of all time by Comedy Central, Jerry Seinfeld is also the highest paid comedian of all time.

Jerry started his career as a stand-up comedian and as a small time TV actor.

His career propelled to greater heights when he created his own show named Seinfeld. It soon became one of the most popular American TV shows making Jerry the wealthiest comedian in the world.

Jerry Seinfeld earned through various syndication deals involving his show Seinfeld. He also authored books and appeared in ads for Microsoft.

From 2006 Forbes has ranked Jerry Seinfeld as the highest paid comedian every year excepting in 2016 when Kevin Hart was ranked as the highest paid comedian.

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2. Ellen DeGeneres (Richest Comedian in the World)
   

Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian and TV host, Net Worth – $450 million, Earnings in 2018 – $87.5 million.

She has worked successfully in almost all departments of the entertainment industry. She is a remarkable actress, TV host, producer and a writer apart from being a stand-up comedian.

Ellen’s success in the various fields has earned her the second spot in this list making her the only woman in the list of top 10 highest paid comedians in world.

Ellen DeGeneres has starred in the popular show Ellen and hosted her own TV show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She also became a judge in the American Idol and has hosted various awards shows. She is also the voice behind Dory in the movie “Finding Nemo”.

Recently, Ellen received an offer of $20 million from Netflix for a stand-up special. No doubt, Ellen DeGeneres is a self-made richest comedian around.

3. Adam Sandler (World’s Richest Comedians )
   

Adam Sandler, American actor and comedian, Net Worth – $420 million, Earnings in 2018 – $39.5 million.

Adam is a famous Hollywood actor known for his roles in movies like Billy Madison, Grown Ups and The Wedding singer.

But, before Adam became a well-known name in movies he performed in comedy clubs. Later, he was hired by Saturday Night Live as their writer.

Apart from acting in movies, Adam has also ventured into production. He opened his own production company under which he made several movies for Netflix.

Adam Sandler makes money by writing, directing and acting in comedy movies and TV shows.

He also performs various stand up comedies through which he earns money in 6 figures for each night making him one of the richest comedians in the world today.

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4. Larry David (Top Paid Comedian)
   

Larry David, American comedian and writer, Net Worth – $400 million.

Larry is known for his two TV shows, Seinfeld and Curb your enthusiasm.

He wrote Seinfeld along with Jerry Seinfeld. In Curb your enthusiasm he appears as a fictionalized version of himself.

Both the shows became very popular and have even won Primetime Emmy award (Seinfeld) and Golden globe award (Curb your Enthusiasm).

Larry’s ability to make people laugh has earned him a spot in the list of The Comedian’s Comedian along with bigwigs like Charlie Chaplin and Rowan Atkinson.

Larry David has earned from syndication deals, DVD sales and other royalties from his TV shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm making him one of the richest comedians in the world.

It is rumored that he could have been worth $900 million, but had to forsake 50% of it in a divorce settlement.

5. Bill Cosby (Richest Black Comedian)
   

Bill Cosby, American stand-up comedian, Net Worth – $400 million.

Bill is the richest black comedian, who has earned money through stand-up comedies and TV shows like The Bill Cosby Show and The Cosby show.

He won many awards for his remarkable performance in many comedies. He also earned many honorary degrees.

But in 2015, after a series of accusations of sexual misconduct, many of his awards and degrees were taken back.

In 2018, Cosby was convicted in one of the many legal cases filed against him. He was sent to prison and a huge fine was levied on him.

Litigations involving divorces, assaults, drunk driving can bring a person’s net worth considerably low as it happened in the case of Bill Cosby and Larry David.

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6. David Letterman (10 Richest Comedians in the World)
   

David Letterman, American TV host and comedian, Net Worth – $400 million.

David has served 33 years as a late night TV show host and done more than 6000 shows in his career making him the most iconic comedian around.

Though Letterman started his career as a weather man, he soon discovered his true calling was comedy shows.

He started performing as a stand-up comedian and was later hired by NBC as their late night show host.

David Letterman has earned money by hosting various shows and also by producing comedy series under his own production banner which has made him one of the richest comedians in the world.

7. Jay Leno (Top Paid Stand-Up Comedian)
   

Jay Leno, American stand-up comedian and TV host, Net Worth – $400 million

Jay Leno is famous for his stand-up comedy routines. These routines earned him a place at the Tonight Show of NBC. And after that there was no looking back for him.

Jay remained the host of the Tonight Show for 17 consecutive years never taking a single day off.

His dedication to his work has made him one of the world’s richest stand-up comedian.

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8. Seth Macfarlane (Most Iconic Comedian Around)
   

Seth Macfarlane, American filmmaker and comedian, Net Worth – $250 million.

Seth is not just a comedian, he is also a writer, director, producer, singer and animator! He is well known for his animation movies Ted and Ted2 which he wrote and acted in.

Seth Macfarlane has worked in many TV series, some of the popular ones being Family Guy and The Cleveland show.

Apart from acting, he has also performed as a singer. In fact, his song in the movie Ted won an Academy award for best original Song.

Seth’s many talents have helped him earn a spot in the list of wealthiest comedians in the world.

9. Kevin Hart (World’s Highest-Paid Comedian)
   

Kevin Hart, American stand-up comedian and actor, Net Worth – $170 million, Earnings in 2018 – $57 million.

Kevin is the only comedian to have made more than Jerry Seinfeld in a year (2016). In the year 2018, he was the top paid comedian just after Jerry Seinfeld. And the reason for this is his comedy tours.

Unlike other comedians, who rely on TV shows and movies to make big bucks, Kevin Hart prefers to be closer to his audience.

His recent tour Kevin Hart: The Irresponsible Tour made $30 million making it one of the biggest comedy tour.

His successful movies like Jumanji – Welcome to the Jungle and The Secret Life of pets have further added to his net worth making him one of the richest comedians in the world.

The list of the wealthiest comedians is based upon net worth and hence Kevin Hart is at number 9. If they were ranked by the earnings then Kevin Hart will be ranked at number 2.

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10. Jim Carrey (High Net Worth Comedian in the World)
    

Jim Carrey, Canadian-American actor and comedian, Net Worth – $150 million.

Jim, the actor who makes you laugh with his energetic antics, had to struggle a lot to be where he is today.

He started his career as a stand-up comedian. Initially his shows bombed, but he never gave up. He worked on his scripts and polished his acts. Soon, he was recognized for his work and started getting calls from the film and television industry.

Some of Jim Carrey’s successful ventures that also helped him become one of the world’s highest-paid comedians are The Mask, Liar Liar and The Truman Show.

Wrap up – Wealthiest Comedians in the World

So, making people happy does pay off. As you can see most of the richest comedians around have made money by touring, writing scripts and acting.

It involves lots of hard work and practice to come up with the perfect timing. The antics that look natural and easy actually require many takes in front of the camera.

In the end, making people laugh is actually a very serious business.