Annie Leibovitz Net Worth

What is Annie Leibovitz's net worth and salary?

Annie Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer who has a net worth of $60 million. Annie Leibovitz has taken some of the most iconic photos of celebrities ever. Her famous subjects have included John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Queen Elizabeth II, LeBron James, Demi Moore, and Miley Cyrus, among many others. Notably, Leibovitz is the first woman to have had a feature exhibition at Washington's National Portrait Gallery.

She began her artistic career as a musician and painter, graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute in the late 60s. After spending a few years overseas, where she began focusing solely on photography, she returned to the US and began one of the most successful photography careers ever.  She first made a name for herself as a staff photographer for Rolling Stone.  She rose to become Chief Photographer and held the position from 1983 to 1993.  Some of her more famous photographs include the last portrait of John Lennon just five hours before his assassination; the photo of Bruce Springsteen used on the cover of the "Born in the U.S.A." album; Whoopi Goldberg in a bathtub full of milk; Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson semi-nude with Tom Ford on the cover of Vanity Fair; Demi Moore's nude and pregnant cover photo, also for Vanity Fair; and Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the United States.  She photographed The Rolling Stones on tour and has long been a favorite photographer for music artists.  She has shot portraits of Sting, Dolly Parton, Cyndi Lauper, Miley Cyrus, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna, among many, many others.

As we detail in the next section below, Annie suffered severe financial problems in the late 2000s and began putting everything she owned, including the rights to many of her famous photos, up for sale.  She was given somewhat of a reprieve and was able to retain the rights to her photos.

Financial Troubles

Despite her photo archive reportedly being worth around $50 million, Annie Leibovitz has experienced serious financial difficulties throughout her career. Her troubles became public in 2009 when it was revealed she had taken out a $15.5 million loan from the Art Capital Group, a lender known for offering high-interest loans to artists using their creative works and property as collateral. In Leibovitz's case, the collateral was particularly personal: she pledged the rights to her entire photographic archive, as well as several pieces of prime real estate, including her West Village townhouses and a home in Rhinebeck, New York.

The loan eventually ballooned to $24 million amid missed deadlines and mounting fees. Art Capital Group sued her in 2009 for default, creating headlines that painted Leibovitz as a once-celebrated artist on the verge of losing control of her life's work.

That same year, she was also sued by Brunswick Capital Partners, a financial advisory firm, for allegedly failing to pay for services related to a potential refinancing deal. The lawsuits, combined with speculation that she might lose her archives, cast a shadow over her career and personal finances.

Leibovitz eventually managed to hold onto her archive and properties. In 2010, Colony Capital stepped in and paid off Art Capital, refinancing her debt in a way that allowed her to retain ownership of both her work and real estate. The deal was seen as a lifeline and marked the beginning of her financial rehabilitation.

In 2012, she listed her renovated West Village townhouse compound for $33 million and sold it in 2014 for $28.5 million to David Lauren. Two months later, she purchased an $11.25 million apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side—an acquisition widely viewed as a signal that her financial crisis had passed.

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Early Life and Education

Annie Leibovitz was born on October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut, as the third of six children of Samuel, a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, and Marilyn, a modern dance instructor. She is of Jewish heritage. Due to the service of Leibovitz's father, the family moved often. It was while stationed in the Philippines during the Vietnam War that Leibovitz began taking photographs. Back in the United States, she went to Northwood High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she developed her interest in the arts. Leibovitz went on to attend the San Francisco Art Institute; there, she studied painting before switching her major to photography.

Rolling Stone Magazine

In 1969, Leibovitz did a stint on a kibbutz in Amir, Israel. Returning to the US the next year, she began her photography career as a staff photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. In 1973, Leibovitz was promoted to chief photographer by publisher Jann Wenner; she remained in that position for the next decade. During her tenure, she became renowned for her intimate celebrity portraits, which helped define the image of Rolling Stone. Among her most famous portraits was the one she took of John Lennon and Yoko Ono on December 8, 1980, just five hours before Lennon was murdered. The picture, which went on to grace the cover of Rolling Stone, depicts the couple lying on the floor with a naked Lennon curled up around Yoko, kissing her on the cheek. Other notable subjects photographed by Leibovitz for Rolling Stone include David Cassidy, Dolly Parton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the members of Fleetwood Mac.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Further Work

After leaving Rolling Stone magazine, Leibovitz joined Vanity Fair. For the magazine, she took two highly publicized photographs of Demi Moore, including one in which the actress was nude and pregnant. Leibovitz photographed celebrities in various other capacities over the years, including for a global 1987 American Express ad campaign that won her a Clio Award. In 1991, Leibovitz mounted an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, making her the first woman and second living portraitist to have a feature exhibition there. Later in the decade, she began working regularly for Vogue. Her photographed subjects for that magazine have included Lady Gaga, Adele, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Leibovitz remained prolific into the new millennium. In 2007, a retrospective of her work was held at the Brooklyn Museum; it subsequently went on the road, showing at such places as Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art and San Francisco's Legion of Honor. Also in 2007, Leibovitz was hired by Disney to do a series of celebrity photographs for a Walt Disney Parks and Resorts ad campaign. In the 2010s, she had exhibitions in such cities as Moscow, New York, and Los Angeles. Leibovitz also took photographs of celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and Reese Witherspoon, and was the principal photographer for the 2016 Pirelli calendar featuring Amy Schumer, Patti Smith, and Serena Williams, among other women.

Controversies

Leibovitz has not been without her fair share of controversies over the years. In 2008, she was criticized for her photograph of LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen, which appeared on the cover of Vogue. Although James made history as the first black man to grace that publication's cover, his pose-with his hand wrapped around Bündchen's waist, drew backlash for its resemblance to a "King Kong" movie poster and its racial connotations. Also in 2008, Leibovitz garnered controversy for allegedly photographing a topless Miley Cyrus, who was 15 years old at the time. It turned out that the singer and actress were actually wrapped in a bedsheet.

Personal Life

In 1989, Leibovitz began a relationship with writer and activist Susan Sontag. The relationship lasted until Sontag's death in 2004. It has never been fully disclosed whether it was a romance or a close friendship, although Leibovitz has asserted that "lover" is an accurate descriptor for Sontag's role in the relationship. Leibovitz has three daughters: Sarah and twins Susan and Samuelle.

Real Estate

In 2002, Annie Leibovitz began assembling a real estate compound in New York City's West Village, starting with a $4.2 million purchase that included two adjacent townhouses. She later acquired a third townhouse for $1.9 million, and over the next several years gut-renovated all three properties—converting one into a professional photography studio. In 2012, she listed the combined compound for $33 million and ultimately sold it in 2014 to David Lauren, son of Ralph Lauren, for $28.5 million. That sale followed a financial dispute in which Leibovitz had used the property and her photo archives as loan collateral. The matter was settled prior to the sale.

In June 2014, she paid $11.25 million for a spacious apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The unit carried a hefty monthly maintenance fee of $10,307 and proved to be a costly buy. She listed it in 2023 for $8.6 million and sold it in early 2024 for $10.625 million.

Leibovitz has also been active in the West Village condo market. In 2022, she purchased a 3,200-square-foot full-floor unit at 495 West Street for $6.5 million, using it as an artist's studio. She sold that unit in October 2023 for $8 million. Just months later, in May 2025, she returned to the same building—this time acquiring a 4,700-square-foot duplex penthouse for $16.5 million in an off-market deal. The seller was artist Helen Marden, who had lived in the unit with her late husband, painter Brice Marden, since 1999.

Outside the city, Leibovitz owns a 220-acre estate in Rhinebeck, New York, which she purchased in 1996 for $2.3 million. The property was once part of the Astor family's vast 3,500-acre Ferncliff estate. In 2019, she paid $7.5 million for a 65-acre farm in Bolinas, California. She listed the Bolinas property for just under $9 million in April 2024 and sold it shortly after for $8.45 million.

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