Peter Jackson
#2150

Peter Jackson

New Zealand 64 years old Self-Made

Overview

Source of Wealth
Movies, digital effects
Residence
Wellington
Organization
Director at Film
Marital Status
Married
Children
2

Assets

  • Unity Software
    2,775,000 shares @ -
    -
    U-US

Biography

Peter Jackson is best known for his "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies, which have grossed $6 billion worldwide.

The film director became a billionaire in 2021, after selling a chunk of his Weta digital film effects shop to Unity Software for $1.6 billion in cash and stock.

He made $10 million up front for each of the three "Lord of the Rings" films (2001-2003), with at least another 10% of profits earned from each film's box office receipts.

For the "Hobbit" movies, he likely made $20 million per film with 20% backend.

Jackson's Weta Digital used motion capture of the actor Andy Serkis to create the now-iconic on-screen visualization of the character Gollum.

About

Sean Parker, the tech investor known for founding Napster and serving as Facebook's first president, had a 25% stake in Jackson's Weta Digital at the time of sale.