Vanilla Ice is an American professional actor, rapper, and television host with an estimated net worth of $12 Million.

Ice released his debut album, Hooked, in 1989, which became a huge hit. He later signed a contract with SBK Records, an EMI Group record label. His 1990 single, ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ was his first hip-hop single to top the Billboard charts.

Ice Ice Baby Royalty Payments

Vanilla Ice released his iconic hit single “Ice Ice Baby” in 1990 through SBK Records, and to this day, it still generates millions of dollars per year in royalties. However, the royalty checks do not solely belong to the rapper, as they are shared with the original rights holder, EMI Music Publishing, and the estates of Queen and David Bowie.

After the single became an enormous success in the 1990s, the band Queen claimed that the bass sample used on the track was taken from their song “Under Pressure”, released in 1981. After the band threatened legal action against Vanilla Ice, the dispute was settled out of court, with the rapper agreeing to give the band a percentage of the royalties from “Ice Ice Baby”.

It’s been reported that the song still earns somewhere between $1 million and $2 million in annual royalties, with Vanilla Ice receiving a small percentage of this figure. Now, if you do a quick search online, you’ll find almost every source listing his royalties at $400,000 per year, apart from one that lists an estimate of between $100,000 and $300,000. For the $400,000 estimate, this appears to be based on a hypothetical 50% of Vanilla Ice’s $800,000 annual income, which was revealed in his 2018 divorce filing. Some reports suggest that his ex-wife specifically claimed $400,000 per year came from royalties, but we were unable to confirm this statement.

In any case, you can be assured that he still earns at least six figures per year from the song. However, we are now discussing this seven years after the $800,000 figure came to light. Thus, his royalty checks may have declined since then.

Divorce Settlement

Vanilla Ice’s wife, Laura Van Winkle, filed for divorce in October 2016 after more than 20 years of marriage, stating that the marriage was irretrievably broken, while claiming that Ice was worth a minimum of $10 million. In May 2017, Vanilla Ice countersued, requesting 50/50 custody of their children and payment of his attorney’s fees.

Divorce documents released in November 2018 revealed that Vanilla Ice earned $800,000 annually from all his endeavors, including royalties from “Ice Ice Baby” and earnings from his reality TV show The Vanilla Ice Project, which equates to roughly $68,000 per month. The documents also revealed additional assets totaling $9 million, including 15 properties valued at approximately $5 million, eight cars, a boat, and $3 million in liquid assets.

In 2019, a Palm Beach County, Florida, judge approved the settlement and finalized the divorce, reserving the right to bring both parties back into court if they failed to adhere to the terms. Vanilla Ice was ordered to pay his ex-wife $10,500 per month in support, along with $110,000 in back support payments, and was also required to pay an additional $200,000 to cover her legal expenses.

Laura Van Winkle took Vanilla Ice to court again in March 2020 after Ice was short on two alimony payments. The rapper responded that it was an auto-payment glitch and that the amount was being paid.

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Highlights

Here are some of the best highlights of Vanilla Ice’s career:

• Ice Ice Baby (Song, 1990)
• To the Extreme (Album, 1990)
• Cool as Ice (Song, 1991)
• Grammy Awards (Best Solo Rap Performance, 1991) – Won
• Roll Em’ Up (Song, 1994)
• Mind Blowin’ (Album, 1994)
• Too Cold (Song, 1998)
• Tha Weed Song (Song, 2007)
• Bi-Polar (Album, 2007)
• Born on Halloween (Song, 2011)
• Rock Star Party (Song, 2011)
• W.T.F (Album, 2011)

Summary

Vanilla Ice has been a popular rapper for as long as we can remember. His huge hit ‘Ice Ice Baby’ has featured in several movies and TV shows. Vanilla Ice has collaborated with some of the world’s top rappers throughout his career. However, despite facing legal woes and struggles to maintain his career, he still boasts an impressive net worth.

Introduction

Kevin Spacey is an American professional actor, singer, and producer with an estimated net worth of $-2 Million.

Net Worth History

At the very peak of his career, estimates of Kevin Spacey’s net worth reached as high as $100 million, but based on recent information, those estimates were likely much higher than his actual wealth. Many sources now believe that his net worth peaked at somewhere between $50 million and $70 million. However, this was before the $30.9 million judgment was awarded against him for breaching his contract with Media Rights Capital on House of Cards.

Since then, Spacey’s financial situation has unraveled, with the majority of his acting projects being canceled, almost shutting the doors on his Hollywood career. In 2024, Spacey was interviewed in a nearly 2-hour-long episode on Piers Morgan Uncensored. Piers asked Kevin, “Where do you live now?” and he broke down in tears, stating that his Baltimore home was being foreclosed upon. He was also asked whether he was facing bankruptcy, and Spacey mentioned he’d come close to filing multiple times. Finally, he revealed that he was in debt by several million dollars. 

As a result of all this recent information, it’s clear that Spacey has lost his entire fortune and now has a negative net worth, which is estimated to be roughly $-2 Million. His response to the situation is that he’s going to “get back on the horse” and rebuild his career.

Acting Career

Kevin Spacey began his acting career in 1981 when he made his first professional stage appearance in Henry VI, Part 1. Over the next few years, he gained prominence as a stage actor and became very popular for his acting skills. Following his enormous success as a stage actor, he ventured into film and television.

Spacey appeared in minor roles in several films in the late 1980s, including Wiseguy (1988), L.A. Law (1992), and The Usual Suspects. He had his big breakthrough in 1999 when he starred in American Beauty. His portrayal of the character earned him much critical acclaim and made him a superstar in Hollywood.

Spacey’s success continued in the new millennium, and he starred in many movies such as ‘The Shipping News’ (2001), ‘The United States of Leland’ (2004), ‘Recount’ (2008), and ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ (2009).

In 2013, he played the leading role of “Frank” in the successful drama series ‘House of Cards. Three years later, he played the leading roles in ‘Elvis & Nixon’ and ‘Nine Lives’. In 2017, he started shooting the movie ‘All the Money in the World’.

House of Cards Salary

Spacey earned roughly $380,000 per episode for the first two seasons of House of Cards, which paid him $5 million apiece. For seasons three through five, his salary was increased to roughly $690,000 per episode, which earned him $9 million apiece. Kevin earned a total base salary of $37 million from the show.

Media Rights Capital Lawsuit

While filming for House of Cards in 2017, multiple members of the production crew came forward accusing Spacey of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct. As a result, Media Rights Capital, the show’s production company, launched an internal investigation into the allegations and later fired Spacey from the show. They alleged that Kevin had broken MRC’s standards of workplace conduct, which became the basis for their 2019 lawsuit.

At the time, production for Season six of House of Cards was well underway, and two of the intended thirteen episodes had been fully produced. MRC had a licensing agreement with Netflix for the sixth season, but due to the forced firing of Spacey, they were only able to make eight episodes in total, leaving the streaming platform short. This resulted in the MRC forfeiting millions of dollars in licensing fees, and in their eyes, Spacey was entirely to blame.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019, with MRC seeking damages from Spacey personally, alleging that he breached his contract. In 2021, the suit moved into arbitration, and MRC was awarded $29.5 million in damages, plus an additional $1.4 million in legal fees, bringing the total to $30.9 million. Spacey, of course, appealed the decision, citing that it was his contract that had been breached, and not the other way around. However, in August 2022, Judge Red Recana upheld the original judgment.

Highest-Grossing Movies

In recent years, Spacey has become best known for his role in House of Cards. However, many of his earlier films performed well at the box office. His highest-grossing film was 2006’s Superman Returns, which earned $391 million worldwide. The second-highest was for his voice role as Hopper in A Bug’s Life (1998), which grossed $363 million. It was the highest-grossing animated film and fifth-highest overall of the year.

Spacey’s role as Lester in American Beauty (1999) provided the most significant return on investment, with the film grossing $356 million on a measly $15 million budget. Some of his other films to make the list include Se7en ($327 million), Baby Driver ($227 million), and Horrible Bosses ($210 million).

Here’s a complete list of Kevin Spacey’s ten highest-grossing movies:

1. Superman Returns – $391 Million (2006)
2. A Bug’s Life – $363 Million (1998)
3. American Beauty – $356 Million (1999)
4. Se7en – $327 Million (1995)
5. Austin Powers in Goldmember – $297 Million (2002)
6. Baby Driver – $227 Million (2017)
7. The Social Network – $225 Million (2010)
8. Captain Phillips – $219 Million (2013)
9. Horrible Bosses – $210 Million (2011)
10. Outbreak – $190 Million (1995)

Matt Groening is an American professional writer, cartoonist, producer, and animator with an estimated net worth of $600 Million

Earnings History

While The Simpsons has existed since the late 1980s, not much was known about Matt Groening’s earnings from the show until recently. In 2022, Forbes listed Groening and James L. Brooks with estimated annual incomes of $105 million each. While both creators receive a salary every year for serving as executive producers on the show, it’s the streaming deals that are responsible for the bulk of this figure.

When The Walt Disney Company acquired 20th Century Fox and several of its assets for $71 billion in 2019, all thirty seasons of The Simpsons were added to the Disney+ platform. In 2024, it was reported that the show had already generated over $1 billion through the deal, increasing Brooks and Groening’s earnings to an estimated $135 million in 2024.

While this is just two years’ worth of earnings for Groening’s four-decade-long history in the industry, it still accounts for $240 million in income. 

Before Wealth & Fame

Growing up in Portland, Oregon, it didn’t take long for Matt Groening to become obsessed with drawing and comics. While attending Lincoln High School, he would regularly fill his class notebooks with his doodles and cartoon drawings. After graduating from Lincoln, Groening enrolled at The Evergreen State College in Washington. 

Before creating The Simpsons, Groening moved to Los Angeles, California, and worked several jobs to support himself. The most notable of which was his job at Licorice Pizza, which was once a popular chain of record stores. He also worked as a deliveryman for a portable toilet company.

The Simpsons

If you couldn’t already tell from Groening’s earnings, The Simpsons is the primary reason for his success and wealth, and it all began in 1986. Groening was offered an opportunity by James L. Brooks to pitch short-form animated content for The Tracey Ullman Show. At the time, he’d already developed a comic strip called Life in Hell, which was the project that gained Brooks’ attention.

When asked to adapt Life in Hell for a TV audience, Groening was reluctant, worrying he would lose ownership of the strip. With those worries in the back of his mind, he developed an idea on the spot, right before he was about to pitch it – a dysfunctional cartoon family loosely based on his own family. The characters were even named after his family members:

• Homer (his father’s real name)
• Marge (his mother’s name is Margaret)
• Lisa and Maggie (his sisters’ names)
• Bart (inspired by his older brother, Mark)

The idea was a hit, and the short-form content proved popular on The Tracey Ullman Show. Several years later, in 1989, the first official season of The Simpsons aired, featuring its debut episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.”

By the end of the 1990s, the show had already aired eleven seasons and 235 episodes, gaining more and more popularity as the years went by. The show’s leading cast members could sense how big The Simpsons had become and began their first of many pay disputes. At the time, at least 23 of the characters were voiced by just six actors:

• Dan Castellaneta (Homer, Abe, Krusty the Clown, Barney…)
• Julie Kavner (Marge, Patty, Selma)
• Nancy Cartwright (Bart, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders) 
• Yeardley Smith (Lisa)
• Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders…)
• Hank Azaria (Apu, Chief Wiggum, Moe…)

Real Estate

Malibu Home

In February 1996, Matt Groening paid $1.2 million for an 8,346-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Malibu, California. The property, which sits on 1.27 acres, was initially built in 1965. In October 2006, Groening sold the house to Larry Sands for $9.75 million, making a substantial profit in just ten years of ownership.

However, we should mention that according to public records, when the property was sold, it was in Groening’s ex-wife’s name, which could potentially mean she received the property in the divorce proceedings. After considering agent fees and property taxes, Groening or his wife likely profited between $7 million and $7.5 million.

Venice Home

Matt and Deborah Groening also previously owned a 5,509-square-foot, five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Venice, California. The last recorded sale price was $310,000 in June 1987. In a similar scenario to the Malibu home, the title was transferred into Deborah’s name in November 2006, but she is believed to still own the property. It’s now worth approximately $4.9 million.

Highlights

Here are some of the best highlights of Matt Groening’s career:

• Life In Hell (Comic Strip, 1977-2012)
• Wet Magazine (1978)
• The Tracey Ullman Show (1985)
• The Simpsons (TV-Show, 1989-present)
• National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award (2002) – Won
• Futurama (TV-Show, 1999)
• Hollywood Walk of Fame (2012)