Comedian, director, writer, television producer, and actor, Lawrence Gene David (also referred to as Larry David) has made many laugh throughout his career.
Prior to becoming a comedian, David used to earn his bread and butter by working as a limousine driver, store clerk, and historian. Yes, you read that right! It might sound surprising that the person who is renowned for making people burst out in tears laughing was a historian before being a comedian. All thanks to the knowledge he acquired while pursuing his graduation in BA (History). It might be hard to digest, but it’s true. In fact, it was whilst this time that made him realize his potential as a comedian.
Apart from the work of this Brooklyn (NYC) born comedian, one more thing about him leaves people astounding, and that is- Larry David’s net worth. This article will talk about his current net worth, but before that, did you know that Larry David has also served in the US Army Reserve for five years? Well, now you do!
Larry David Net Worth: 400 Million USD
Utilizing his skills to the fullest, the Sheepshead Bay High School graduate has earned massive net worth. Reportedly, Larry David’s net worth is estimated to be around 400 Million USD. Some even believe it to be ranging between 400 to 900 Million USD, while he himself laughs off at the fact that people view him as this rich, calling it “absurd” since he says that most of his net worth vanished when he got divorced.
Scroll down a little to know what made Larry David’s net worth so enormous.
Stand-Up Comedian & (Saturday Night Live) SNL
After rendering his services to the United States Army Reserve, David became a stand-up comedian while making hustles to manage his survival. It was in 1980 when he got the opportunity to showcase his skills as a writer and performer in the cast of Fridays, a comedy show featured on American Broadcasting Company (ABC). David was a part of the show for three consecutive years until its wrap-up in 1982. David worked alongside Michael Richards in the show, who later portrayed the role of Kramer from Seinfeld.
After that, David moved on to write for one of the NBC’s shows- Saturday Night Live (SNL), in 1984 and later did the same for a show named Way Off Broadway (a talk show aired on Lifetime), in which he was seen performing as well.
Seinfeld
Larry’s contribution to Seinfeld is one of his best and most acclaimed works. It all started when Jerry Seinfeld approached him to assist him in generating the premise of a sitcom in 1989. Larry was one among the other co-writers of the show, namely Carol Leifer, Steve Koren, Max Pross, Charlie Rubin, Spike Fresten, Marjorie Gross and many others.
Larry did write more than 60 episodes of the show, along with the role sketch of Cosmos Kramer. It’s interesting that Larry drew his inspiration to design the character sketch of Cosmos Kramer from Kenny Kramer, who lived across the hall while Larry was residing in Manhattan Plaza.
The premise of Seinfeld grabbed top-ranking positions on several platforms. It was tagged as one of the most successful shows in history, ranked number 1 on TV Guide’s list of the 50 greatest shows of all time, and was celebrated as the 3rd-best TV show of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Its episode- “The Contest,” earned Larry a Primetime Emmy Award (1993) for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. The same episode attained top position in TV Guide’s list of TV’s Top 100 Episodes of All Time. But it didn’t just stop at that, Larry’s anticipated earnings for Seinfeld syndication in 1998 were reportedly 250 million USD, adding a lot to Larry David’s net worth right there.
After the syndication, Larry garnered 40-50 million USD on an average each year, and they still continue. Plus to that, the premiering rights of these sitcoms were also granted to different platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, etc., which further add on enormous amounts to the contributors of the show.
The salary, merchandise, DVD sales and syndication deal of this epic sitcom all together added a massive 800 million USD to Larry David’s net worth.
Alone for Seinfeld, which aired for 10 years (1989-1998) on NBC, Larry marked the honour of Emmy in his name twice. The still celebrated comedian from NYC earned the place in Emmy nominations for the same for 19 times.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is another (HBO featured) piece of art from Larry, which piled up Larry David’s net worth further. No wonder Larry’s sincerity towards his work got this sitcom a place in the list of Primetime Emmy nominations 47 times and won it once. It also won a Golden Globe Award in 2002.
This sitcom was brought to life after the success of Larry Ellen David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, a one-hour special on HBO. Larry’s fictional character spreads its aura while he evolves after his Seinfeld fame, and his semi-fictionalized character moves towards retirement. The show was second to none and was a massive hit as it did emerge a prominent expression- “Larry David moment,” in the American culture, which was often used to express a situation when someone was caught in a gaffe. According to Celebrity Net Worth, when he got divorced in 2007, he paid half of what he earned to his now ex-wife- Laurie David, along with part of future syndication, which is estimated to amount to nearly 450 million USD.
Apart from Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David has also featured in many other television series and movies, namely Bernie Sanders, Sour Grapes, Radio Days, New York Stories, Whatever Works, Entourage, and Fish in the Dark.
Real Estate
Larry David’s net worth also comprises sales proceeds from many of his houses, including 12 million USD for Pacific Palisades. Back in time, he acquired two properties- one in Montecito, California and one in Martha’s Vineyard, whose estimated value is 5.7 million USD and 12 million USD, respectively.
While David admits that he is rich, he often expresses that he is astonished by the amounts he reads he has earned and calls them ‘ridiculous.’ David was last seen in the finale episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm while fans wait for another season of the show.