There’s no question that J. K. Rowling, creator of the “Harry Potter” novels, is one of the most successful writers in history but is the British author a billionaire?
J. K. Rowling is apparently not a billionaire, although she is very close to being one. She was first reported to be a billionaire by Forbes in 2004. Rowling claimed this was untrue and that she was very wealthy but not a billionaire. Her sizeable donations to charity have also apparently kept her from reaching billionaire status, by choice.
For more on Rowling’s rise from obscurity to unprecedented success and riches, read on.
Millionaire
Rowling’s financial struggles in the years before the publication of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (“Sorceror’s Stone” in the US) are well documented.
She has spoken openly about the struggles of being a single parent, stating that she was as “as poor as it’s possible to be in [the UK]“, stressing that without the country’s welfare system she would have been unable to survive as a mother.
She wrote the first “Harry Potter” novel while living on state benefits, taking her baby to local cafes with her while she wrote.
After multiple rejections from publishing houses, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury’s chairman read the first chapter of the novel and her enthusiasm for it was enough reason to publish the book. Rowling was advised to get a day job, as there was so little money in writing children’s books.
The initial UK run of “Philosopher’s Stone” in 1996 was just 1000 copies, with 500 going to libraries. The book won several awards and the publication rights were auctioned in the US, with Scholastic winning for $105,000.
The book was published in the States as “Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone”. Rowling used the money from the sale to move from her small flat to some far nicer accommodation in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The success of “Harry Potter” that followed is far too expansive to cover here but, for some idea, “Philosopher’s Stone” alone had sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, in 79 languages, as of 2017. Even without taking Rowling’s many other books into account, this would make her one of the most successful authors of all time.
Billionaire?
Today, the “Harry Potter” franchise as a whole, including books, movies, merchandise, etc, is estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of $25 billion.
Back in 2004, Forbes called Rowling the richest author in history and the first person to make a billion dollars from writing.
While it’s true that her intellectual property probably makes her a billionaire in assets, several times over, in terms of material wealth it seems unlikely she had reached such a high mark back then.
Rowling herself disputed the claims, saying that she was extremely wealthy but not a billionaire.
She has also made significant donations to charity, apparently in excess of $150 million. An often-repeated rumor online is that Rowling had been a billionaire but fallen off the list due to her charitable donations, though it’s likelier that she was simply never accurately on it.
Recent estimates of her wealth place her close to that mark, at around £750 million (approximately $950 million at the time of writing).
This would mean that her donations have kept her from reaching a billion, however, the UK’s relatively steep tax on the extremely wealthy has also played a part.
Rowling is known to stick to her ideals where it comes to making money, for example, rejecting fast-food tie ins (hence no “Harry Potter” Happy Meals).
So while Rowling might not quite be a millionaire in terms of material wealth, the “Potter” franchise is worth tens of billions financially and far more than that in terms of its impact on the world, as are Rowling’s significant donations to charity.