Will Smith: Biography, Net Worth

Will Smith is an American actor, film producer, and rapper. He currently has a net worth of $350 million. His income is generated annually from his various endeavors, bringing in at least $40 million per year, and as much as $80 million in some years. After Will hit the peak of his career in the 2000s, he began earning between $20-million to $30 million per movie. He is currently one of the highest-paid actors in the last two decades.

Throughout his career, Smith has won many awards, some of which include 4 MTV Movie Awards, 2 BET awards, and 2 people’s choice award. He was also nominated twice for an Academy Award for acting as Muhammed Ali in Ali and Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness.

Early Life and Education

Willard Carroll Smith Jr. was born September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Caroline and Willard Carroll Smith Sr. Smith spent most of his childhood growing up in the Wynefield neighborhood of Pennsylvania, where he grew up with his three other siblings.

Smith had his high school education at the Overbrook High School. After graduating from high school, Smith declined all plans to go to high school to become a rapper, although it had been widely reported that he declined a scholarship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). About his opportunity to go to college, Smith would later say: “My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college.”

Career: The Fresh Prince of Bel, Music, TV and Film

Smith skipped the idea of going to college to become a rapper. He started off his musical career as the MC of Jeffery “DJ Jazzy Jeff” Townes & The Fresh Prince, in 1985. The pair later teamed up with Clarence Holmes (Ready Rock C), who became the beatboxer of the group. Smith soon became popular at the time for easy story-telling raps and battle rhymes. His first single became a hit, shortly before Smith graduated from high school. The team released their debut album “Rock the House” in 1987. The second album “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper” was released a year later and it became a smash hit, selling over three million copies.

Before the 1980s decade ended, Smith had achieved fame as a rapper, with the name The Fresh Prince. With his newfound fame and fortune, it was only a matter of time before Smith ran into IRS problems. Smith’s failure to pay his $2.8 million worth of taxes forced the 21-year-old rapper into bankruptcy, in addition to the $6 million worth of debt he incurred.  It was around this time that he was approached by producer Quincy Jones about starring in a television sitcom, which would later open the young rapper to the world of film and television.

At the start of the next decade, precisely 1990, Smith gained more popularity after he starred in NBC’s television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The television series lasted for six years from 1990 to 1996, running through six seasons. Concerning his IRS problems and his new TV sitcom gig, Smith would later say: “For the first three years of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the IRS was taking 70 percent of every check and after the third year I got back to zero. It’s terrible to have that kind of success and have to quietly be broke.”

 The series launched Smith into his acting career, after which he transitioned from film and TV to star in blockbuster movies. He excelled so much in his acting career that he has become the only actor to have 8 consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office, 11 consecutive films gross more than $150 million on an international level, and 8 consecutive films at the number one spot in the domestic box office.

Smith’s film breakthrough came in the early 1990s. His first major roles were Six Degrees of Separation (1993), a drama; and Bad Boys (1995) which he co-starred with actor, Martin Lawrence. The sequel of Bad Boys, which came almost 25 years later was a complete commercial success, grossing $141,407,024 worldwide. In 1996, Smith starred in Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day, which became a hit and the second-highest-grossing film in history at the time. The movie also gave Smith the career boost he needed, setting him as a prime box office draw. By the following year, Smith once again starred in the blockbuster movie, Men in Black (1997), alongside actor Tommy Lee Jones. The film grossed nearly $590 million worldwide, making it the year’s third highest-grossing film at the time.  In the summer of 1997, Smith started his solo music career, releasing the theme song of “Men in Black” and topping singles charts in several regions of the world.

In over two decades of his acting career, Smith has starred in many blockbuster movies, including The Matrix, Wild Wild West, Hancock, I Am Legend, The Pursuit of Happyness, among many others.

So far, Smith has made a name for himself in the entertainment industry as a top rated actor and writer. He still has a heart for music and from time to time he raps.

Will Smith and Jada

Will Smith's Personal Life

Will Smith married Sheree Ampino in 1992 but got divorced in 1995. The ex-couple had a son together named Trey. Smith would later say divorce from his ex-wife was his greatest failure. In 1997, He married Jada Pinkett and has two kids with her: Jaden Smith and Willow Smith who are both in the entertainment industry.