George Lucas is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and entrepreneur. He is probably best known as the creator of the huge Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Lucas is also the founder of Lucasfilm and Lucasfilm Games.
Through his films and other entrepreneurial projects, George Lucas has amassed a net worth of $6.5 Billion.
Early Life
George Walton Lucas Jr was born May 14 1944 in Modesto, California. His father, George Lucas Sr, was a stationery store owner.
Lucas was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto and attended Thomas Downey High School where he became interested in filmmaking.
He also enjoyed drag racing and had planned to become a professional racecar driver until a near-fatal car accident just after his high school graduation, ended that dream and he turned his attention to filmmaking.
He attended Modesto Junior College before enrolling in the University of Southern California film school.
Career
In 1967 he was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers to observe the making of the 1968 musical, Finian’s Rainbow, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and worked as a production assistant.
Lucas and Coppola became good friends and formed the film production company, American Zoetrope in 1969. In 1971, Coppola went into production for the Godfather(1972), and Lucas formed his own production company, Lucasfilm Ltd, where he built his fortune through his movies and their merchandise.
Awards
He is one of the most financially successful filmmakers and has been nominated for four Academy Awards. Lucas is best known for creating famous movies such as American Graffiti, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Earnings and Net Worth
Lucas was the Chairman of Lucasfilm until The Walt Disney Company purchased the company for $ 4 billion in cash and stock in 2012. He has largely retired from filmmaking since then and now focuses on his charitable family foundation, The George Lucas Educational Foundation. This was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools.
Lucas purchased Skywalker Ranch in Marin County California in September 1978 as a movie ranch and workplace and has spent over $100million turning the property into a movie studio and a retreat.
The ranch features a barn with animals, a vineyard, an outdoor pool with a fitness centre, tennis courts and more. In 2010 he spent $19.5 million on a beachfront home in Carpinteria, California and in December 2019 Lucas spent $28 million to buy the house next door.
In 2017, Lucas purchased a 9000 square foot home in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles for $33.9 million. In 2010 Lucas signed the Giving Pledge to give half his fortune to charity before he dies or on his death.
Personal Life
George Lucas has been married to Mellody Hobson, the president of Ariel Investments and chairperson of DreamWorks Animation since June 2013. They have one daughter together.
Lucas also has three other children, one with his first wife, Marcia Lou Griffin and two other children that he adopted after his divorce and whilst being a single parent.
Although Lucas was born and raised in a Methodist family, he has since described himself as a “Buddhist Methodist”
George Lucas Net Worth: $6.5 Billion
