Matthew Perry’s enduring legacy and staggering net worth revealed
The hidden clue why Matthew Perry sold off lavish properties before downsizing to the comparatively modest cottage where he died.
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Friends star Matthew Perry, who passed away at the age of 54 from an apparent drowning, was a real estate high roller, but in his last years he traded sprawling mansions for the modest cottage where he died.
As the world still mourns his loss, the New York Post revealed that Perry was battling a profound sense of loneliness in the years leading up to his death.
“He had a heart of gold and was doing his best to help others, but there was a loneliness there. He spent most of his days in his home and was very lonely,” a source shared.
In 2020, during the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Perry purchased a cozy, 3,000-square-foot (279sqm) cottage in Los Angeles for US $6 million, compartively modest by Hollywood standards.
This downsize was a stark departure from his previous sprawling oceanfront Malibu home, almost twice as large, which he sold for US$13.1 million in 2020. Then in 2021 he sold his lavish, 9,300-square-foot Los Angeles penthouse for US$21.6 million. Rihanna is the current owner.
Perry’s final dwelling, located in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, was a midcentury, single storey four bedroom, 4.5 bathroom house.
According to the Post the house was a “gem” and had views of the Pacific coast and Catalina Island.
The .15-hectare grounds featured a raised pool overlooking the ocean, as well as a fire pit. Perry later added a new pool when he took ownership.
The reason for Perry downsizing his real estate portfolio so dramatically is unknown.
But just a year before his untimely death, Perry admitted in an interview with People magazine that he had been “burned” by women who were only interested in his wealth.
Perry said a “dealbreaker” for a relationship would be a woman “who I start to think is in it for the money.”
“It happens more often than you think. Somebody who has their own wealth is a pretty key component for me… Somebody who’s self-supporting. In every way, but monetarily especially because I got burned a few times by women who wanted my money, not really caring about me.”
MATTHEW PERRY’S FORTUNE
Best known as sarcastic and lovable Chandler Bing on sitcom Friends, the star’s fortune will continue to grow after his death, with much of his earnings expected to come from his time on the show where he filmed 10 seasons.
He also recently released a tell-all memoir, which is back on Amazon’s best sellers list this week in the top ten.
Perry’s net worth has been estimated to be around $A188 million and his estate will include a property investment portfolio, a car collection, his film and TV work, and his autobiography.
The one cost that ate into his wealth was his substance abuse, which he wrote honestly about in his memoir. Last year, he revealed to The New York Times that he spent $A14 million “or something trying to get sober”.
As far as his wealth goes, this is what we know.
FRIENDS
When Friends premiered in 1995, Perry and his five co-stars - Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt Le Blanc - commanded $A35,000 per episode.
Friends ran for 10 successful seasons, and by the end, each star was taking home $A1.57 million per episode ($1 million in USD). Each season was 23 episodes, which means that he was earning well over $A23 million for just one season.
The cast made history with that million dollar per episode deal in 2002 becoming the first-ever to be paid that amount of money.
They negotiated as a group and threatened to leave the show if they were not paid the same.
In his memoir, Perry said this came about after co-star David Schwimmer suggested that the six main cast members collectively renegotiate their contracts to get equal pay.
Altogether, the cast would have received around $A141 million each for the 10 seasons.
To add to that, the sitcom is one of the most popular streaming series in the world today, which guarantees the stars a reportedly cool $A16 million to $A31 million a year in royalties. Warner Bros earns about $A1.5 billion a year from reruns of the show.
The 2021 Friends reunion special on HBO Max paid $A3.9 million to each principal cast member.
FILM AND TELEVISION
Over the years, Perry starred in a number of film and TV shows, including The Whole Nine Yards in 2000 with Bruce Willis, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in 2006, 17 Again in 2009 and The Odd Couple in 2015, where he was also executive producer.
In his memoir, Perry revealed he earned $275,000 per episode for Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. He was initially offered $79,000 per episode but negotiated upwards.
In Fools Rush In, the romantic comedy alongside Hayek in 1997, he was paid $1.57 million.
MEMOIR
Perry’s book Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir was released in November last year.
It was well-received and well-regarded, despite a strange hiccup involving fellow actor Keanu Reeves. In Perry’s memoir, he wrote the line “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” which is not the nicest thing to write about the nicest man on the planet.
Perry apologised for the gaffe and said he would remove all mention of Reeves from future editions.
The actor is understood to have received a “seven-figure” book deal for the memoir.
To date he is the only Friends cast member to have published a memoir and been so candid with what went on behind the scenes of the show and his personal battle with substance abuse.
Factoring in the $A30 cost of each book and that the first week sales in the US alone was close to 100,000 units, it is a fair assumption that Perry made millions from book sales and this will continue.
REAL ESTATE
The actor had a lot of involvement in real estate over the years.
In 2011, he purchased a $A17 million beachfront home in Malibu and listed it for $A23 million in 2020. It sold in 2021 for $A20 million.
In 2015, Perry sold another home in Malibu for $A17 million and in 2017, he paid $A30 million for a luxurious 40th floor condo in Century City, a well-to-do neighbourhood in California.
Two years later, he listed the condo for $A46.4 million and ended up selling it in 2021 for $A28.3 million, 38 per cent lower than the original asking price.
One of his last property purchases was a $A7.8 million home in the Hollywood Hills, which Perry bought in June this year.
In 2020, Perry purchased his Pacific Palisades home where he lived up until his death.
The midcentury modern ranch-style home with four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms cost the actor $A9 million. It included a fire pit and a raised pool that looked out to the ocean.
CAR COLLECTION
Aside from a love of real estate, the actor had a massive car collection.
His collection included a Lincoln Navigator, a BMW 6 Series Convertible, a BMW 7 Series sedan, a Porsche Panamera and a Porsche 911 Carrera Convertible.
There was also a BMW Z8, an Aston Martin Vantage Convertible, a Porsche Taycan 4S and an Audi R8 Spyder, all worth between $300,000 to $500,000 each.
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