Stephen King Net Worth: Literary Cult Figure Lords Over A Fortune Of $500 Million

Author Stephen King, often lauded as "the king of horror," is also the lord of a whopping fortune.

King will begin the new year with a fortune worth $500 million and as the ninth in a list of top ten authors by net worth, topped by J.K. Rowling, who visualized the fascinating world of Harry Potter. Rowling commands a net worth of $1 billion.

Prolific author

There shouldn't be any surprise on this count, as King has authored 60 novels, which have had a cumulative print order of a whopping 350 million copies.

The horror maestro's latest work, "Holly," was published in September 2023.

"Carrie," "Misery" and "Salem's Lot" are among his most popular works that have swayed fans of the horror and supernatural fiction genre worldwide.

King's fortune is not just confined to his exemplary writings -- he has also raked in the moolah through pursuits varying from screenwriter to film director, actor, and columnist.

Incidentally, his hugely popular book "The Shawshank Redemption" earned him just $2 million, considered a throwaway price vis-a-vis the money it minted in the box office. And despite being filthy rich, King reportedly lives in a modest five-bedroom villa in Maine.

"Carrie," the fourth novel he wrote, was the first to be published. A frustrated King reportedly threw the first three pages of Carrie in the trash can, which was taken out later by his wife, who then goaded him to finish it.

"Carrie" was also adopted as a film. The movie adaptation fetched gross earnings of $84 million in 2013, Forbes reported.

His annual earnings are estimated to be in the range of $20 million.

Dollar Baby

King also initiated a Dollar Baby program, by which he grants aspiring student filmmakers the right to make a movie from his short stories for $1. King retains the rights to the story. No prizes for guessing that the most famous movie from the Dollar Baby stable of King is Frank Darabont's "The Shawshank Redemption."

The initiation

The works of H. P. Lovecraft, pulp fiction, and comics were King's childhood fixations, which shaped his literary career's trajectory. After graduating from the University of Maine, King took up teaching as a career, but he developed his writing skills in his spare time.

Spooky terrains

After the stupendous success of his first published work, "Carrie," King was catapulted to stardom as a rock star of spooky fiction that dwelt with man's primal fears.

King's masterpieces woven on nightmarish experiences haunted readers, reinforcing his cult status and allowing him to pursue writing as a full-time profession.

King's magnum opus, "The Dark Tower Series," was positioned at an intersection of fantasy and science fiction, and was celebrated by aficionados.

Spooky elements apart, his wide array of characters portrayed love, loss, grief, longing, addiction and even domestic abuse, making his works a slice of real-life misery.

The doyen of horror undoubtedly inspired many writers to take up shady plots traversing haunting literary terrains. No doubt, King has earned his place among the hallowed pathways of cultural icons.