The wealth is strong in this one. George Lucas is the top of our list, and it's not even close. George Lucas is eye-wateringly rich. The creator of 'Star Wars' has cashed in on his invention in every way possible, and it's made him wealthier than some small countries.
Lucas was already working as a director in the 1970s. He wanted to adapt 'Flash Gordon' for the big screen, but was unable to get the rights, and so wrote a completely original script that would give birth to a box office phenomenon. The studio that bought it for the big screen mostly did it out of goodwill because of the performance of Lucas' previous film 'American Graffiti'. They also allowed Lucas to take a favorable percentage of the merchandising rights. What really made Lucas top of this list is the sale of his film company to Disney in 2012. With that one transaction, he personally earned $4bn.