Jordan Peele Net Worth

Jordan Peele at the 90th Academy Awards Awards at the Dolby Theartre, Hollywood

Have you ever wondered what Jordan Peele’s net worth is? Known for his brilliant work in the comedy and horror genres, the American comedian, actor, and director has amassed quite a following throughout his career. Today, he’s one of the most affluent filmmakers of his time.

Peele’s career took off in 2003 when he was hired as a cast member in the American sketch comedy MadTV.

In the following years, Peele collaborated with fellow actor and writer Keegan-Michael Key, starring in the comedy series Key & Peele (2012 to 2015) on Comedy Central and YouTube. He also directed and produced a few movies, including Get Out and Us.

As of May 2023, Jordan Peele has a net worth of $50 million. This article discusses Peele’s climb to success and how he’s become one of Hollywood’s most beloved filmmakers.

Early Life

Jordan Haworth Peele was born on February 21, 1979, in New York City to Lucinda Williams and Hayward Peele, Jr. His mother, Lucinda, is white, while his father, Hayward, was African American.

Peele’s father was largely absent from his life. He left the household when Peele was only seven years old, leaving him in the care of his single mother.

Ever since he was a young boy, Peele has shown a great interest in performing arts and movies. He attended Sarah Lawrence College and studied puppetry and later comedy.

After two years of education, he dropped out of college to form a comedy duo with Rebecca Drysdale.

During one of their performances in 2002 at Second City, he met Keegan-Michael Key, and they both “fell in comedy love.” They kept in touch after the show, and the rest was, as they say, history.

Key and Peele worked together on MadTV, and when their contracts expired, they worked on a sketch comedy show together.

This led to five seasons of Key & Peele, which was increasingly popular on Comedy Central and YouTube.

Key & Peele garnered well over 1.8 billion views on their YouTube channel from its creation in 2019.

Acting Career

In 2003, Peele was added to the cast of MadTV, an American sketch comedy series. Key joined MadTV at around the same time, and while it was assumed that Key would be chosen over Peele, it was ultimately decided that both worked seamlessly together.

In the show, Peele specialized in celebrity impersonations. However, Peele decided to further pursue his acting career and left the cast of MadTV at the end of his contract in season 13 with Key.

Together, they created the hit comedy show Key & Peele, which aired from 2012 to 2015. The series was a great success and amassed millions of views online.

Throughout his career, Peele played minor roles in dozens of movies and TV shows, including Little Fockers, The Station, Children’s Hospital, and Wanderlust. He also landed a semi-major role in the first season of Fargo in 2014.

In 2016, Key and Peele starred and produced their first feature film Keanu. The movie wasn’t overly popular but gained favorable reviews from movie critics and filmgoers.

It grossed $20 million at the box office.

Filmmaker Career

Jordan Peele, Daniel Kaluuya at the PSIFF Creative Impact Awards &

After the positive reception of the film Keanu, Peele decided to pursue his filmmaking career full-time.

This proved to be fruitful because his first film, Get Out, received universal acclaim upon its release in 2017.

It scored an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and was chosen by the American Film Institute, the National Board of Review, and Time Magazine as one of the best psychological horror movies of the year.

It eventually became one of the highest-grossing horror movies of all time, earning over $255 million on a budget of only $4.5 million.

For his work, Peele became the first African American screenwriter to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

The movie received significant attention and won multiple other awards and nominations, such as Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay for a Debut Film.

In 2018, Peele decided to retire from acting. He said acting was merely a hobby and nowhere near as fun as directing.

Since then, he’s co-produced and co-directed several films and TV shows, like The Last O.G., Weird City, and BlacKkKlansman.

A year later, Peele released his second horror-thriller film, Us. Like Get Out, Us relieved global praise. It grossed $255 million on a budget of $20 million.

With two of his movies receiving critical acclaim, he’s more than proved his talent in the filmmaking industry. And his career only blossomed from there.

In 2021, he co-wrote and co-produced the sequel of Candyman, a gothic supernatural horror film.

He released his next film, Nope, in 2022. Again, it received global praise for its direction, cinematography, and performance. It grossed $171 million with a budget of $68 million.

Influence On the Horror Genre

Jordan Peele made it a point to cast Black leads in his movies. He doesn’t see himself casting white leads because he wants to make movies centered on Black representation.

In Get Out, for example, he wanted to address the issues of racial minorities and the history of slavery and genocide in the Old South. Us, on the other hand, reflects the concerns of Trump’s America and black survival.

But that’s not the only influence Peele has had in the horror genre. Unlike most modern horror, he seeks to elicit visceral responses through increased tensions, pulling the audience to the edge of their seats.

He uses the fear of the unknown to his advantage, ramping up the tension to the highest degree before giving the audience the answers they want.

Jordan Peele Net Worth 2023

As of May 2023, Jordan Peele’s net worth is estimated to be a staggering $50 million. This hardly comes as a surprise, considering the success he’s received in both his acting and filmmaking career.

His wealth is an accumulation of his career as a comedian, an actor, and, of course, a film director. He gets roughly 20% of his earnings from his film’s revenue.

In 2019, he signed a deal with Universal Pictures that keeps his production company at the studio for at least five years.

Reportedly, it was a “nine-figure” deal that rivals the other $300 to 400 million deals of the producers of the same company. He also receives incredibly large bonuses for his work.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Jordan Peele half-white?

Jordan Peele is half-white. His mother is white, and his father is African American.

What movies has Jordan Peele acted in?

Us (2019), Keanu (2016), Candyman (2021)

Key Takeaways

Stay With Your Own

Jordan Peele chose to hire other African Americans

Jordan Peele is one of the most famous black directors of his time. He has an impressive net worth of $50 million following the success of his horror movies.

For an up-and-coming movie director, this is quite impressive. There’s no doubt that this figure will continue to rise as he makes more movies.