Shonda Rhimes’ Money Moves Has Her Stuntin’ With An $135M Net Worth

Well, Shonda Rhimes is not new to any of this.

Most of her fortune comes from her success of shows like Grey's, HTGAWM and Scandal, sure, but that's not the only way she's earned money. Upon graduating from USC, Rhimes found herself as an unemployed screenwriter in Hollywood. She randomly picked up work, including helping write the documentary Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream, which won a Peabody Award in 1995.

In '99, she was hired to write the HBO movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Two years later, Rhimes wrote Crossroads (yes, the one with Britney Spears, did we know this?!) and later went on to write The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. So, needless to say, Rhimes has paid her dues.

Rhimes' ABC deal

Grey's Anatomy made Rhimes the first Black woman to showrun a successful primetime drama on a broadcast network, which is huge. During her tenure with ABC, Rhimes reportedly earned $10 million a year for the last three years and at least 10 percent of the profit from when her three successful series were syndicated or sold to streaming services for about $1 million an episode.

Tuh. #hairflip

And of course, Netflix.

Rhimes' Netflix deal came in the absolute most badass way.

As part of her ABC relationship, she had been given an all-inclusive pass to Disneyland, negotiating a second for her nanny. But on a particular day, she needed an additional one for her sister, too.

After some unwanted back-and-forth, eventually, she was issued an additional pass. But when her daughters arrived into the gates, only one of the passes worked. She then called a high-ranking executive at Disney, who she expected to get everything sorted out. Instead, the exec allegedly replied, "Don't you have enough?" Ha! Sis hung up that phone, and the rest is I-know-my-worth history.

As for her deal, she dissolved her contract early with ABC, trading in her $10 million base salary for a four-year deal with Netflix worth an estimated $150 million, per The New York Times. Oh, and her newest show there, Bridgerton, raked in 63 million viewers.

All over one lousy Disneyland pass.

--

Whew, we cannot wait to see what she comes up with in the future!