How much is Penn Badgley worth?
| Net Worth: | $5 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actor |
| Date of Birth: | November 1, 1986 (age 36) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.75 m) |
“The phenomenon of fame is literally invisible, but it influences and dominates your life if you aren’t careful.” Penn Badgley
About Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley is an American film and television actor and musician. He’s best known for starring in The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (from 2007 to 2012) and for his highly praised role in the Netflix thriller series You (from 2018 to present). In addition to these series, he also took part in a number of films such as John Tucker Must Die, The Stepfather, Easy A, and Greetings from Tim Buckley.
“When you’re making a show or a movie, there are a million people and things in your way. As an actor, you’re like a glorified session musician or player. You really are.” Penn Badgley
Penn Badgley became famous in the late 2000s when he joined the popular teen drama Gossip Girl. He was born on November 1, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland. He’s the only child of Duff and Lynne Murphy Badgley. His father was a newspaper reporter, carpenter, and home builder that was also a candidate for the Green Party during the Washington governor elections in 2008. His mother served as the PTA president of Woolridge Elementary that Penn attended.
“I guess I never really had a high school experience. I went for about a month, and on the first day one of my friends got punched in the eye. It was Southern California Public High School. Needless to say, I wasn’t there for long.” Penn Badgley
He enrolled at the Charles Wright Academy, from which he graduated in the early 2000s. As a child, he found passion in acting and was involved with the Seattle Children’s Theater and the Pine Nut Players Community Theater. Both Penn and his mother relocated to California in the late 1990s so that he could further pursue an acting career. He began doing voiceovers for various children’s radio stations based in Hollywood and was then homeschooled alongside his future co-star and occasional partner Blake Lively. He was accepted to the USC (University of Southern California) but he decided to focus on acting.
The wealth of the film and television actor comes from his roles in over 40 television projects. His first credit was as a voice actor for the video games Mario Golf 64 and Mario Tennis 64 from 1999 and 2000. His first screen acting credits came in the shows Will and Grace, Daddio, The Brothers Garcia, and What I Like About You. In 2000, he joined the cast of the soap opera “The Young and the Restless” as Phillip Chancellor from May 2000 to February 2001. Besides earning an estimated net worth of over $50 thousand he also earned his first award nomination for a Young Artist Award.
After a short role in the 2000 independent film The Fluffer, he joined the films Debating Robert Lee, John Tucker Must Die, Drive-Thru and Forever Strong. Throughout the early 2000s, he starred in the series Daddio, The Nightmare Room, and The Twilight Zone. His first main roles came in the television series Do-Over, The Mountain and The Bedford Diaries which earned him some recognition and an estimated net worth of $200 thousand. In 2007, he won the auditions for the leading role of Daniel Humphrey in The CW’s Gossip Girl.
“The ‘Gossip Girl’ idea and ideologies, like, they sort of encourage this certain kind of, like, materialism and superficiality that isn’t, I would say, the best thing in the world.” Penn Badgley
After the conclusion of Gossip Girl, besides his work for MOTHXR, Penn Badgley continued to star in acclaimed projects having earned a net worth of about $3 million. While further making a name for himself in the entertainment business, he also became an activist that has supported various causes and non-profit organizations such as the LGBTQ rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the American Red Cross.
Some of his most recent and successful roles have doubled his net worth, which is now an estimated $5 million dollars. Appearances in films like Easy A, Margin Call, Greetings from Tim Buckley and The Paper Stone. Since 2018, he has been playing the leading role of Joe Goldberg in the thriller series You. Most recently, his outstanding performance in the Netflix original show earned him his very first nomination for a Saturn Award.
Badgley’s Total Net Worth
It has been estimated that Penn Badgley earned $55,000 per episode for season one of You. His high starting salary which, if accurate, would have put his total season earnings at $495,000, is owing to the success that he brought to the show Gossip Girl previously. For the first season of Gossip Girl it is estimated that he earned no more than $3,500 per episode. Things have certainly changed since then and it is estimated that Badgley earned north of $125,000 per episode for You season three.
Penn Badgley has mostly appeared in TV series since the early 2000s. While his earnings were low he persisted and by 2007 a major career breakthrough came with his being cast in the role of Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl. While his earnings were low for the first two seasons they increased drastically with the success of the show. By the end of the sixth season, Badgley is estimated to have earned over $4 million from the part (untaxed income). That is inclusive of spinoff appearances and appearances as himself.
Outside of his work on Gossip Girl, Badgley was not up to much however. In 2009, he executive produced , a 22 minute experimental piece but did not executive produce again until “You in 2021. While he was on Gossip Girl Badgley added to his earnings and fulfilled his obligations by making several appearances as himself. He has been appearing on Entertainment Tonight since 2008. He also appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2009 to promote the show and build his audience. While these type of shows don’t pay much, if at all, they are often included in contracts for actors of series and in films to make these appearances that promote their productions. All told, Badgley ended Gossip Girl in 2012 and with a net worth of about $3 million and earnings of $4.2 million.
It wasn’t until he was cast in You, that Badgley’s career really began to pick up again. For a while there it almost looked like it was petering out completely. His career was majorly revived when he was cast as Joe Goldberg in You. In 2022, his earnings from the show are estimated to be around $3.5 million. That is earning figures of $55,000 for the first season which was nine episodes and therefore a total of, $495,000. In the second season, the same, but for 10 episodes, earning a total of $550,000. For the third season, which also included ten episodes, per episode is at $125,000 owing to the success of the show, which totals, $1.25 million. Resulting in total earnings from You estimated at $2.295 million.
In total, it is estimated that Penn Badgley’s acting and appearances earnings are a total of $6.995 million. This is inclusive of an addition $500,000 in earnings from his various appearances outside of You and Gossip Girl. Badgley hasn’t been in any trouble, not publicly anyway, he has supported various causes including Red Cross, and in general been a good citizen.
He married Domino Kirke in 2017, they are still together and he has no children from other relationships. It is likely that he may have made some small stock and/or similar investments and likely incurred some losses at this stage of his investing career, it is being calculated as having broken even. He has made a real estate investment, he paid $1.825 million for an apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Badgley sold it again for $2.19 million making a shrew $365,000 before tax. Apparently he had also leased it for $8,500 per month for an estimated six months, adding $51,000 to the deal. Bumping up his total earnings from acting, producing and real estate to $7.411 million dollars.
All things considered, having had to pay quite some tax in certain years, for example in the years 2011-2012 and 2020-2021. It is estimated that Penn Badgley has a total net worth of $5 million.
The Gossip Girl star is successful because of his acting and singing abilities. Concurrently with his role in The CW show, where he appeared in all of its 6 seasons and 127 episodes, he also became a musician. He teamed up with his friends Jimmy Giannopoulus, Simon Oscroft, and Darren Will and creates the indie-pop band MOTHXR. The four-piece indie-pop released several singles before they released his debut studio album Centerfold in 2016.
“When it comes to the fame side of things. I don’t think anybody, whether they’re famous or not, could claim to understand that phenomenon or have any sort of power over it.” Penn Badgley
Summing-Up
Penn Badgley is known for his totally exciting roles in Gossip Girl, especially that of the gossip girl which was revealed in the show’s highly-anticipated final episode. Ever since his first appearance on the show, the talented actor and musician became an international star. Presently, with an estimated net worth of $5 million, he continues to impress and make heads with his astonishing performance in the Netflix series You among several other projects.
It didn’t take long for this “lonely boy” from the wrong side of the bridge to go from outcast to Hollywood “it” boy. With Domino Kirkeon on his arm to a budding film career, Penn has definitely been experiencing a soaring career and personal life.
