John Green Net Worth

What is John Green's Net Worth?

John Green is an American author and YouTuber who has a net worth of $30 million. John Green is the author of such popular young adult novels as "Looking for Alaska," "The Fault in Our Stars," and "Turtles All the Way Down," with his books having sold over 50 million print copies worldwide. Beyond writing, Green is known for his online video work with his brother Hank, particularly through their YouTube channel Vlogbrothers.

John Green famously became one of the world's highest-paid authors in 2014, earning $26 million in a single year following the global success of "The Fault in Our Stars." He remains one of the most influential figures in contemporary literature and digital media.

Early Life and Education

John Green was born on August 24, 1977 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Sydney and Mike. He soon moved with his family to Michigan, followed by a stay in Birmingham, Alabama. The family finally settled in Orlando, Florida, where Green attended Glenridge Middle School and Lake Highland Preparatory School. Back in Birmingham, he graduated from Indian Springs School in 1995. Green went on to attend Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he double-majored in English and religious studies. He graduated in 2000.

Career Beginnings

After graduating from college, Green spent around six months as a student chaplain at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Enrolled at the University of Chicago Divinity School with the intention of becoming an Episcopal priest, he ultimately decided to reconsider his vocational goals due to the traumatic experience of working at the hospital with sick children. Green subsequently moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he became an editorial assistant and then a production editor at the review publication Booklist. While working there, he reviewed hundreds of books and also wrote radio essays for NPR and WBEZ.

Books

Toward the end of 2001, Green had a mental health crisis that caused him to go back to living with his parents while seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication. He eventually returned to Chicago and began writing his first novel, "Looking for Alaska." Published in 2005, the coming-of-age novel focuses on a bullied student at a fictional boarding school in Alabama. Green partly based the story on his own experiences at Indian Springs School. "Looking for Alaska" earned strong reviews and was given the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Award. After receiving that honor, Green left his job at Booklist and moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There, he worked at Mental Floss magazine and worked on his second novel, "An Abundance of Katherines." This young adult novel, published in 2006, centers on a bright but depressed 17-year-old boy who keeps getting dumped by girls named Katherine. Green moved back to Indianapolis in 2007 and released his first collaborative book, "Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances," in 2008. A fix-up novel comprising three stories, it was co-authored by Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. The month after that book's release, Green published the solo novel "Paper Towns," another coming-of-age story. This one won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel.

With David Levithan, Green wrote the novel "Will Grayson, Will Grayson," which was published in 2010. Set in the Chicago suburbs, it alternates between two boys named Will Grayson, one straight and the other gay. Green wrote the odd chapters focused on the straight Grayson, while Levithan wrote the even chapters about the gay Grayson. The book was highly acclaimed. Green went on to have his biggest hit yet with his fourth solo novel, "The Fault in Our Stars," which came out in early 2012. Focused on the romance between two teenagers — a girl with thyroid cancer and a boy who's a cancer survivor — the novel was an enormous success, spending a total of 43 weeks atop the New York Times Best Seller list for children's chapter books and remaining in the top 10 for over two years. "The Fault of Our Stars" was adapted into a hit film in 2014 starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Green's next novel was "Turtles All the Way Down," which came out in 2017. It centers on an Indianapolis high school student struggling with anxiety and OCD as she strikes up a relationship with the son of a fugitive billionaire. Green turned to non-fiction for his next book, "The Anthropocene Reviewed," which was released in tandem with his podcast of the same name. He published his second non-fiction book, "Everything is Tuberculosis," in 2025.

Getty Images

Online Ventures

In 2007, John and his younger brother Hank started a vlogging project called "Brotherhood 2.0," which they posted on their Vlogbrothers YouTube channel. During the duration of the project, they avoided all text-based communication and communicated solely by exchanging vlogs on alternating weekdays. The Green brothers gained a major following on YouTube, spawning the online community subculture Nerdfighteria and the annual telethon-style fundraiser Project for Awesome. In 2010, the brothers inaugurated the annual VidCon convention for the online video community. Later, in early 2012, they launched their Crash Course YouTube channel, an educational channel funded by Google under the YouTube Original Channel Initiative. The following year, they launched the subscription-based crowdfunding platform Subbable, and in 2015 they began the weekly podcast "Dear Hank & John." Among his many other online ventures, John Green served as a host on the Mental Floss YouTube channel from 2013 to 2018, and in 2017 began a health and fitness YouTube series with his friend Chris Waters called "100 Days."

Philanthropy

In addition to his charity fundraising work through Project for Awesome, Green has been significantly involved in advocacy for global health causes. A trustee of the international public health nonprofit Partners in Health, he has worked with the organization to fight maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and combat tuberculosis worldwide. Green is also an ardent supporter of refugee rights.

Personal Life

In 2006, Green married Sarah Urist, with whom he had attended Indian Springs School when they were teenagers. Together, they have two children.

Who's Richer?

John
Green

Compare!

Hank
Green