Shelton Jackson Lee, better known as Spike Lee, is an American screenwriter, actor, film director and producer, as well as a television director and producer. How rich is Spike Lee? The sources state that Spike Lee’s net worth is estimated to be $40 million. Spike Lee is a nominee and a winner of a number of awards, including Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, as well as Black Reel Awards. An inspiration to many, Lee accumulated most of his net worth due to his successful screenwriting career, and at the same time paved a path for a lot of upcoming African American filmmakers.
Spike Lee Net Worth $40 Million
Spike Lee, who was born in 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia, attended a Morehouse College, took film courses at a Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Morehouse College. A cousin of a film director and screenwriter Malcolm D. Lee, Spike Lee came out with his first independent film “Joe’s Bed-Stud Barbershop: We Cut Heads” in 1983. The movie, showcased at the New Directors New Films Festival, earned a Student Academy Award and turned out to be Lee’s first successful step in the screenwriting direction. In 1985, Spike Lee started to work on his first feature film “She’s Gotta Have It” that was shot in only two weeks. With an initial budget of $175 thousand, the movie grossed over $7 million in the United States, and was first major contribution to Spike Lee’s net worth. In 1989 Lee produced another film titled “Do the Right Thing”, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Danny Aiello, and several years later was paid $3 million to direct a movie about an African-American human rights activist Malcolm X by the name of “Malcolm X”. The movie where the main role is played by Denzel Washington has been awarded and nominated for several awards. Some of Spike Lee’s other notable movies include “Inside Man” with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, “Love & Basketball” starring Omar Epps, and “25th Hour” with Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Anna Paquin. In 1986, Spike Lee created a production company named “40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks” that has released over 35 of his movies. Lee has also managed to increase his net worth by opening small clothing stores with 40 Acres emblem, and has done numerous collaborations with such clothing companies as “Nike” and “Brooklyn Denim”.
In 2007, Spike Lee was awarded with San Francisco Film Society’s Directing Award. Spike Lee, who not only directs movies and writes screenplays but also appears in cameo roles in some of them, has managed to increase his net worth to $40 million. Spike Lee currently resides in New York’s most expensive Upper East Side zip code with his wife Tonya Lewis and their daughter Satchel. A house that Lee purchased in 1998 for $4.75 million is now worth approximately $30 to $40 million. In addition to his luxurious property, Spike Lee also owns courtside seats of New York Knicks basketball club that are reported to cost a large sum of money.
