What is Dick Wolf’s Net Worth, Career, Biography, Facts, Age, Life Story

Dick Wolf is a prolific American producer, television show creator and writer. Dick Wolf has a net worth of $600 million. He is probably most famous today for being the creator of the popular “Law & Order” television franchise. This franchise has made Dick Wolf one of the richest television producers of all time.

As of this writing, the original “Law & Order” franchise has produced more than 450 episodes over 20+ seasons. “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” has aired more than 500 episodes over 23+ seasons, making it the longest-running television show of all time. “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” aired 195 episodes over 10 seasons. There have been several other iterations and there are several more in development.

Monthly Income

In a legal filing submitted as part of his 2019 divorce proceedings, it was revealed that Dick earns between $10 and $15 million EVERY MONTH from his television empire. That equates to between $120 and $180 million, pre-tax, every year. That’s between $328,000 and $490,000 EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Early Life

Richard Anthony Wolf was born in New York City on December 20, 1946. His mother, Marie G. (née Gaffney) was a homemaker, and his father, George Wolf, was an advertising executive. He attended Saint David’s School, The Gunnery, and Phillips Academy, before receiving a college degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated as a member of the class of 1969, and was a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity.

Early Career

After moving to Los Angeles, he has three of his screenplays produced. Out of these three, the film “Masquerade” (1988), starring Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly, was particularly well received. He went on to start his career in television as a staff writer on “Hill Street Blues”. He was nominated for his first Emmy Award for his work on the episode “What Are Friends For?”, for which he was the sole writer. He later moved to the show “Miami Vice”, where he was a writer and co-producer for the third and fourth seasons.

Law & Order

Wolf’s next project, the drama “Law & Order”, ran from 1990 to 2010. It is one of television’s most successful franchises, and tied “Gunsmoke” for the title of longest-running dramatic show in television history at the time. Other achievements of the show include the most consecutive Emmy Award nominations of any primetime drama series. It also inspired several spin-off shows, including “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, “Law & Order: Trial by Jury”, “Law & Order: UK”, and “Law & Order: Los Angeles”. Although the spin-off series listed have been cancelled, one spin-off is still on air. “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” is, as of May 2019, the longest-running scripted primetime drama, having aired 458 episodes. It broke the record of the original “Law & Order” record of 456 episodes. Wolf serves as creator and executive producer of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”.

Other Projects

Other projects Wolf worked on in the late 1990s and early 2000s include the police drama “New  York Undercover”, which ran on the Fox Broadcasting Company Network from 1994 to 1998. He co-created the series with Kevin Arkadie, and was also executive producer of the series. He was also the creator and executive producer of NBC’s courtroom reality series “Crime & Punishment”, which chronicled real-life cases that were prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorney’s office. He was also involved in the production of a documentary about the rock group The Door, called “When You’re Strange”, and his company produced the Academy-Award winning Short Documentary about two brothers who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, “Twin Towers” (2003).

Another successful series Wolf produced is “Chicago Fire”, which premiered on NBC in May 2012. The series follows a group of men and women working at the Chicago Fire Department. Although it initially did not have high ratings, it would go on to become NBC’s No. 2 scripted drama series. It also spawned several spin-off series, such as “Chicago P,D,”, “Chicago Med”, and “Chicago Justice”. As of January 2019, the Chicago franchise has aired more than 35- episodes across its various series. Another show Wolf has worked as executive producer on is the CBS drama “FBI”, starring “Law & Order” cast members Jeremy Sisto and Alana de la Garza. He also developed the unscripted show “Cold Justice” for TNT, and announced on March 31, 2020, a new “Law & Order: SVU” spin-off series set to air in the 2020-2021 season, and will consist of 13 episodes.

Wolf has won many awards for his work, most notably from the Banff Television Festival, NATPE, Anti-Defamation League, Entertainment Industries Council, New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Publicist’s Guild of America, and the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. On March 29, 2009 Dick Wolf received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Personal Life

Wolf has been married three times. His divorce battle with his second wife, Christine Marburg, lasted 12 years. In January 2019 it was revealed that Wolf was divorcing his third wife, Noelle Lippman.

Divorce Settlements

The divorce between Wolf and Marburg started in the early 2000s and was legally settled in 2005. Not surprisingly, a big part of their settlement talks was the value of “Law & Order”. Since it was created during their marriage, Marburg was legally entitled to half the value of the show. During negotiations, financial advisors estimated that the total value of “Law & Order” was a meager $8 million. So, you can imagine Marburg’s shock when, just a few months after signing the settlement deal, she read in the LA Times that claimed Wolf was finalizing a new production deal with NBC that valued Law & Order at $1.6 billion. This revelation set Christine on a legal rampage that lasted until 2016. Her lawsuits were ultimately not successful. Third wife Lippman agreed to receive a settlement of $17.5 million in cash plus $2 million per year for eight years.

Annual Income

In 2012 Wolf earned around $70 million according to a number of public reports. In January 2019, a court filing as part of his divorce from Noelle Lippman revealed that Dick Wolf earns between $10 and $15 million every month from his TV empire. That’s $120 – $180 million per year. The same filing showed that Wolf and Lippman do have a prenup which would protect a large portion of TV assets, although she would still be entitled to half the income he earned and half the assets they acquired during their marriage, which lasted from 2006 to 2018.

Real Estate

In April 2019, Dick bought his soon-to-be ex-wife Noelle a $14.8 million mansion in Santa Barbara, California.

Dick’s primary home since 1999 has been a 5-acre estate not far from Santa Barbara in the upscale town of Montecito. His property features 16,000 square-feet of living space spread over multiple structures. Based on recent comparable sales, Dick’s Montecito spread is potentially worth north of $50 million.