How Hollywood mogul Tyler Perry makes and spends his $1.4 billion fortune

Perry shared a close relationship with his mother, Willie Maxine Perry, who died in 2009, The Seattle Times reported. He is estranged from his father and, to distance himself from him, Perry changed his name to Tyler at 16.

Perry did not finish high school but later completed his GED.

In December 2020, Perry revealed in an Instagram post that he and Bekele had split.

"I'm 51, single and wondering what the next chapter in my life will look like," he wrote.

When his first play, "I Know I've Been Changed," debuted in Atlanta in 1992, it opened to a mostly empty theater, according to his official website.

Thirteen years and many other plays later, he released his first film, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," in 2005, jumpstarting his Madea franchise. The movie made $22.7 million its opening weekend.

In a 2017 appearance on the "Today" show, Perry said that playing the role happened by accident. When the actress playing a grandmother in his 2000 stage show "I Can Do Bad All by Myself" didn't show up, he had to take over her lines, and Madea was born.

"That two minutes of Madea ended up being most of the show," he said.

The final theatrical release in the franchise, "A Madea Family Funeral," made $27 million in its March 2019 opening weekend, Variety reported. In July 2025, the latest movie, "Madea's Destination Wedding," was released on Netflix.

The highest-grossing Madea movie, "Madea Goes to Jail," brought in $90 million in total box-office earnings in 2009, Forbes reported.

His broader film collection has brought in over $1 billion in ticket sales.

Many of Perry's Madea movies were distributed by studio giant Lionsgate; later Madea movies were released on Netflix.

In a first-look deal, the creator owns the copyright to his material. Perry maintains ownership of everything he has produced, including 1,200 TV episodes, over 20 films, and at least two dozen stage plays.

Perry created shows such as "The Have and Have Nots" and "If Loving You Is Wrong" for OWN during his seven-year partnership with the network, which ended in 2019.

In 2017, Perry signed a contract with BET's parent company, Viacom (now Paramount Skydance Corporation), to produce exclusive original content for BET and other Viacom networks following his partnership with OWN.

BET, short for Black Entertainment Television, was launched in 1980 to focus on programming for Black audiences.

At the time, the company reportedly gave Perry a 25% equity stake in its streaming service, BET+, and paid him $150 million annually to produce new films and TV shows.

Paramount Skydance acquired his stake in 2026 when BET+ was folded into Paramount+. Perry continues to produce original programming for BET, though the terms aren't public.

Perry's shows "Sistas" and "The Oval" were the top two cable series for Black audiences in 2021.

In 2015, Perry paid $30 million for a plot of land on the grounds of the historic Fort McPherson army base, where he built his production studio.

The land was once a base for the Confederate Army, a point Perry has acknowledged. In a 2019 BET Awards speech, he said, "While you're fighting for a seat at the table, I'll be down in Atlanta building my own."

The studio grounds feature 12 sound stages and 200 acres of greenspace.

Perry took Architectural Digest on a tour of the property in 2019, which includes neighborhoods, mansions, and a replica of the White House.

Perry bought a 34,000-square-foot house in Atlanta in 2007 for $9 million. It has seven bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a helipad, an infinity pool, and a tennis court, Architectural Digest reported.

He sold the home to David Turner, an entrepreneur and evangelist, nine years later in 2016 for $17.5 million. Steve Harvey bought the house for $15 million in June 2020.

Perry bought the property for $4.3 million in 2004 and expanded it to 24,592 square feet in a 2012 renovation, Realtor.com reported.

Perry hosted Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the nine-bedroom mansion after they were cut off by the royal family in 2020.

"We needed a house, and he offered security as well. So it gave us breathing room to try to figure out what we are going to do," Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in a 2021 tell-all interview.

Perry revealed in the Netflix docuseries "Harry and Meghan" that he had written Meghan a letter ahead of her wedding, saying he was praying for her.

When Meghan later called him, crying, Perry validated her feelings about how she was being treated by the media.

"To tell Meghan that I felt her feelings were valid hurt," he said in the docuseries. "I didn't want to have to say that to her — I didn't want her to feel that. But I didn't want to lie to her. She was afraid of them destroying her, or going crazy, or them making her think she was crazy."

In the docuseries, Harry and Meghan revealed that they had named Perry godfather to their daughter, Lilibet.

Perry purchased his Wyoming vacation home in 2005.

In the Bahamas, White Bay Cay and the island next door were listed together for $7 million before Perry purchased them in 2009, though the amount he paid has not been reported.

Perry used the jet to fly water and other necessities to the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, CNN reported.

Perry founded The Perry Foundation in 2006, which supports initiatives in areas including education, human rights, health, and agriculture.

In July 2020, he gifted approximately $50,000 in grocery store gift cards to those in need in Atlanta, the "Today" show reported.