Check out what’s happening at FoxBusiness.com
Matthew Perry earned an impressive amount of money over the decades he was active in Hollywood.
From starring in Friends, one of the most successful television shows of all time, to writing insightful memoirs, the beloved actor had a remarkable career until his death.
Perry died on October 28 after apparently drowning in a hot tub at his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, law enforcement sources confirmed to Fox News Digital. He was 54.
MATTHEW PERRY’S ‘FRIENDS’ CO-STARS Gather for the late actor’s funeral
Matthew Perry died on October 28th at the age of 54. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
The “Friends” actor’s death location was listed as his home. His case status remains open.
Perry’s cause of death has been deferred by the Los Angeles County coroner, leaving the grieving public wondering what happened to the beloved star.
The fate and future of Perry’s estate is still being decided. Here’s a look back at Perry’s career and impressive earnings.
HOLLYWOOD mourns Matthew Perry: “The world will miss you”
Perry rose to fame after starring on “Friends” for ten seasons. The hit series aired from 1994 to 2004, and although each cast member was paid $1 million per episode in its final years of airing, they continued to earn millions annually through syndication.
Perry and his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt Le Blanc and Lisa Kudrow each earned $20 million per year in syndication revenue from Warner Brothers for their roles in “Friends” as of 2018, and that figure was reported even higher according to Marketplace after the series’ reruns were picked up by Netflix.
(L-R): Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay in “Friends,” circa 1995. (NBCU Photobank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The six actors had a contract that gave them each 2% of “Friends” syndication revenue, while Warner Bros. earned $1 billion annually from streaming the show, the outlet reported.
Perry, born in Massachusetts and raised in Canada, was 24 years old when he started playing Chandler Bing on “Friends.”
Despite being one of the top actors in the ’90s, Perry struggled with substance abuse at the height of his fame.
MATTHEW PERRY, THE CAST OF FRIENDS, MAKES MILLIONS EACH YEAR FROM THE RESIDENT OF THE SHOW
“I somehow coped with it. But when I was 34, I was really in big trouble,” he admitted, according to People.
“But there were years when I was sober during that time. Season 9 was the year I was sober the entire time. And guess which season I was nominated for Best Actor? I thought, ‘That should tell me something.’ “
Notably, the actor earned over $1 million per episode in the final season of Friends, but spent over $9 million on his battle with addiction. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for GQ / Getty Images)
Perry reportedly spent more than $9 million on his decades-long battle with substance abuse and sobriety. At one point he was taking 55 Vicodin a day, he wrote in his 2022 memoir titled “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”
He revealed that he had been to rehab 15 times and had 14 surgeries for addiction-related medical issues.
Writing the memoir was part of his recovery. He said that emotions “were pouring out of me – the painful things, hospitals, rehabs, all those things – they were pouring out of me. It happened really quickly.”
MATTHEW PERRY CAUSE OF DEATH “PRESTIGATED”: coroner
After Friends ended and before writing his bombshell memoir, Perry continued to find success on television by appearing on other popular shows.
In 2003, Perry received his second Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on The West Wing. In 2007, he was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for starring in “The Ron Clark Story,” about a small-town teacher who moves to a tough school.
The “Friends” cast reunited for a special in 2021.
The Friends cast members were reportedly offered $1 million each, but were negotiated up to $2.5 million for a reunion special. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
According to Variety, each cast member earned $2.5 million for the nostalgia special.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the cast of “Friends” were reportedly offered $1 million each, but negotiated up to $2.5 million.
After Perry’s death, his memoir “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” broke records and reached No. 1 on Amazon’s bestseller list. His book immediately became a New York Times bestseller after its initial publication last November.
The Matthew Perry Foundation was also established in his honor. The charity was founded to help people struggling with addiction, which was very important to Perry.
After Perry’s tragic death, his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing broke records and reached the top spot on Amazon’s bestseller list. (Flatiron Books/Amazon/Fox News)
Although the actor led a famous but turbulent life, he never married or had children. This leaves many wondering who will inherit his considerable fortune.
“He makes about $20 million a year in residuals, which is what the entire cast makes,” entertainment lawyer Tre Lovell told Entertainment Tonight, “and that will continue no matter how long the shows run again.”
“The remaining amounts remain even after a person dies. It is like an obligation paid to the actor and passed on to his heirs.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO by CLICKING HERE
Matthew Perry’s cause of death has not been revealed. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic / Getty Images)
Lovell stated, “There will be an appointee who will determine where Perry’s royalties go for the foreseeable future.”
“[Given] “The fact that he did not have a spouse or children would go equally to his parents,” Lovell added. “It is very likely that each biological parent would receive half of the estate.”
Perry previously revealed that he traded in his fame and fortune to escape his battle with addiction.
“The fact that I would give anything to not get this disease is true,” he said in a 2022 interview with People. “But I’m not diminishing how much fun the experience was on ‘Friends.'” And the money was incredible. Just the creative experience of being on the show probably saved my life.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
“If you make a million dollars a week, you can’t have the 37th drink. You have to go home and go to sleep. … It was the greatest job in the world.”
FOX Business’s Breck Drumas and Tracy Wright contributed to this report.