Will Smith Net Worth: Oscar Winner Is Richer Than Chris Rock

Will Smith threw the 2022 Oscars ceremony into chaos Sunday night following an on-stage altercation with Chris Rock while the latter was presenting an award. Who is richer between the two actors? Here's a look at their careers and net worth.

“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” launched Smith’s career as an actor, having already gained fame as a member of the Grammy-winning rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince in the late 1980s. The actor played a fictional version of himself for six seasons on the NBC comedy series.

Smith then went on to star in a long list of successful films, including “Independence Day,” “Hancock,” “Men In Black,” “I Am Legend,” “Bad Boys,” “Bad Boys For Life,” “Pursuit of Happyness,” “Hitch” and “Suicide Squad.”

As of this writing, the 53-year-old actor has a net worth of $350 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

The Hollywood star earns at least $40 million a year from film salaries and various endeavors, with the figure reaching as much as $80 million in some years, the outlet noted.

At the peak of his career in the 2000s, Smith reportedly earned $20 million to $30 million per movie.

In recent years, he has earned massive single-film salaries from Netflix. He reportedly earned $20 million for the 2017 Netflix movie "Bright” and $35 million for its sequel.

Aside from being one of the most bankable movie stars in the world today, Smith is also a social media superstar. As of this writing, he has 9.82 million subscribers on YouTube and 60.1 million followers on Instagram.

He made it to Forbes’ list of the highest-paid celebrities in 2020 after earning $44.5 million from his acting salary and his various social media channels.

Smith’s net worth is much higher than that of Rock despite the latter being consistently named one of the highest-paid comedians in the world.

Between June 2016 and June 2017, Rock earned approximately $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He reportedly made $30 million the following year.

Today, his net worth stands at $60 million, according to the outlet. CNW noted that this figure could have been much higher if he did not lose reportedly about $40 million in a divorce settlement with his wife of 20 years, Malaak Compton.

Rock first gained a wide following after he joined “Saturday Night Live" in the early 1990s. Among his notable films are “The Longest Yard,” the “Madagascar” series and “Grown Ups.” He also created and produced the semi-autobiographical sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris,” which ran from 2005 to 2009.

During Sunday's Oscars ceremony, Smith won the Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams – the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams – in the film “King Richard,” marking his first Oscar win in his three-decade career.

The actor received the award shortly after storming the stage and slapping Rock after the comedian made a joke about seeing his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who struggles with alopecia and hair loss and has a shaved head, in a possible “G.I. Jane” sequel.

Smith later apologized to the Academy during his tearful acceptance speech.

“I know to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse,” Smith was quoted as saying by Variety. “You gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you, and you gotta smile, and you gotta pretend like that’s OK.”

He said that, after the Rock onstage moment, Denzel Washington told him off-camera, “At your highest moment, be careful — that’s when the devil comes for you.”

“I want to apologize to the Academy; I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” Smith continued. “This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine light on all of the people.”