Lisa Kudrow Net Worth

How much is Lisa Kudrow worth?

Net Worth:$100 Million
Profession:Professional Actress
Date of Birth:July 30, 1963 (age 59)
Country:United States of America
Height:
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)

About Lisa Kudrow

Best known for the way she can deliver hilarious lines without breaking character, Lisa Kudrow is an actor and producer who first became famous for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the hit NBC TV show Friends. Through working on the show, she became one of the highest paid TV actresses of all time, earning $1 million dollars per episode.

Outside of the hit show, the actress has also had prominent roles in comedies in the 2000s and 2010s, and she is currently appearing in Netflix’s Space Force. Some of her other popular movies and TV shows include Web Therapy, Analyse This, and The Boss Baby.

It’s no secret that Kudrow’s fame came almost entirely from Friends, as it was her first major role after she was fired from Frasier. In the early 90s, she was cast as Roz Doyle, Frasier’s radio producer, but was booted from development before the pilot episode was even filmed.

American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer Lisa Kudrow has an estimated net worth of $100 million dollars, as of 2023. For her role as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, Kudrow earned a peak salary of $1 million dollars per episode.

However, everything balanced out when she was cast as Phoebe Buffay, and Friends’ success vastly outgrew that of Frasier. In the show, Kudrow plays the quirky wild card of the group, as she has strange ideas and an unusual perspective of the world due to her upbringing, and that’s why she’s many fans’ favorite, similar to why Kramer is so beloved on Seinfeld.

As Kudrow has the best comedy timing out of the whole cast of the show, she was quick to score roles in major comedy movies, including the Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro vehicle, Analyse This, and its sequel, Analyse That.

In the movie, Kudrow played the wife of Dr. Sobel, played by Billy Crystal, who was presented with the task of becoming a gangster’s therapist. On top of that, she also starred in Dr. Doolittle 2, Hanging Up with Diane Keaton and Meg Ryan.

As well as the Albert Brooks movie, Mother. Kudrow also featured in other TV shows, including The Simpsons, Hope and Gloria, King of the Hill, and she even hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.

Though not all of her movie choices were a success while she was on Friends, it was after the show ended when Kudrow started focusing on movies and seeing huge box office returns. Kudrow took a step back and played more supporting roles instead of struggling to carry a whole movie.

The actress starred in the coming of age drama Easy A alongside Emma Stone, which was a massive box office success considering its tiny budget, and she had a standout role in the Seth Rogen movie, Neighbors. That movie was so successful that it got a sequel with Kudrow reprising her role. The biggest success for Kudrow though, post-Friends, is for her voice acting in the animated movie The Boss Baby, which grossed more than half a billion dollars worldwide.

Kudrow also continued doing what she does best, playing outlandish characters on TV. Not only did she star in the HBO comedy The Comeback, but she also wrote and created the show too. The Comeback lasted for two seasons, and though it wasn’t HBO’s biggest show, it was certainly a hit amongst critics. Kudrow then created Web Therapy, an online show that was much more successful, lasting for six seasons.

The show was even bought by Showtime and adapted for TV, lasting for four seasons on that medium. Outside of her own creations, she has also briefly reunited with her Friends’ costar Courtney Cox in Cougar Town.

Kudrow’s Notable Salaries

It’s obvious that the vast amount of Kudrow’s wealth comes from her time spent playing Phoebe Buffay, which lasted for ten years and each year coming with a considerable pay increase. For the first season of the hit TV program, Kudrow was making $22,500 per episode, making her total intake for the season $540,000, a figure that is nothing compared to future seasons.

For the whole of the second season, Kudrow earned close to $1 million in total for all 24 episodes. As her contract was up after that, her and the rest of the cast banded together to negotiate a much higher paying deal.

After their negotiations, the cast saw around $2 million each per season, but the biggest increase came for season seven, when her $125,000 per episode in season six skyrocketed to $750,000 per episode, earning her $18 million that season.

From the eighth season through to the end of the tenth season, Kudrow earned $1 million dollars per episode. At that time becoming one of the very highest paid TV actresses (tied with her female costars). Her income from the show hasn’t ended, either. As she has an ownership stake in the show, meaning that she earns royalties from Friend’s syndication and DVD sales.

Kudrow’s Total Net Worth

Lisa Kudrow may not be the most popular star of Friends, as that accolade goes to Jennifer Aniston, but she is by far the most talented in terms of comedy acting. The actress has amazing comedy timing and is able to deliver her bizarre lines with a straight face.

Kudrow earned $1 million dollars per episode between 2002-2004 of Friends. She also still owns royalties that are equal to 2% of the revenue generated by the show. In 2022, it was reported that Warner Bros. revenue for syndication has been as high as $1 billion dollars per year. That means that Kudrow may have been earning as much as $20 million per year, even almost two decades after the completion of the show.

Despite Phoebe being the oddest and quirkiest character, Kudrow is the actor who has broken character the least amount of times on the show. Though she hasn’t delved in to dramatic roles or acted alongside Adam Sandler, her comedy chops are second to none on the show.

It’s her understanding of comedy that has helped her in life after Friends too, as Kudrow has gone on to create not one, but two successful TV sitcoms. Her first show, The Comeback, though it was cancelled after one season, has become a cult hit and it was even brought back for a second season nine years later.

And Web Therapy has seen success on two different mediums thanks to Kudrow’s comedy skills, as the show is largely improvised. On top of that, Kudrow has been nominated for and won several awards including a Primetime Emmy for her role as Phoebe.

Kudrow has appeared in many more TV series, as well. She notably had an ongoing roles in BoJack Horseman, among others. Overall, it is estimated that from her work on TV, including her royalties, Lisa Kudrow has earned around $165 million. That also includes her work as a producer of television episodes, as well.

In film, she has notably appeared in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Analyze This, Easy A, Table 19, and many more. While it may surprise some, she is estimated to have earned some $30 million outside of television. Including her film work, and the appearances that she has made as herself, as well as her endorsement of products like Weight Watchers and Booksmart.

In total, it is estimated that Lisa Kudrow’s career earnings to date are about $195 million dollars. While some think that Friends was filmed in New York it was actually filmed in Los Angeles, California which is also where Kudrow was residing at the time. However, since then, and in high earning years, she has resided in Utah.

Federal income taxes have shifted in the years that Kudrow has been active, overall however, having lived in California, Kudrow has paid a rounded 49% in taxes on her career earnings. That is, considering that she has earned so much post-Friends at the highest California and federal tax brackets.

Of her $175 million dollars income, $10-11 million is expected to have been paid in business related costs. Less than many of her contemporaries as her earnings have been so high from a single show. The remainder, $164.5 million, will have been taxed at 49%. After tax, it is estimated that her career earnings are at around $83.89 million dollars, having paid $80.61 million dollars in taxes.

Lisa Kudrow married Michel Stern in 1995 and they have remained together. They have one child together, Julian Murray Stern, and seem to enjoy a stable homelife. Kudrow has liked to keep her private life, private. She has said “I’ve been careful to keep my life separate because it’s important to me to have privacy and for my life not to be a marketing device for a movie or a TV show. I’m worth more than that.”

Aside from a “body dysmorphic disorder” that Kudrow claims that she experienced after the episodes where Phoebe had triplets as a surrogate mother. She has experienced no major health problems that have been made public. It is likely that she keeps herself in good health, she does not have a history of alcohol abuse or mental illness. No, it is more likely that Kudrow has invested her money wisely and is now sitting on investment gains.

Kudrow has always shown signs of being very sharp and mentally quick, she has been as careful in the managing of her wealth as she was in the creating of it. In the years that Kudrow was earning, there was inflation and the stock market was concurrently rising. Many stars invested money in the 90s and have since earned phenomenal returns. This seems likely in the case of Kudrow, not only because she appears to possessess high intellect but also by studying her property purchases. Her purchases have remained small despite her net worth, she does not seem to be investing in real estate but rather is simply optimizing her living and lifestyle.

In the early days of Friends, Kudrow bought a 6,400 square-foot home in Beverly Hills for $1.9 million. In 2001, she bought another property in Beverly Hills, this time for $2.4 million. She also owned a penthouse in Park City, Utah which she sold for $3.6 million in 2017.

In her personal life Kudrow has likely spent $12-13 million dollars of her career earnings but also probably possesses assets valued at around $5-6 million, not including investment assets. In her investments, she may have earned investment returns of $18-23 million dollars. Therefore, it is estimated that Lisa Kudrow has a net worth of a rounded up $100 million dollars.

Summing-Up

Thanks to being a part of one of the most popular shows on earth, Kudrow has been granted the ability to work at her own pace and have more creative control with the projects she works on. While Friends has earned her the bulk of her net worth, which currently sits at a massive $100 million. Most recently, Kudrow appeared in the Netflix comedy Space Force, playing the wife of Steve Carrell’s character, and the show has been renewed for a second season.

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