How much is Naya Rivera worth?
| Net Worth: | $3.5 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actress |
| Date of Birth: | January 12, 1987 (aged 33) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 4 in (1.65 m) |
About Naya Rivera
Naya Marie Rivera was an American actress, activist, model, singer, and songwriter that started her career as a child actress in the short-lived CBS sitcom titled The Royal Family. A few years later, she joined the acclaimed musical series Glee on Fox. After its first season, Rivera became a main cast member and remained on the show until its end in 2015. Concurrently with her work on the show, she continued to star in other films and series whilst also becoming an activist and singer.
Naya was born on January 12, 1987, in Valencia, California. Naya is of African American, Puerto Rican, and German descent. She is the first of three children to George and Yolanda Rivera. She has a younger sister and brother named Nickayla (a runway model) and Mychal (a former NFL tight end). Her father worked in various IT jobs, whilst her mother is a former model and real estate agent.
Growing up, Rivera attended the Valencia High School. She was a huge fan of Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson, whom she claimed influenced her to become a singer. Naya’s career in the film industry started long before that when she was a toddler. As a baby, she has appeared in various commercials for Kmart and other department stores. Her first role on television was in the short-lived CBS sitcom The Royal Family that premiered in 1991. She appeared in all 15 episodes of the show and went on to receive a nomination for a Young Artist Award.
Throughout the 1990s, she began appearing in various sitcoms such as The Fresh Prince of BelAir, Jersey, Family Matters, and Live Shot. By the end of the decade, she was starting to receive a lot more attention from the media and was earning an estimated $100,000 per year.
In the early 2000s, Naya finally made her debut on the big screen. Her first film role was in the 2002 adventure comedy The Master of Disguise. Around the same time, she became a series regular on The Bernie Mac Show, playing the role of Donna from 2002 to 2006.
A few years later, after gaining some momentum and making a name for herself in the film industry, Rivera landed her first recurring role in a television series. She joined the Fox fan-favorite Glee and after her praised work on the show’s first season, she became a main cast member, earning around $20-50,000 per episode.
Outside of Glee, Naya Rivera appeared in many other acclaimed productions. Her most memorable performances are in Devious Maids, RuPaul’s Drag Race, At the Devil’s Door, and Mad Families.
Just at the peak of her acting career, in 2011, she was signed to Columbia Records as a solo musical artist. She only won two ALMA Awards and released a debut single, which is why she was dropped by the record label. Despite that, she received praise for her acting and work as an activist and philanthropist. She supported and championed various causes for LGBT, immigrants, and women’s rights. She also spoke out against racism, especially in the entertainment business.
After being a featured singer on Glee, she also began singing in real life. Her first appearance on a song was on 2Cellos’ “Supermassive Black Hole” from 2012. The next year, she collaborated with rapper Big Sean for her debut single “Sorry” that entered various music charts in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She also appeared in multiple singles and albums. Besides praise and international recognition, it also brought her numerous awards such as ALMA, Brit, Grammy, Screen Actors Guild, and Teen Choice Awards.
Naya’s Total Net Worth
Rivera earned an estimated $8.5 million dollars in her short career. Her roles in Glee, Devious Maids, and T.D. Jakes all added to her earnings and she earned more from appearing in movies, too, She appeared in The Master of Disguise, At the Devil’s Door, and Mad Families, just to name a few. She also appeared in Step Up: High Water (2018-2019).
Working in California would have bumped her taxes up a bit and those were also high earnings years, for example between 2010 and 2015. In her 20 year long career on average she earned $425,000 per year, however some of those years her earnings were over $1 million and she would have been taxed accordingly.
Of her $8.5 million dollars income, around $1 million will have been paid in business related costs. The remainder, $7.5 million, will have been taxed at 45% as Rivera has been residing in the state of California. After tax, it is estimated that her career earnings are at around $4.12 million dollars, having paid $3.38 million dollars in taxes.
Naya Rivera married Ryan Dorsey in 2014 and they later split and divorced in 2018. Considering Rivera was likely earning far more than Dorsey, it is likely that she may have had to pay some alimony to him. After all, it seems likely that he may have been supporting the growth of her career. It wasn’t as high an earning time for her as some of her other years had been, and there are other considerations, still, she may have needed to pay around $300,000. Their child, Josey Hollis Dorsey, was born in 2015.
In her personal life, there was some disturbance. In 2017, Rivera was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for domestic battery after she allegedly hit her then husband, Dorsey.
Aside from that she was a Christian and seems to have had good values. She would take to God in her troubling times, like after her split with Big Sean, she is recorded as having said “I had to just be with myself, and with God”. It is unlikely that she lost or spent too much money, or that she realized that much in investment gains, either, however there would have been some. There would have also been costs, including agent and management fees, as well as other business costs.
In her real estate investments she had paid $2.6 million for a property in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz. She later sold the same property in 2018, for $3.55 million. In her personal life Naya likely spent $850,000 of her career earnings but also probably possessessed assets valued at around $200,000, not including investment assets. In her investments, she may have earned investment returns of $450,000. Therefore, it is estimated that Naya Rivera had a net worth of a little over $3.5 million dollars.
Summing-Up
Naya Rivera was one of the most popular names from the musical series Glee. Thanks to her fantastic acting and singing she quickly won the hearts of millions of fans and earned herself millions of dollars. Prior to her passing away in the summer of 2020, she was earning an estimated $1 million per year with a net worth of around $3.5 million. At the time of her death, she was just starting to receive more attention and prestigious awards for her acting roles. It was a sudden and dramatic loss.
