Tom Cruise Net Worth (Money & Salary)

What is Tom Cruise’s Net Worth, Salary, and Career Earnings?

With a net worth of $600 million, Tom Cruise stands as a prominent American actor and producer, often regarded as one of the major stars in Hollywood history. He ranks among the highest paid and wealthiest celebrities globally. As of now, Tom Cruise’s films have amassed a remarkable $11.5 billion in earnings at the worldwide box office. Interestingly, during the majority of his career, none of his movies surpassed the $1 billion mark. Before June 2022, his most successful film was “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” released in 2018, which grossed $800 million globally. It wasn’t until late June 2022 that Tom finally broke the billion-dollar threshold with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which subsequently earned $1.5 billion worldwide.

Early Life

Born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, Tom’s father, who shares the same name, worked as an electrical engineer, while his mother was a special education teacher. He has three sisters. Additionally, his first cousin, William Mapother, later became an actor and has worked with Tom on several projects.

During his childhood, Tom Cruise moved frequently across the country, which included a short time spent in Canada following his father’s employment with the Canadian Armed Forces. He would later describe his father as a bully who abused him and his siblings, attending 15 schools over 14 years as a result.

Initially, Tom did not aspire to become an actor. Although he participated in drama classes during middle school, he was more focused on athletics. Following a knee injury that barred him from the wrestling team in high school, he shifted his focus to acting, dedicating himself to the drama club and securing the lead role in their production of Guys and Dolls.

Despite the positive feedback regarding his acting, Tom remained uninterested in pursuing it as a career for a time, even spending a period at St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati with hopes of becoming a Franciscan priest, from where he was eventually expelled due to drinking.

In 1980, Tom graduated from Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey.

Early Career

Following high school, Tom relocated to New York City, aspiring to become an actor, but later moved to Los Angeles to audition for television roles.

His film career began in 1981 with a minor role in “Endless Love.” That same year, he garnered critical acclaim for his performance in “Taps,” leading to his representation by the renowned talent agency CAA. An agent named Paula Wagner advocated for him directly to the agency’s managing partner, Michael Ovitz, ultimately securing Tom as a lifelong client of CAA. In the early 1990s, he and Paula established a production company called Cruise/Wagner Productions.

Additional acclaim followed with “The Outsiders.”

Success

According to its box office performance, 1983’s “Risky Business” marked Tom’s breakthrough, earning $64 million on a $6 million budget and becoming iconic in pop culture. This film solidified his status as a rising star and earned him his first Golden Globe nomination.

The major success of “Top Gun” in 1986 catapulted Tom Cruise into global fame, as the film grossed $360 million globally, marking it as the highest-grossing movie of that year.

In the same year, he collaborated with Paul Newman in “The Color of Money.”

He continued his winning streak with “Cocktail” and “Rain Man,” both released in 1988. “Rain Man” went on to win four Academy Awards, while Tom’s first Oscar nomination occurred the following year for his role in “Born on the Fourth of July.”

He followed that success with “Days of Thunder” in 1990, “Far and Away” in 1992, and “A Few Good Men” also in 1992, as well as 1993’s…

In 1994, he was involved in “The Firm” and “Interview with the Vampire.” For his performance in A Few Good Men, he earned a nomination for a Golden Globe.

Simultaneously starring in and producing the massive success “Mission: Impossible” in 1996, Tom Cruise brought in $457 million and launched several successful sequels. That same year, he also starred in the cultural landmark “Jerry Maguire,” which grossed $275 million against a $50 million budget and led to a Best Actor Oscar nomination for him. His co-star, Cuba Gooding, Jr., secured the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Throughout the following decade and beyond, Tom continued to produce hit films. Noteworthy projects in his catalog include:

• Eyes Wide Shut
• Vanilla Sky
• Minority Report
• The Last Samurai
• Collateral
• War of the Worlds
• Valkyrie
• Jack Reacher
• Oblivion
• Edge of Tomorrow
• American Made

Top 6 Highest Grossing Tom Cruise Films

• #5: The Last Samurai (2003) – $456 million ($716 million adjusted for inflation)
• #5: War of the Worlds (2005) – $606 million ($890 million adjusted for inflation)
• #4: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) – $690 million
• #3: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) – $700 million
• #2: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) – $800 million
• #1: Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – $1.5 billion

Additionally, here are other significant Cruise films along with their global earnings:

• The Firm (1993) – $158 million ($350 million adjusted for inflation)
• Mission: Impossible II (2000) – $550 million ($923 million adjusted for inflation)
• Mission: Impossible (1996) – $460 million ($850 million adjusted for inflation)
• Rain Man (1988) – $354 million ($865 million adjusted for inflation)
• Top Gun (1986) – $360 million ($445 million adjusted for inflation)

As of now, more than twenty of Cruise’s films have surpassed $100 million in worldwide gross. His total global box office earnings amount to $9.5 billion, not adjusting for inflation.

Mile Stones in Salary and Earnings

• Tom received $50,000 for his role in Taps.
• He made $75,000 for Risky Business.
• His salary for the 1985 movie Legend was raised to $500,000.
• In 1986, Tom earned $2 million for starring in Top Gun, marking a significant increase in his career earnings.
• For Cocktail, he received $3 million.
• For Days of Thunder, his earnings were $9 million.
• He earned $13 million for Far and Away.
• A Few Good Men brought him $12 million.
• He also made $12 million from The Firm.
• Interview with the Vampire paid him $15 million.

With his producer role, Tom earned an impressive $70 million from his credits on the first Mission Impossible. For Mission Impossible 3, he made $75 million.

The two movies that paid Tom the most to date are 2000’s Mission Impossible 2 and 2005’s War of the Worlds, where he earned $100 million from EACH film due to lucrative backend points. In the record of the ten largest acting paychecks for one film, Tom Cruise appears three times with his previously mentioned $100 million earnings.

third and fourth largest paydays, following Bruce Willis’ $105 million earnings from Sixth Sense and Keanu Reeves’ $156 million from Matrix.

From 1983 to 2011, Tom accumulated $445 million in movie salaries. It is estimated that between 2011 and 2019, he earned at least an additional $300 million, which raises his total career earnings (including salary and bonuses) from 1983 to 2019 to $745 million.

Top Gun Salary/Earnings

As previously noted, Tom Cruise’s salary for the 1986 film “Top Gun” was $2 million. When adjusted for inflation, that equals approximately $5.4 million today. Surprisingly, that $2 million represented 13% of Top Gun’s total budget of $15 million. The earnings of his co-stars, including Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer, remain unknown but are presumably much lower than his.

While filming Top Gun, another Tom Cruise film called “Legend” flopped at the box office, leaving producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson in a state of fear. Thankfully, Top Gun emerged as a blockbuster, ultimately becoming the highest-grossing film of 1986 with revenue of $360 million.

Fast forward to 2018/2019, after years of speculation and anticipation from fans, a sequel to Top Gun was finally made possible, largely due to producer David Ellison, who is the son of Larry Ellison and founder of Skydance. David, a lifelong fan of Top Gun and himself a pilot, established Skydance in 2006 with the intention of making a Top Gun sequel. Once the opportunity arose, Skydance allocated 25% of the film’s estimated $200 million budget.

Originally scheduled for release in mid-2020, “Top Gun: Maverick” faced a two-year delay due to COVID. Tom both stars in and produces the sequel. His base salary for the film was $13 million. More significantly, as a producer, Tom is entitled to receive 10-20% of the film’s “first dollar” gross revenue—a deal that’s unattainable for most Hollywood stars. First dollar gross refers to the revenue distributed after theaters take their 40% share, but before other studio expenses like marketing and production.

If Top Gun: Maverick achieves a $1 billion box office gross and Tom owns 10% of the first dollar gross, he stands to earn approximately $60 million. With a 20% share, his earnings could reach around $120 million. Including future streaming sales, it’s even plausible for Tom to earn roughly $200 million—approximately 100 times his original salary for Top Gun.

Tom Cruise Height

Wondering about Tom Cruise’s height? He stands at 5 foot 7 inches tall. This makes him three inches shorter than his ex-wife Nicole Kidman, who measures 5 foot 10, and two inches shorter than ex-wife Katie Holmes, who is 5 foot 9.

Personal Life

Several marriages mark Tom’s personal life. From 1987 to 1990, he was married to actress Mimi Rogers, the one who introduced him to Scientology.

His marriage to Nicole Kidman lasted from 1990 until 2001.

From 2006 to 2012, he was united in marriage with Katie Holmes.

Katie Holmes Divorce Settlement

The marriage of Tom and Katie resulted in one daughter named Suri. Prior to the marriage, Tom’s net worth was $250 million compared to Katie’s $10 million. Given the disparity in their wealth, Tom insisted on a robust prenuptial agreement. Their divorce settlement stipulated Tom would pay Katie $400,000 annually in child support for 12 years, amounting to $33,000 monthly, which totals $4.8 million over the term. Additionally, Tom is responsible for all of Suri’s medical, educational, insurance, and extracurricular expenses. While Katie maintains full custody of Suri and has declined to raise her with Scientology practices, she did NOT receive any spousal support or lump sum payment. Reports suggest that Katie chose to forgo spousal support to secure full custody and control over Suri’s upbringing.

Real Estate

Over the years, Tom has owned and currently owns a remarkable array of properties across the United States. He sold a condo on the 10th floor in New York City’s East Village for $3 million in 2013. He divested a multi-residence property in the Hollywood Hills for $11.4 million in September 2015, with Eva Longoria as the buyer. His longstanding Beverly Hills estate was sold to billionaire financier Leon Black for $40 million in May 2016; Tom had purchased it for $30.5 million in 2006 during his marriage to Katie Holmes. In 2018, he invested $11.8 million in acquiring multiple units within a condo complex in Clearwater, Florida, located near the Church of Scientology headquarters.

In the mid-1990s, while married to Nicole Kidman, Tom constructed a substantial mansion in Telluride, Colorado. This property sprawls over 320 acres, with the main home encompassing 10,000 square feet, featuring seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, horse stables, and a private helipad. He lobbied for years to have the local airport extend its runway to accommodate larger private jets, a request that was fulfilled in 2010. He initially listed the home for $59 million in 2016 but did not elicit any buyers, re-listing it again in 2018 without success. He renewed the listing in March
“`In May 2021, Tom sold the property for exactly $39.5 million, the same amount he initially purchased it for in 2021. Below is a video tour from a previous listing:

 

Cruise/Wagner Productions

One significant factor contributing to Tom’s extraordinary wealth as an actor, distinguishing him from merely very rich actors, is his involvement in producing many of his films. In 1993, he co-founded Cruise/Wagner Productions with Paula Wagner. So far, their films have grossed $3 billion worldwide. For many years, their company maintained an exclusive agreement with Paramount, which ended in 2006 after Tom’s controversial remarks about psychiatry and anti-depressants gained widespread attention and stirred controversy in the industry. Since then, financial backing has been sourced from hedge funds and Dan Snyder, the founder of the Washington Redskins. In 2006, they were invited by United Artists to help revitalize the struggling studio. Although Paula departed from UA in 2008, she and Tom still retain ownership of 30% of the studio today.