George Clooney is the actor and director whose richest single year came from a bottle of tequila. For anyone searching George Clooney net worth, the plain answer is that Forbes, Bloomberg and the UK’s Rich List have not published a figure for him; what Forbes has published is his earnings, led by $239M in 2018, the year Diageo bought his company Casamigos. Everything below is built from those dated numbers and the deal’s disclosed terms.
Where it stands: The tequila brand he co-founded is now struggling inside its new owner. In August 2026, Diageo reported that Casamigos net sales fell 27.7% in its latest fiscal year and said it was rolling out a price repositioning and a refreshed marketing campaign.
George Clooney quick facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known for | Film acting and directing; Casamigos |
| Age | 65, per Forbes |
| Company | Casamigos (cofounder, 2013; sold to Diageo) |
| Best year on record | $239M earnings in 2018 (Forbes) |
| Latest net worth estimate | Not published (Forbes tracks only his pay) |
Who is George Clooney?
Clooney is a film actor who also directs and, more recently, has worked on Broadway. Recent Forbes coverage listed on his profile page gives a sense of his range in the past few years: the Apple film Wolfs, his seventh with Brad Pitt; a 2025 Tony Award nomination for his Broadway work; and a contributor’s account of how he keeps a close watch on budgets when he directs.
Forbes labels his main source of wealth “Tequila,” which says a great deal about how his finances changed after 2017.
How George Clooney makes money
He earns from film and stage roles, directing and producing, and, most profitably, from the one company he helped build. Forbes’s annual lists offer the clearest reputable view of the size of that income.
- 2018: $239M, the figure on his Forbes profile. Forbes wrote that the Casamigos sale gave him the best annual take-home of any actor’s career, his own included.
- 2024: $37 million, placing him seventh on Forbes’s highest-paid actors list, a Tribune News Service report said.
Earnings are a year’s pretax income. Net worth is a different measure: the total of everything a person owns, less debts. A big year adds to it only by what is left after taxes and spending.
Casamigos: the tequila brand behind his biggest payday
Casamigos began as a private project among friends and became a business almost by accident. NPR reported that Clooney started it in 2013 with longtime friend Rande Gerber, and Forbes and NPR both name Mike Meldman as the third founder. The first bottles reached stores in 2013. The brand’s own story page says the goal was a tequila smooth enough to drink “without salt or lime.”
In June 2017 Diageo agreed to buy it. NPR reported the terms from Diageo’s announcement:
| Term | Figure (NPR, citing Diageo) |
|---|---|
| Upfront payment | $700 million |
| Further payment if sales targets hit | Up to $300 million |
| Total ceiling | Up to $1 billion |
| 2016 volume | 120,000 cases, mostly U.S. |
The founders agreed to keep promoting and leading the brand after the sale. Clooney’s slice of the money has never been disclosed, and the proceeds were shared among three founders, so the deal value is not his personal gain. Our profile of Ryan Reynolds covers another actor who sold a liquor brand to Diageo.
George Clooney net worth: what the estimates say
Nobody reputable has put a figure on it. Forbes has tracked his pay, not his fortune, and we found no Bloomberg or Sunday Times figure for him as of October 2026.
| Documented figure | Source and date |
|---|---|
| $239M earnings | Forbes, 2018 |
| $37 million earnings | Forbes, 2024 (via TNS) |
| Casamigos sale, up to $1 billion | Diageo, 2017 (via NPR) |
We do not add these up or apply a guessed ownership share to the sale. Figures that do so on aggregator sites are not supported by anything Forbes, Diageo or Clooney has disclosed.
Why tequila beat Hollywood for Clooney
A film fee is paid once; an ownership stake can be sold for a multiple of what the business earns. Casamigos was still small when Diageo bought it. NPR said the brand shipped 120,000 cases in 2016 and was expected to pass 170,000 by the end of 2017, with a typical bottle retailing for around $50. Diageo nonetheless agreed to a price of up to $1 billion, betting on growth and on what it called the brand’s international potential.
That bet is what turned 2018 into the record year Forbes described. It also explains why the 2017 price is not a measure of the brand today: Diageo now reports on Casamigos as one of its own labels, with results tied to the wider tequila market.
Has Diageo written down Casamigos?
Not in its two most recent full-year results releases. Diageo’s fiscal 2026 results itemized brand impairments, including a $287 million charge on Don Papa rum and further charges on Aviation American Gin, but did not list Casamigos among them. What the reports do show is shrinking sales, and a bright spot in canned drinks: Diageo said its ready-to-drink cocktail sales rose 35.1%, led by a new Casamigos ready-to-serve product timed to the World Cup and by the existing Casamigos canned margarita line.
Recent news: Casamigos without its old momentum
Diageo’s own results show a reversal for the brand. Its fiscal 2025 report said Casamigos net sales fell 18% as competition in tequila cut demand. A year later, the fiscal 2026 report recorded a 27.7% drop in net sales, with depletions, or sales from distributors to retailers, down 23.1%.
The founders have kept working with the brand: a Forbes contributor reported in April 2024 that Clooney, Gerber and Meldman unveiled a jalapeño tequila with Cindy Crawford.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is George Clooney a billionaire?
No reputable wealth tracker says he is. Forbes has published his yearly earnings, including $239M in 2018, but it has not given him a net worth figure, and he is not on its billionaire list.
How much did George Clooney make from Casamigos?
His personal share was never disclosed. Diageo paid $700 million up front in 2017, with up to $300 million more tied to sales targets, and that money was split among three cofounders. Forbes said the sale gave him the biggest one-year take-home of any actor’s career.
Who founded Casamigos with George Clooney?
Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman, according to Forbes and NPR.
How old is George Clooney?
Forbes’s profile lists his age as 65.
How much did George Clooney earn in 2024?
Forbes estimated $37 million, seventh among actors, according to a February 2025 Tribune News Service report.
Sources
- George Clooney profile — Forbes, July 15, 2018 (profile page accessed October 27, 2026)
- Diageo Buys George Clooney’s Tequila Company For Up To $1 Billion — NPR, June 21, 2017
- Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds top 2024 highest paid actors list — The Spokesman-Review (Tribune News Service), February 28, 2025
- Preliminary results, year ended 30 June 2025 — Diageo, August 5, 2025
- Preliminary results, year ended 30 June 2026 — Diageo, August 6, 2026
- The Casamigos Story — Casamigos (company site), accessed October 27, 2026
Net worth figures are estimates published by the outlets named, on the dates shown. They are not disclosed by the people profiled, they move with markets and private valuations, and different publications reach different numbers. Net Worth Rankings is not affiliated with anyone profiled here.