How Larry David Achieved a Net Worth of $500 Million

There have been some rather wide-ranging estimates for Larry David’s current net worth. For example, there is one estimate that put him as high as $900 million, though there are some serious problems with that particular estimate. One example is that the estimate failed to take into account the financial impact of David’s divorce in 2007, while another example is David’s own statement that he was worth nowhere near as much. Instead, a much more reasonable estimate might be at around September of 2017, which is a lower but nonetheless impressive $400 million.  We’ll take a guess that right now he’s sitting at an even $500 million.

How Did Larry David Reach His Current Net Worth?

So far, David has had a wide range of roles in the entertainment industry. For example, he is well-known for being an actor, creator, and director of comedies, which makes sense because he started out as a stand-up comedian. However, he started doing other jobs as well from a very early point, with examples ranging from producing and writing to even writing plays. As a result, the source of David’s wealth is not exactly what one would consider to be particularly mysterious.

With that said, it took some time before David started finding the sort of success that can bring in $500 million. In short, while David started out as a stand-up comedian as soon as he left college, he struggled at the start. As a result, he lived in what one might call a less than desirable part of New York City while working a number of odd jobs such as running a cash register and driving limousines. Eventually, David managed to get involved as a writer for both Fridays and Saturday Night Live, though it should be mentioned that he stayed behind the scenes for the most part throughout his tenure. Still, his involvement with those TV shows would prove very valuable because it was there that he met a number of other comedians, who would proceed to introduce him to a number of other projects.

In particular, it is worth mentioning that Jerry Seinfeld asked David to help him out with a TV show that had been ordered by NBC, which was supposed to be called The Seinfeld Chronicles but was eventually renamed the much pithier Seinfeld. As a result, while David’s roles on the TV show were minor in nature, he had a huge influence on it because of the sheer amount of writing that he did over the course of its run, as shown by the fact that he was actually the main source of inspiration for the George Costanza character. Due to this, David earned a huge amount of money from Seinfeld, which was so successful that it actually seems formulaic nowadays because its innovations were either universally or near universally adopted by the comedies that followed in its wake. For an example of how Seinfeld impacted David’s finances, it is believed that the syndication of Seinfeld earned him $250 million in 1998, though it is important to note that this figure is planned to drop from year to year until he receives the full sum that was agreed when the original deal was struck.

With that said, Seinfeld wasn’t David’s sole success. This can be seen in how David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm started up in 2000 but is expected to see its tenth season sometime in the not too distant future. Other examples include various movies, various TV shows, and even a stint on Saturday Night Live during which he played the part of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, which amusingly enough, led to the revelation that he probably is related to Sanders in real life. Suffice to say that these roles are a huge change from the earlier part of David’s career, which was when he struggled to actually appear in a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Given David’s success as a comedian, it is no wonder that the estimates of his current net worth are so high. Furthermore, while his share of the earnings from Seinfeld might be less and less important in the present time, he has other successes. As a result, it seems possible that his net worth will continue to rise, particularly if his work continues to meet with both commercial and critical success.