‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Actor Ellen Pompeo Has Made So. Much. Money. Throughout Her Career
In case you couldn’t tell by the fact that Ellen Pompeo wears designer 'fits (a power move) and is the lead actor on one of the biggest television shows in history, she’s…rich. After two solid decades in the entertainment industry and roles in Grey’s Anatomy, Catch Me if You Can, and, most importantly (JK but not really), Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video, Ellen is one of the highest-earning TV stars in Hollywood and has secured herself a hefty bag that’s worth way more than I can count.
From her impressive acting credits to her expansive mansions and hand-picked sponcon deals, Ellen is so wealthy it’ll make you cry tears of broke. To figure out her full net worth, let’s follow the money.
Grey’s = the Real $$$-Maker
After getting her start as “Upset Girl” in a movie you’ve probably never heard of, Ellen now makes around ~$20 million each year playing Meredith Grey on the Shonda Rhimes show Grey’s Anatomy. (Duh.) Forbes says she earns $550,000 per episode for the role (holy crap) plus another $6 million annually from her share of syndication profits. All that income made even her the eighth highest-paid actress of 2020.
And FYI, those millions weren’t just handed to her. Aside from working her butt off, Ellen also had to go to the higher-ups at ABC and tell them she deserved more. She reflected on the experience, saying, “When your face and your voice have been part of something that’s generated $3 billion for one of the biggest corporations in the world, you start to feel like, ‘Okay, maybe I do deserve a piece of this.’” Preach!
She’s Not Just on TV, She Also Makes TV
On top of being a co-executive producer on a Grey’s spin-off called Station 19, Ellen also works behind the scenes on a legal show for her own production company, Calamity Jane. (Did we mention? She owns a production company.) Oh, and she inked a huge deal with Amazon for a drama about American fashion designers in 2018.
^Quick McDreamy break.
The Kardashians Aren’t the Only Ones Doing Sponcon
While the term “sponcon” brings to mind dangerous appetite-suppressing, poo-inducing teas (sorry, there’s no pretty way to put it!), Ellen opts to rake in extra money by promoting ethical products like Young Living Seedlings, which sells plant-based baby-care products. Posts like these typically make celebs anywhere from $10K to $100K (or more if your name is Kim Kardashian), but for someone as rich as Ellen, endorsements are more like a casual side hustle.
In the past, she's also promoted Martha Stewart’s CBD line, which, iconic:
She Has So. Many. Homes.
Celebrities basically have as many houses as normal people have shoes, and Ellen is truly no different in the best way possible. Between August 2017 and April 2018, she and her husband, Chris Ivery, put three of their homes up for sale. And considering they’re all in bougie neighborhoods like the Hollywood Hills and Sag Harbor, they fetched a nice return—in fact, one of them wound up selling for $2.08 million!
Of course, these two also own several *other* multimillion-dollar houses that they keep around as their main haunts. Casual!
Cool, so What’s Ellen’s Total Net Worth?
Drumroll, please! According to the extremely addictive site Celebrity Net Worth, Ellen is worth a whopping $80 million! That’s (a) $10 million more than she was worth back in March 2020 and (b) a full $79,999,994 more than my net worth at the moment. Damn, girl.
You love obsessing over celebs. So do we! Let’s overanalyze ’em together.
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