It’s been 24 years since a group of New York ‘Friends’ first made their way into our living rooms. But just how much are they worth today?
Over two decades ago on September 22, 1994, viewers first saw Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) run into Central Perk, soaking wet after leaving her fiancé at the altar, kickstarting a sitcom that would go on to become one of the world’s most beloved TV shows.
When Friends was still in production in 2002, the cast was notorious for negotiating their US$1 million per episode payout – a salary that made Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, and Courtney Cox some of the highest paid actresses on TV. But how is the cast doing today?
Although Friends ended in 2004 (and some cast members’ careers after the show were more lucrative than others), the cast is still making bank.
Fast forward to 2018 and we’re all still obsessed with the sitcom – there’s even a festival dedicated to the beloved series – and if you didn’t get to watch it the first time round, thank the gods of TV that we live in the glorious age of Netflix, where binge-watching is a must.
Individually, the stars’ net worth starts at US$70 million, with the highest earners reaching US$220m, as recorded by Celebrity Networth.
Although Friends was one of her biggest roles, Kudrow is still active in Hollywood, so it’s no surprise that Celebrity Net Worth estimates her to have pulled in around US$70 million. Recently, she’s had guest-starring roles on shows like “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “Grace and Frankie,” but her most notable role in recent years was starring in “The Comeback.”
Matt LeBlanc’s recent stint as a Top Gear host may have been brief, but his net worth reportedly stands at a cool US$80m. In the series he played Joey, long thought of as a loveably goofy character, although his womanising ways attracted a certain amount of controversy recently when millennials found that not all of the show’s jokes had stood the test of time as it landed on Netflix.
Matthew Perry stands firmly next to his co-star and onscreen roommate, also worth a nice US$80 million.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Schwimmer is worth around US$85 million. After “Friends,” Schwimmer wasn’t quite as visible as his co-stars, instead appearing in smaller roles in the years after the show wrapped. In 2016, Schwimmer notably played Robert Kardashian in the “American Crime Story” take on the OJ Simpson trial. Later this year, Schwimmer is set to guest star in Will & Grace as Grace’s love interest.
Courtney Cox the second-highest earner of the Friends cats – and her net worth is slightly more north of her male co-stars’ – she comes in a comfortable US$120m. Since leaving behind the clean-obsessive Monica, not only did she star in Cougar Town for six years, but she’s also had a hand in various film and TV projects since then. Cox and ex-husband David Arquette also own their own production company, Coquette Productions, and in August, it was announced that Cox will join the cast of the US version of Shameless next season.
Jennifer Aniston, who reigns with US$220m net worth, is definitely the Hollywood A-Lister in the group. Not only is she known for numerous Hollywood movie roles, but she’s also been married to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux. With a variety of Netflix projects in the works, it’s clear that the golden girl of the 90s as big 24 years on.
