Tom Hanks Net Worth

Tom Hanks is one of the highest-grossing American actors of the last thirty years. Since the 1980s, he’s appeared in numerous blockbusters, including Splash, Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, and Cast Away, just to name a few. His string of successful films has led to him being nicknamed “America’s Dad” by Esquire.

Needless to say, his success as an actor, paired with his success as a director and producer, has had a massive impact on Tom Hanks’ net worth over the years. Read on to find out which films were his biggest salaries and trace his career from its beginning til now.

Early Life

Tom Hanks was born in Concord, California on July 9, 1956. His full name is Thomas Jeffrey Hanks, and he spent his childhood in the neighborhood of San Francisco. His mother, Janet Marylyn, was a hospital worker and his father, Amos, was a cook.

Hanks’ parents had four children together. Aside from Tom, there was also Sandra, Larry, and the youngest, Jim. When his parents would divorce in 1960, Hanks along with Larry and Sandra would live with their father. And Jim, who would become an actor and filmmaker as well, remained with their mother.

Hanks moved a lot in his youth, and by the age of 10, he had lived in 10 different homes. His loneliness as a child led to his pursuit of the arts. And despite the instability in what he has called a “fractured family“, a stable career would be awaiting Hanks by his late 20s.

Acting Career

After finishing a 3-year commitment at the Great Lakes Theater Festival, Hanks moved to New York and landed a spot in the sitcom Bosom Buddies. The series ran from 1980 until 1982. And this was where Hanks would meet his future wife, Rita Wilson.

Before hitting the Hollywood jackpot though, Hanks would spend a few years playing several small TV and film roles. Some of his earlier works included a number of TV show appearances on Mazes and Monsters, The Love Boat, and Taxi.

Rise to Hollywood Fame

In 1984, Hanks played the role of Allen Bauer in Splash, for which he received a salary of $72,000. While that doesn’t seem like a lot today, for a still relatively unknown actor in the early 80s, it was a pretty big deal.

The film, which had an $8 million budget, was a huge success, grossing over $69 million at the box office.  But it wasn’t until 1988 that Hanks hit the turning point in his acting career when he was cast to star in Big.

For this film, Hanks received $1.75 million, which is equivalent to about $4 million today after inflation. It began the rapid rise of Tom Hanks’ net worth that would continue for decades to come. Hanks also received his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for this role.

Many would agree that the 1990s was Hanks’ brightest decade, with multiple hits coming out year after year. It began with Joe versus the Volcano and The Bonfire of the Vanities in 1990, followed by A League of Their Own and Radio Flyer in 1992, Sleepless in Seattle, and Philadelphia in 1993.

1990s – Early 2000s

Hanks’ performance in Philadelphia earned him his first Academy Award win for Best Actor in 1994. The second would come merely a year later for his performance in the widely acclaimed Forrest Gump, which would be one of his most memorable roles ever. With this win, Hanks set a new record for being the first actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards for two consecutive years.

For Forrest Gump, Hanks had opted for performance-based pay, instead of a standard salary for the film. And that choice earned him an estimated $60 million from the film. He took the same approach with 1998’s Saving Private Ryan, where it’s estimated he brought home $40 million for his portrayal of Captain Miller.

More box office hits came for Hanks as the millennium came to a close – Apollo 13, Toy Story where he was the voice behind Woody, and That Thing You Do, where he was also the screenwriter and director. This movie marked Hanks’ transition into becoming a highly successful director and producer.

Hanks played several iconic roles over the next few years, like his unforgettable performance as Chuck Noland in Cast Away. Both roles earned Hanks nominations for Best Actor for the Oscars, the Golden Globes, BAFTA, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, among others.

Directing and Producing

One of Hanks’ earliest projects as director and producer was for the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers in 2001. The next year, Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson produced My Big Fat Greek Wedding starring Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the movie. The next film he produced was another Nia Vardalos comedy, Connie and Carla, in 2004.

In 2004, Hanks became the executive producer for the animated film The Polar Express. He also provided the voice for multiple characters in the film. Later on, he produced the animated film The Ant Bully in 2006, the comedy Evan Almighty in 2007, Mamma Mia, and City of Ember in 2008.

Despite taking on more projects as a producer and executive producer, Hanks did not stop acting. His next blockbusters were The Da Vinci Code in 2006 and its sequels Angels & Demons in 2009 and Inferno in 2016. Hanks has earned a total of $70 million for his roles in the trilogy. Hanks even played himself in a cameo role in The Simpsons Movie in 2007.

Meanwhile, Hanks has also been busy producing a number of successful TV films and series after Band of Brothers. The long list includes Big Love, John Adams, The Pacific, and Olive Kitteridge. He has also gained an exemplary reputation for directing documentaries like The Assassination of President Kennedy and the CNN series of documentaries that chronicled pop culture by decade from The Sixties to The 2000s.

Recent Work

In 2019, Hanks portrayed Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The film, which made $68.4 million a the box office, was adored by audiences and critics alike.

Also appreciated by fans and critics was Hank’s role as Colonel Tom Parker in the recently released biographical music drama Elvis. The Baz Luhrmann-directed movie depicts the life of Elvis Presley and has grossed $234 million worldwide.

Personal Life

Hanks is married to actress Rita Wilson. They first met while doing the TV comedy Bosom Buddies and they would worked together again in the 1985 comedy film Volunteers. Hanks and Wilson got married in 1988 and have been blessed with two sons, Chester Marlon and Truman Theodore.

From 1978 to 1987, Hanks was married to his first wife, actress Samantha Lewes. Together, they had two children – Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Hanks. 

Real Estate

Hanks and Wilson have purchased and sold several real estate properties over the years. In 1991, they bought an oceanfront Malibu mansion for $2.92 million. In 2010, they purchased an estate in the Pacific Palisades for about $26 million.

The couple has owned several properties in the Pacific Palisades over the years. And they would sell a pair of houses there in 2017 to a single buyer for just over $17.5 million.

The couple also has an Idaho ski house. All in all, their real estate assets amount to approximately $150 million.

Tom Hank Net Worth 2022

As of August 2022, Tom Hanks’ net worth is estimated at $400 million. And it’s hardly a surprise, considering all the successful films that he has appeared in and produced since the 1990s. To date, his films have grossed over $9.7 billion worldwide. 

Up next for Hanks is Disney’s live-action adaptation of Pinocchio, which is scheduled to be released on Disney+ on September 8, 2022. He also has two films in post-production, A Man Called Otto and Astroid City, Wes Anderson’s latest film.