World’s Richest Actor Surpasses The Rock and Tom Cruise in Wealth—Despite 6-Year Hiatus from Major Roles

The world’s richest actor, whose fortune now surpasses that of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Tom Cruise, was raised in a household that included a Nazi police officer. Despite not having appeared in a major role for nearly six years, his net worth continues to soar.

On Wednesday, Forbes released its latest ranking of the wealthiest immigrants in the United States. While tech mogul Elon Musk unsurprisingly topped the list, the inclusion of the reclusive actor—who quietly built an empire outside of Hollywood blockbusters—has sparked fresh interest in his background and financial rise.

The SpaceX founder, 54, was born in South Africa before moving to Canada in 1989. It wasn’t until 1992 that Musk would eventually settle in the United States, attending the University of Pennsylvania before working in Silicon Valley.

Coming in at 119th place in America’s richest immigrants is an actor of humble origins. Born in Thal, Styria, in Austria in 1947, the star’s father was a Nazi cop and served in World War II as a military policeman.

ADVERTISEMENT

Since then he has gone on to become one of the world’s most beloved actors, starring in films such as Terminator, Predator, Total Recall, Kindergarten Cop, and Jingle All the Way, to name a few.

In 2003 he was even elected as the governor of California, representing the Republican Party. That star, of course, is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The 77-year-old says his upbringing in Austria was a “very different world” to his life as a Hollywood superstar. He described his mother, Aurelia, and father Gustav as “very strict” parents.

Speaking in 2000 to Schwarzenegger.com, he said: “It’s true my parents were very strict and I think many times I’m very strict with my own children but not like it was when I grew up. Back then in Austria it was a very different world – if we did something bad or we disobeyed our parents, the rod was not sparred.

“It was still the yardstick at school. You put your hands out there on the table and BANG!”

In the 1960s, Arnold moved into bodybuilding, winning the Junior Mr Europe title. It saw him swapping Austria for Forest Gate, London, to train with Charles Bennett.

Aged just 20, he became the youngest ever winner of the Mr Universe title. He is said to have seen the win as a chance to move to America, something he had reportedly wanted to do since he was just 10 years old.

Throughout the 60s, Arnold took part in a variety of weightlifting and powerlifting competitions. He was crowned Mr Olympia – the highest honour in bodybuilding – aged 23, becoming the youngest person to ever win the title.

Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in Terminator (Image: Channel 5)
His acting career began in the early 1970s, with one of his earliest roles being the 1970 film Hercules in New York, in which he was credited as Arnold Strong. His big break however came with Conan the Barbarian in 1982, which was a box office success.

In 1989 he starred in James Cameron’s The Terminator in the title role. It is often considered the signature role of Arnold’s acting career.

It sparked a series of appearances in Blockbuster action movies, something which stayed with Arnold throughout his career. These included the likes of Predator, Commando, and Red Heat.

Throughout his career, movies starring Arnold are estimated to have earned over $5.2 billion (around £3.8bn) at the box office. His acting career, along with shrewd investments, have left Arnold with a net worth of around $1.2bn (around £800m), says Forbes.

Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in Terminator Dark Fate (Image: Publicity picture)
It means he is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood history. Forbes believes he has made over $500m alone from film paycheques.

He has also seen successful investments in Californian real estate and has a minority stake in fellow billionaire David Booth’s Dimensional Fund Advisors. Today the actor has a host of business interests including his film company Oak Productions, Fitness Publications Inc and film and trademarking holding venture Pumping Iron America.

Despite being a huge Hollywood success, Arnold has slowed down his filmmaking in recent years. According to IMDB, his last big screen role was in Terminator: Dark Fate in 2019.

He has starred in a series of short films since then as well as the TV series Superhero Kindergarten. While he may be worth over a billion dollars, Arnold isn’t the highest paid person in Hollywood however.

Film producer and music mogul David Geffen tops the list with a net worth of around $8.2bn (£6bn), while director Steven Spielberg is said to be worth around $5.3bn (£3.9bn). Elsewhere director Pete Jackson has a net worth of $1.7bn (£1.2bn), producer Peter Gruber is worth around $1.5bn (£1.1bn), and filmmaker Tyler Perry – who has also been credited as an actor – is worth $1.4bn (£1bn).