Matthew Perry Net Worth

What is Matthew Perry's net worth and salary?

Matthew Perry is an American actor and comedian who has a net worth of $120 million. Matthew Perry is best-known for playing the role of Chandler Bing on the sitcom "Friends". He appeared in all 236 of the show's episodes between 1994 and 2004. He has appeared in a number of additional shows and films, notably TV shows "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", "Go On" and films "Fools Rush In" and "The Whole Nine Yards".

Matthew Perry actually had a fairly stable career prior to "Friends".  He gained notice for his theater work during high school, and after relocating to Los Angeles, he appeared in a steady string of guest starring roles on such shows as "Charles in Charge", "Silver Spoons", "Just the Ten of Us", "Highway to Heaven", "Growing Pains", "Empty Nest", "Who's the Boss?", "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Sibs", to name just a few programs.  He also appeared in such films and television movies as "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon", "Dance 'til Dawn", "She's Out of Control", "Call Me Anna", and "Deadly Relations".  In addition to his supporting and guest starring work, he also starred in multiple short-lived sitcoms, including "Second Chance", "Sydney", and "Home Free".  He was a working actor in Hollywood, which is not something that every actor can say.  He was so busy, in fact, that when he heard about the audition for a show called, "Six of One", which was later renamed, "Friends", he was actually unavailable.  However, he did eventually audition, and the rest is television history.  "Friends" went on to become one of the most successful television shows of all time, and the six cast members became extremely famous… and extremely wealthy.  Since the end of the show's ten year run, Matthew Perry has appeared in both film and television projects, including starring on the short-lived series, "Mr. Sunshine" and "Go On".

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Early Life

Matthew Langford Perry was born August 19, 1969 in Williamstown, Massachusetts. His mother Suzanne is a Canadian-born journalist and the former secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His father John Bennett Perry is an actor and model. His parents divorced before he turned one. In 1981, when Matthew was 12, his mother Suzanne married journalist Keith Morrison (who would later become famous as a correspondent on Dateline NBC).

Career

Matthew got his professional acting break at age 18 being cast in "A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon", alongside River Phoenix. He also pursued improv comedy at the LA Connection in Sherman Oaks, and quickly became a featured performer. He had a few brief guest appearances on television in the late 1980s, and then held the intention of enrolling in the University of Southern California. Instead, he was offered the role of Chazz Russell in "Second Chance", and he became noticed on the acting scene.

Success

He was originally not considered for the audition for "Friends", due to being previously involved in a TV drama called "LAX 2194". But the project was slow to take off, and Perry was able to make the audition, landing him the role of Chandler Bing for which he is mostly known today. The series lasted for a total of ten seasons, and earned Perry an Emmy nomination in 2002.

During his run of "Friends", he acted in several films such as "Three To Tango", "Almost Heroes", "Fools Rush In", and "The Whole Nine Yards". He stared in the TNT movie "The Ron Clark Story" in 2006, for which he was nominated for another Emmy, as well as a Golden Globe.

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Matthew Perry Friends Salary

For the first season of Friends, each cast member earned $22,500 per episode. That works out to $540,000 for the first season. Their salaries were boosted to $40,000 per episode in the second season. That works out to $960,000 for the second season. Ahead of the third season when their contracts were up, the cast banded together to negotiate as a group. They ended up with a deal that paid $75,000 per episode of season three ($1.875 million for the season), $85,000 for season 4 ($2.04 million), $100,000 for season 5 ($2.5 million) and $125,000 in season 6 ($3.125 million). Ahead of season 7 the cast negotiated for a massive raise. They each ended up earning $750,000 per episode in seasons 7 and 8 ($18 million per season). For seasons 9 and 10, each cast member earned $1 million per episode. That works out to $24 million for season 9 and $18 million for season 10. If you total it all up, each cast member of Friends earned around $90 million in base salary alone from the show before backend bonuses and on-going royalties.

Friends Royalties

As part of their 2000 contract negotiations, the cast was able to demand backend points on the show which would allow them to earn royalties off the show's sale into syndication. Up to that point, the only other TV stars who had ownership stakes in shows were Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby. Friends continues to generate north of $1 billion per year in syndication royalties and streaming deals. It has been reported that each cast member in some years can earn $10-20 million in royalties alone.

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Real Estate

In 2015 Matthew sold a home in Malibu for $10.65 million.

In 2011 he paid $11 million for a new beachfront home in Malibu. He listed this home for sale for $15 million in August 2020 and sold it in January 2021 for $13.1 million.

In 2017, Matthew spent $20 million to buy a large penthouse apartment in Century City, California. He listed the penthouse for sale in August 2019 for $35 million. By July 2020 he lowered the price to $27 million. In June 2021 he accepted $21.6 million. Here's a video tour of Matthew's former penthouse:

In 2018 he sold a different Los Angeles area home for $12.5 million.

In 2020 Matthew paid $6 million for a home in LA's Pacific Palisades neighborhood.