“When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.” – Oscar Wilde

Money doesn’t equal success, but it sure as hell is the closest thing we can use to measure it.

Asian Americans have come a LONG way in the entertainment world. In 2014 we now have Asian Americans in all facets of entertainment — from music to TV to movies to YouTube. And we’re only going to go up from here.

We wanted to make this list to show you that you CAN be an Asian American in the entertainment industry and make really good money doing it. Hopefully this list will inspire future generations of Asian Americans to take the plunge and pursue their entertainment dreams.

How did we make this list?

We took into account Asian Americans who are stars right now, who have released something worth talking about within the past 2-3 years.So that’s why you won’t see Bruce Lee or M. Night Shymalan on the list even though he might have been one of the richest. We also chose Asian Americans only (people who grew up in America), so that’s why you won’t see Jackie Chan or Jet Li on this list.

Disclaimers.

Because data on a person’s net worth is mostly speculative, we can’t claim to know exactly how much someone is making. Because of this, this list should not be considered 100% accurate. We did our best and made estimates based on the information out on the web. Either way, this list is meant to be more fun than serious. Also while we tried to get as much data as we could from tons of sources, there’s always a chance we might have missed someone who should be featured on this list.

Let’s start the list with some new millionaires.

The Millionaires

Harry Shum Jr. ($4 Million)

Harry Shum Jr. rose to fame as a member of the Glee cast, but since then he’s had roles in many different movies. He’s also widely known as an actor in many Wong Fu Productions shorts. He made some cash with the film Revenge of the Green Dragons this year, and he’ll also make a buck or two in the 2015 sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Brenda Song ($5 Million)

Brenda Song is an actress who’s been a Disney star for many years. Most recently you may have seen her in the TV sitcom Dads which was unfortunately cancelled after one season. Her net worth comes solely from acting, where she’s had a steady string of roles on Disney channel movies (anyone remember Wendy Wu?) and TV shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Maggie Q ($6 Million)

She’s been in the game for a while, and she’s earned quite a bit of coin. Usually playing the “Asian femme fatale” role, Maggie Q has gotten roles in movies such as Mission Impossible III and more recently, Divergent. She was also the lead actress in the TV drama, Nikita, that aired on the CW. She’s the first Asian American female lead star in a TV show since 1951. Currently she’s one of three lead stars in Stalker, a TV drama where she plays the main role.

Nicole Scherzinger ($8 Million)

She made quite a bit of money as the lead singer for the Pussycat Dolls, and followed that up with gigs as a talent host on the UK version of The X Factor. She also judged the American version of X Factor in 2011. Her new album in 2014 is supposedly worth $4.5 million, so if that goes through then her net worth goes quite a bit higher.

Let’s get to the 8 figure earners.

The Low 8 Figures

Olivia Munn ($10 Million)

With looks like hers, it’s easy to see how Olivia Munn is worth $10 million. This Half-Vietnamese bombshell started getting recognition as being the nerdy sexy girl on G4’s Attack of the Show! Since then she’s leveraged her popularity to become a popular actress, host, and model. In 2012 she was voted #2 on Maxim’s Hot 100.

Aziz Ansari ($10 Million)

Aziz Ansari began his career performing standup comedy while he was still a student, and since then he’s made millions touring around the country on srandup gigs as well as acting in movies and TV shows. Most notably, you can see him in the TV show Parks and Recreation, where he plays Tom Haverford. Although he’s made a ton of money in movies & TV, he still performs on comedy tours. On an unrelated note, Mr. Ansari is reportedly dating the lovely Courtney McBroom, who is famous for being a chef at Momofuku restaurants. He’s always said the key to his heart was through his stomach and his choice in women reflects that.

Daniel Dae Kim ($10 Million)

Daniel Dae Kim is a Korean American actor who’s gotten several roles in TV, most notably Hawaii Five-O and Lost. He’s also been cast as a character in the movie, Insurgent. His net worth was primarily accumulated from his roles in many television series, where he was paid 6-figures for every episode.

Vanessa Anne Hudgens ($10 Million)

This part Filipina actress made a fortune through High School Musical, where she played the role of Gabriella Montez. Songs from the films charted on the Billboard, and it brought her mainstream attention. Since then she’s had roles in multiple movies, such as Spring Breakers, Journey 2, and Machete Kills. I wouldn’t recommend watching Sucker Punch though.

Ken Jeong ($14 Million)

Before Ken Jeong was a big hit on the silver screen, he was already making a lot of money as a doctor. His interest in comedy allowed him to pursue roles in television, and he became a character actor in the highly profitable Hangover series. Mr. Chow got a reported $5 million payday for Hangover 3 which accounts for a lot of his net worth. Besides the movies, Jeong has made a living through the TV show Community, a very highly rated TV series. He’s still a licensed general practitioner in case he needs a backup plan.

Lucy Liu ($16 Million)

I first saw Chinese actress Lucy Liu in Shanghai Noon with Jackie Chan. Currently, she’s one of the few Asian females with a starring role in a popular television series. She currently stars as Watson in the TV show Elementary which nets her $125,000 an episode. She’s also been in several other Hollywood movies such as Kill Bill and Kung Fu Panda. Her net worth comes from her extensive filmography and endorsement deals.

Go to the next page to see the Asians that are getting pretty rich.

Getting Pretty Rich

John Cho ($18 Million)

Korean American John Cho has been one of the more successful Asian men in Hollywood. His claim to fame was in the 2003 cult hit Harold and Kumar, where he played the titular role of Harold for 3 movies. He’s also played the iconic role of Hikaru Sulu in the modern remake of Star Trek. Cho is currently starring in the sitcom Selfie. He’s currently one of the few Asian American men with a lead in a TV show. 

Jeremy Lin ($20 Million)

If Jeremy Lin got money from his jersey sales he would be making a lot more since his jersey is sold out worldwide. His latest contract was a $15 million contract with the Houston Rockets. Before that he was making minimum wage for a NBA player. Considering his new endorsement deal with Adidas, his net worth is probably well into the $20 million range, if not more. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been performing that well so he may not get another contract as large, but with the NBA TV deal looming that could get him a salary in the range of $6-$8 million per year.

Michelle Phan ($30 Million)

She used to live off food stamps, but now YouTube star Michelle Phan is creating companies. She leveraged her YouTube fame into serious dollars by turning her brand into a multi-million dollar business. She owns EmCosmetics, is the face of L’Oreal, and also has a deal with Dr. Pepper. The latest news was that she was the head of an $84 million startup company. Of course, she doesn’t own the whole company, so her net worth is estimated to be in the $30 million range. Her businesses and endorsement deals have netted her tens of millions of dollars.

Ang Lee ($35 Million)

Ang Lee is one of the most successful Asian directors of all time. Although born in Taiwan, Ang Lee went to school in the United States, which is why I’ve included him in this list. His movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Life of Pi have won him numerous Academy Awards. He’s accumulated his net worth through years of success in the movies.

Russell Peters ($40 Million)

Russell Peters makes a ton of money by touring for his comedy shows. He’s one of the few comedians who hasn’t gone “mainstream” by acting in movies or appearing on TV shows, but he’s made a ton of money just by touring. Last year he made an estimated $21 million alone, $19 million of which came from touring. In Dubai, tickets for his show sold faster than any other act, including Madonna.

Go to the next page to see the ballers.

Ballers

Steve Aoki ($45 Million)

Steve Aoki is the heir to the very successful Benihana brand, but that’s not how he’s made money. He’s one of the most successful DJs of all time and is also the CEO of Dim Mak records. According to a Yahoo article, he was not given money from his dad, despite the fact his dad was worth $40 million dollars. He had to earn everything that he has now, including working in Benihaha restaurants when he was younger. That gave him the drive to become as successful as he possibly could.

Justin Lin ($50 Million)

Justin Lin is one of the most successful Asian American filmmakers by amount of money made. His work in the extremely successful Fast and Furious series has produced most of his net worth. He started out with the Asian American film Better Luck Tomorrow, and landed the lead director role for Fast and Furious 3: Tokyo Drift. The rest is history as he’s been the director for 4 of the movies in the series that has grossed over $2 billion.

Bruno Mars ($70 Million)

Bruno Mars is one of the most successful singer songwriters of this day. Not many know that Mars is actually Half-Filipino on his mother’s side. Mars has won 2 Grammy Awards and sold more than 11 million albums and 68 million singles worldwide. Four of his singles are counted among the best-selling singles of all time. He’s also been named #1 on Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

The Mogul

David Choe ($400 Million)

Artists are entertainers right? Well either way, David Choe has made a killing from his art. The majority of his net worth comes from paintings he did for Facebook HQ. The infamous story is that he made a majority of his net worth from taking Facebook stock instead of a commission of $60,000. That stock ended up being worth around $400 million today. Besides that, Choe has mentioned he was already a millionaire through gambling in Vegas. He also runs the DVDAsa podcast along with pornstar Asa Akira.

Who is the richest Asian American? Check out the next slide.

The Richest Asian American Entertainer Today

Tiger Woods ($600 Million+)

It goes without saying now that Tiger Woods has been one of the highest earners on the planet for a while now, with multiple endorsement deals and millions of prize money in the golfing world. His net worth would be higher had he not divorced his wife, Elin Nordegren. Woods has Chinese and Thai ancestry from both his parents, with his dad being part Chinese and his mom being a mix of Thai and Chinese as well as Dutch.

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