9- James L. Brooks – $500 million
The American director, producer and screenwriter spend his childhood in North Bergen, New Jersey.
But his childhood wasn’t that awesome so he spent a lot of the time reading and writing.
After he gave up school, he got a job as an usher at CBS. In 1965 he moved to LA to work with and on David L. Wolper’s documentaries.
Soon after that he met with producer Allan Burns who secured him a job as a writer on the series My Mother the Car.
He met Allan Burns at a party and from there the road to TV series Room 22 was easy. The Mary Tyler Moore Show followed soon after that, which was also Brooks’ big break.
The show was the first to feature a woman as its lead and it was critically acclaimed. After that, Brooks and Burns decided to create two spin-offs: “Rhoda”- a comedy- and “Lou Grant”- a drama.
Time had to pass for him to start his own TV and film company, Gracie Films in 1984. With the help of the production company he created The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 which gave us The Simpson.
With over 20 awards in his resume, Brooks is one of the richest TV show creators.
