Robert De Niro! What does he spend his net worth on?
Everyone knows Robert De Niro! From Raging Bull to The Godfather Part II, Robert De Niro is one of the world’s most renowned actors with two Oscar awards and over sixty other prestigious accolades.
As Bobby celebrates his seventy-eighth birthday, we’re wondering how much dough this mafioso actor has in the bank. $50 million? $100 million? Nope. The Martin Scorsese collaborator has a whopping $500 million net worth!
In honor of the iconic Taxi Driver actor’s birthday, let’s take a look at just how this New York City native made such an impressive net worth and how exactly he spends it. In a career spanning over fifty years, here are the iconic works that have made Robert De Niro the cinematic icon he is today.
Highlights of Rober De Niro’s acting career
It was clear to De Niro that acting was his calling from a young age because at only sixteen he dropped out of school to pursue acting. The Manhattan teen was coached by legendary acting instructors such as Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. By twenty years old, he achieved his first film role in Brian De Palma’s The Wedding Party in 1969.
However, it truly wasn’t until his role in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets that sprung him into the limelight and began a lifelong partnership with the acclaimed director. Just a year later in 1974, Robert De Niro earned an Academy Award for his role as a young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II. His very next film role would be perhaps his most widely known performance in Taxi Driver as Travis Bickle.
In 1978, Robert De Niro then gained acclaim for his tragic performance as Michael in Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter depicting the emotional aftermath of the U.S.’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
De Niro would go on to play some of cinema’s most memorable characters in Oscar-winning films. For example, his portrayal of boxer Jack Lamotta in Scorsese’s Raging Bull, the suave gangster Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas, and the psychotic Max Cady in Cape Fear.
His notable work besides acting
Robert De Niro has made a name for himself not only as an actor but also as a director. De Niro’s directorial debut was the heart-wrenching coming-of-age film A Bronx Tale in 1993.
Instead of playing his usual cold-blooded gangster character, De Niro played an average New York bus driver trying to keep his son away from the mafia. De Niro had dedicated the film to his late father, Robert De Niro Sr. who passed away in 1993.
Besides his film career, Robert De Niro has also made a large fortune from his business ventures. He is the co-founder of the extremely successful Nobu restaurant chain with Nobu Matsuhisa. Currently, there are over forty Nobu locations all over the world. It has even been revealed that the Nobu franchise has gained several hundred million dollars in revenue every year.
How does De Niro spend his $500 million net worth?
Unfortunately, it seems that Robert De Niro will be spending a large portion of his net worth on divorce fees and alimony. In 2019, his ex-wife Grace Hightower filed legal documents for their ongoing divorce which revealed plenty of details on how the pair will divide his net worth.
According to the documents, De Niro’s net worth is at least $500 million. He had generated nearly $250 to $300 million between 2004 and 2018 alone. The majority of this wealth came from his ever-growing Nobu empire.
As detailed in a prenup the pair signed in 2004, Hightower would be given $1 million a year for each year they were married. Additionally, she would also receive a $6 million apartment, $500,000 in cash, and half the amount of their primary residence.
Yet, Hightower has since then sought to receive half of the actor’s net worth due to her claims that he was hiding his true financial status for over ten years. In a later prenuptial agreement, it detailed that De Niro must pay his ex-wife $1 million in any year that he earned at least $15 million, which is evidently the majority of years. If he earned any less, De Niro would pay less to Hightower.
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What do you think about Rober De Niro’s prenuptial agreement? Is it fair to give so much of his $500 million net worth? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
