How much is Tom Welling worth?
| Net Worth: | $6.5 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actor |
| Date of Birth: | April 26, 1977 (age 45) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) |
“One of the things about going from modeling to acting is it’s so much more fulfilling. With modeling, you get your picture taken, which is great, good for you, you know? But in acting, you’re able to reach in and show a little bit more of yourself.” Tom Welling
About Tom Welling
Tom Welling, whose full name is Thomas John Patrick Welling, is an American actor, director, model, and producer. He’s best known for his role in The WB/CW superhero drama Smallville, where he reprised the leading role of Clark Kent from 2001 to 2011.
In addition to starring in that and many other films and series, Welling is an established model, film director, and producer that has played a major role in the films Cheaper by the Dozen, The Fog, and Draft Day to name a few.
“I have so much chaos in my life, it’s become normal. You become used to it. You have to just relax, calm down, take a deep breath and try to see how you can make things work rather than complain about how they’re wrong.” Tom Welling
The multi-talented actor and director became famous when he joined the well-liked drama Smallville. He was born on April 26, 1977, in Putnam Valley, New York. He’s the second-youngest son and has two older sisters. His mother worked as a home engineer while his father was a General Motors executive figure. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, his family moved frequently due to his father’s work which required relocation, the family had to move and live in different places such as New York, Delaware, Maryland, and Michigan.
In 1995, Tom graduated from the Okemos High School, while his family was still residing in Okemos, Michigan. Prior to that, he studied and spent his freshman year at the Salesianum School based in Wilmington, Delaware. Shortly after his graduation, he was discovered by a scouting agent that suggested him to try modeling. He eventually relocated to Los Angeles to further pursue a modeling career and became the face of Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein among many others. Simultaneously with that, he decided to audition for roles on television and follow a career in acting.
His very first appearance on camera was in 2000 during the music video of Angela Via’s song “Picture Perfect”, where he portrayed the artist’s love interest. The following year, after leaving modeling behind, he landed the supporting role of Rob Meltzer in the legal drama Judging Amy, which eventually marked his television debut.
From his work in seven of the season two episodes, Welling earned a small salary but made his start as a professional actor. Also in 2001, he had guest appearances in the series Special Unit 2 and Undeclared. He also went on to defeat hundreds of young actors for the main role of Smallville. In The WB/The CW superhero drama, he portrayed the role of Karl-el/Clark Kent/Superman for the entire series.
In addition to that, he also won several awards and nominations like Choir TV Actor, Teen Choice Award, and nominations for Scream Award, and Saturn Award for “Best Actor on Television”.
Apart from the many television series that he took part in, Welling added to his net worth and increased his audience. His film debut came in the 2003 family drama Cheaper by the Dozen. He then worked in other dramas and horrors such as The Fog, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Parkland, Draft Day, and The Choice. Since his rise to prominence, Welling has appeared in many realities and talk shows such as The View, E! News Live, Live with Kelly and Ryan, Made in Hollywood, and The Real among many others.
“I’m in a position now where I can play certain roles and when I get older, I won’t be able to. So, I don’t have a strategy of trying to grow up too quick, I just want to kind of look at everything.” Tom Welling
Welling’s Total Net Worth
While the majority of Tom Welling’s earnings were from his role in Smallville from 2001-2017, he has appeared in other series and in films. For example Cheaper By the Dozen 1 and 2. The movies earned a combined $325.5 million worldwide and with it, Tom Welling earned an estimated $2 million. He also appeared in 6 episodes of Judging Amy, 22 episodes of Lucifer and 10 episodes of Professionals. From these appearances plus all of his other acting appearances in films, like The Choice and Batwoman. Welling earned an estimated $3.5 million.
Of course Smallville was where the real money was made. It has been reported that Welling earned $175,000 per episode in seasons eight, nine and ten. That was a total of 65 episodes making his total earnings from those three seasons, about $11.4 million. For the earlier seasons he earned far less. It is estimated that for the first two seasons he earned no more than an inflation adjusted $1,500 per episode, making his total for those seasons $66,000 from 44 episodes.
After that actors renegotiate based on the success of the show, the ratings, and so on. It is likely Welling’s per episode salary went up to $50,000 per episode on average for seasons three, four, five, six and seven. With a total of 108 episodes his pre-tax earnings would have been $5.4 million. In total, Tom Welling is estimated to have earned $16.87 million from his appearances in Smallville.
When combining his earnings from Smallville, with his earnings from all of his other acting credits. Welling’s total acting career earnings are $22.37 million. Which after tax, which would be around 45% for somebody like Welling, his taxed income would be $12.3 million having paid $10.07 million in tax.
Tom Welling married Jamie White in 2002, just a year after having appeared in the first season of Smallville. She was there for him during that time, almost to the show’s finale in 2017. Just two years earlier, in 2015, the couple were divorced and part of the settlement, was that Tom Welling must pay Jamie White $5 million dollars. It was the condition that she was to be paid 20% of his earnings up to $5 million which Tom would have completed by now.
Other than that, Tom Welling has lived a quiet life. He likes to play golf and has said, “I don’t want to be a celebrity for the sake of being a celebrity. I want to work and then go home and live in private.” It is unlikely that he would have lost or spent that much money, however, there would have been some. There were also likely some investment gains countering it. However there have also been management and agent fees.
Overall, Tom Welling is estimated to have a net worth of about $6.5 million. He remarried, this time to Jessica Rose Lee in 2019.
The success of Tom Welling comes from his work as both film actor, director, and producer to some well-received films and television series. In 2006, he made his directing debut on an episode of Smallville. He proceeded to direct six other episodes throughout the next five years. Concurrently with acting and directing, Tom became a producer of the superhero series that served as co-executive producer in 42 episodes. For the past decade, he has been a star and director of the popular series Hellcats and Professionals.
Summing-Up
Tom Welling is known for his outstanding and highly-praised performance in the Emmy-award winning show Smallville. The charming and prominent actor first began his career as a model in the late 1990s and quickly made the transition to the film industry where he achieved a lot of success. For the past two decades, with an estimated net worth of $6.5 million, he has become one of the most popular and highest-paid television actors in the United States.
