Peter Jackson: $500 Million

Before the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films saw the light, director Peter Jackson wasn’t really a household name. Yet plenty of other blockbusters preceded these iconic movies with Peter at the helm.

Whether everyone knows his name or not probably doesn’t really bother the magnificent creator. That’s because this brain behind legacies such as Heavenly Creatures has about five hundred million dollars in the bank now. Not that Peter is stingy about his wealth. He donates plenty of his hard-earned cash to charities to help the progress of areas such as stem cell research.