Johnny Depp Net Worth, Career, Biography, Facts, Age, Life Story

Johnny Depp is an American actor and producer who has a net worth of $150 million. To date, Johnny Depp’s many successful films have grossed over $3.4 billion in America and $8.7 billion worldwide at the box office.

His annual salary in some years has been known to top $100 million, easily making him one of the highest paid actors on the planet. A lawsuit against his former business managers would reveal that between 2003 and 2016 alone, Johnny earned $650 million in salaries, backend profits and endorsement contracts. Unfortunately, that same lawsuit revealed that at various times, Johnny was teetering near insolvency due to an unimaginably profligate lifestyle. At his peak, his monthly lifestyle costs topped $2 million. There are many more details on Johnny’s infamous financial situation at the bottom of this article.

Early Life

John Christopher Depp II was born on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky. He has three older siblings. His family moved frequently during his childhood, eventually settling in Miramar, Florida. Depp began playing in various bands after his mother gifted him a guitar when he was 12 years old, eventually dropping out of high school to become a rock musician. His band The Kids relocated to Los Angeles, but split up soon after. Depp then chose to pursue an acting career on the advice of actor Nicolas Cage, whom Depp met through his first wife.

Career Beginnings

Depp’s first film role was in the 1984 horror film “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” He worked on a few other projects before landing his breakout role in the Fox television series “21 Jump Street,” where he was reportedly paid as much as $45,000 per episode.

Rise to Stardom

“21 Jump Street” helped Depp gain recognition in the industry. In 1990, he played the title character in Tim Burton’s film “Edward Scissorhands.” A critical and commercial success, the role established him as a leading Hollywood actor, and also began his long relationship with Burton. Some of Depp’s projects throughout the 1990s include “Benny and Joon” (1993), “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” (1993), “Don Juan DeMarco” (1995), “Donnie Brasco” (1997), “Sleepy Hollow” (1999), and “Chocolat” (2000).

He earned widespread acclaim for his performance as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Walt Disney Pictures film “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003). He reprised his role as the pirate in the franchise’s four sequels. He reunited with Tim Burton in 2004, starring as Willy Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2004), and the animated film “Corpse Bride” (2005), with Depp voicing the character Victor Van Dort. For his role in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007), also directed by Burton, Depp won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and was nominated for the third time for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He continued his Burton partnership with “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) and “Dark Shadows” (2012). Other films he has appeared in include Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2016), “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) and “Richard Says Goodbye” (2018).

Other Ventures

Depp established his production company Infinitum Nihil in 2004, serving as founder and CEO alongside his sister Christi Dembrowski as president. Depp is also an accomplished musician. He formed the group Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry in 2015, releasing their self-titled debut studio album in September that year. The album features three original songs, all co-written by Depp. Their second studio album “Rise” was released in June 2019.

Personal Life

Depp married Lori Allison in 1983, and they divorced in 1985. Subsequently, he was engaged to actresses Jennifer Grey and Sherilyn Fenn in the 1980s. In 1990, he proposed to his “Edward Scissorhands” co-star Winona Ryder. He dated model Kate Moss from 1994 to 1998, and began a relationship with French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis in 1998. The pair met while Depp was shooting his film “The Ninth Gate” in France, and have two children together.

After separating from Paradis in 2012, Depp began a relationship with actress Amber Heard, whom he met the previous year on the set of “The Rum Diary” (2011). They married in February 2015, but Heard filed for divorce in May 2016, alleging that Depp had been “verbally and physically abusive,” allegations Depp’s lawyers denied. They finalized the divorce in January 2017, with Depp paying Heard a settlement of $7 million. After Heard wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in December 2018, Depp sued her for $50 million for defamation.

Financial Situation

For the majority of his career, Depp’s finances were managed by a company called The Management Group. In 2017, he filed a lawsuit accusing them of “gross mismanagement and, at times, outright fraud.” Depp alleged that the firm caused him to lose tens of millions of dollars, racked up more than $40 million in debt without his knowledge, failed to file his property taxes on time, made unauthorized loans, and overpaid for security and other services, amongst other charges.

The Management Group counter-sued, claiming that despite the fact that Depp had been paid $650 million in the previous 13 years, his unbelievably lavish spending habits made it so he no longer had enough liquid cash to cover his basic monthly expenses, which topped $2 million per month. They claimed that Depp put himself in this position by over-spending in a reckless way.

Depp reportedly spends $3.6 million per year to maintain a 40-person full-time staff, $30,000 per month on wine, $150,000 per month on bodyguards, and $200,000 per month on private jet travel. He also reportedly spent $75 million to purchase more than 14 homes around the world including a 45 acre chateau in France, a horse farm in Kentucky, and several islands in the Bahamas. If he were to sell his entire real estate portfolio, it would easily be worth $100 million. He owns several yachts, more than 45 cars, 12 storage facilities worth of memorabilia, and an art collection that includes works by artists such as Andy Warhol. Depp also reportedly once spent $5 million to have the ashes of Hunter S. Thompson fired from a cannon off a 153-foot tower.

Depp is still one of Hollywood’s highest paid actors. He commands $20 million upfront per movie, plus 20% of the backend. That deal has resulted in more than $300 million earned off the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise alone. He also made $55 million in backend earnings off “Alice in Wonderland.”

Notable Salaries and Earnings

While starring on “21 Jump Street”, Johnny earned a salary of $45,000 per episode. His major film salaries began in the mid-1990s. For example in 1995 he earned $5 million for “Nick of Time”. He earned another $5 million in 1997 for “Donnie Brasco”.

For his first appearance as “Jack Sparrow” in 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”, Johnny earned $10 million. His base salary for the second “Pirates” installment was $20 million. With backend points her earned an additional $40 million for a total of $60 million. He earned a combined $55 million from the third “Pirates” movie.

In 2010, Johnny took a low base salary and high backend points for “Alice In Wonderland”. This resulted in a $55 million payday when the movie earned $1 billion worldwide. That currently stands as one of the 20 largest acting paychecks for a single movie.

He earned $15 million for “Rum Diary”, $7.5 million for “Rango”, $18 million for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and $20 million for “The Tourist”.

In 2020 Johnny was paid $16 million to appear in the third installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise. His contract required studio Warner Brothers pay him regardless of any circumstances. So when they ended up firing him in the wake of the Amber Heard lawsuit, Johnny still earned his $16 million without having to lift a finger.