Is he the richest comedian?

Ricky Gervais made his mainstream TV debut in 1998 and quickly rose to prominence as one of the most important figures in British comedy. Gervais’ most notable first work was playing obnoxious boss David Brent in the British version of The office. He won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role in the sitcom Extras.

His most notable work in recent years was After lifewhich became the most watched British comedy in the world. In addition to his lucrative salary of The officeGervais made millions in his career as a stand-up comedian. The Dirk actor has performed five multinational stand-up comedy tours.

Ricky Gervais’ income from stand-up comedy

Ricky Gervais’s first prominent stand-up show was part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2001. The show, called Rubberneckeralso featured other famous British comedians such as Jimmy Carr, Robin Ince and Stephen Merchant. Gervais’ first stand-up comedy tour took place in Britain in 2003.

He toured with his stand-up show Animalswhich kicked off a themed live trilogy. Next in the trilogy was his show, Politicsfor which he toured the country again in 2004. The third part, Famehad its first show in Glasgow in 2007 and ended in Sheffield.

According to Chortle, the £25 ($32) seats are front Fame were sold out within hours. Some tickets were even auctioned on eBay for £100 ($130). His show received some criticism when Gervais made a joke about the Ipswich serial killings. Gervais’ fourth show, Sciencetook place in 2009, with nine different shows across the country. He also headlined the New York Comedy Festival in November 2009.

Gervais announced his fifth show in 2013, but later shared that he was too busy to do the tour due to filming commitments. His next one-performance stand-up show didn’t take place until 2016, almost six and a half years later Science. He could only continue with his plans for his next stand-up tour Humanity in 2017 and continued in 2018.

While his other shows had DVD releases, Humanity was his first special to be bought by Netflix. Gervais confirmed in a tweet that Netflix paid him $40 million for this show and his next special. His next tour and Netflix special, SuperNaturewas announced in 2018. The shows started in 2019 and continued into 2020.

Many of the 2020 shows have been canceled and postponed due to COVID-19. The tour resumed in August 2021 after pandemic restrictions were lifted. Gervais and Netflix came under fire for his jokes about transgender people on the show. However, it won Best Stand-Up Show at the National Comedy Awards.

Gervais’ next show, Armageddonwas also a huge success and got a Netflix special, which probably made him another $20 million or more. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Armageddon almost gross $30 million in ticket sales.

Ricky Gervais broke the ticket record for one stand-up performance during his performance Armageddon Tour

On May 6, 2023, Ricky Gervais appeared at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as part of his Armageddon tour. The seats were packed during his show and tickets were sold out for the venue, which had a capacity of 17,500. He raked in enormously £1.41 million ($1,790,206.50) for this single performance in Los Angeles. With this record-breaking show he entered the Guinness World Records.

By 2023, @rickygervais Armageddon at the Hollywood Bowl became the highest-grossing stand-up performance ever 👏
With a new Hollywood Bowl show announced for his 2025 ‘Mortality’ tour, we’re excited to see what records he could break next! 😎 pic.twitter.com/4LEIvd5eZT

— Guinness World Records (@GWR) October 21, 2024

Gervais was on cloud nine after his award. He shared, “Discovering this record is the icing on the cake. I was happy enough when it didn’t rain” (via daily mail). Are Armageddon tour ended at Bristol Beacon in December last year. The special was released on December 25, 2023 via Netflix.

According to Ticketmaster, Gervais has donated £1.9 million ($2.4 million) to support animal charities. The amount came from the profits generated by the tour’s Platinum ticket sales, which were sold exclusively through Ticketmaster.

Is Ricky Gervais the richest British stand-up comedian?

According to a recent report from The Sun, Ricky Gervais is not the richest British stand-up comedian. Topping the list is comedian Peter Kay, who is known for his role as John Redmond in the British sitcom Car sharing. Ricky Gervais is third on the list, behind his own The office co-creator Stephen Merchant. Here’s The Sun’s list of the five highest-paid British comedians:

However, the research used for this list is based solely on the value of the companies they pay their revenues to. Celebrity Net Worth reports that Gervais’ earnings are at least four times this value. When the site reported an exhaustive list of the richest comedians in the world, Gervais was the richest British comedian on the list.

What is Ricky Gervais’s net worth?

Ricky Gervais has a steady income thanks to the popularity of his stand-up shows and the continued relevance of his show The office. Via the credits of the creator, producer and actor in The officeGervais is said to have made tens of millions of dollars along with his co-creator Stephen Merchant.

The show reportedly made billions in royalties and fees. Celebrity Net Worth estimates that at least 10% of the syndication share points belong to Gervais. These calculations suggest that Gervais earned more than $100 million (before taxes). The officemaking it his greatest asset.

He makes money when a deal is extended or the show’s rights are sold to a new platform. Accordingly, he must have made a fortune when Comcast’s NBC paid $500 million for the rights to the show starting in 2021.

When it comes to his real estate portfolio, Gervais and his partner Jane Fallon bought their first home in London in 2006 for almost $6.5 million. They listed the property for $11.8 million and moved into a new $16 million home in 2016.

Gervais also owns a $3.75 million apartment in Manhattan and another property in Los Angeles. By combining all these assets, being Net worth is estimated at $160 millionmaking him one of the richest comedians in the world.

Ricky Gervais kicks off his new stand-up tour Mortality

Ricky Gervais’ new stand-up tour is called Mortality opened on Tuesday 22 October 2024. The first show took place at the Barbican in York. He has also announced the American and Canadian portions of his show, including his return to the place where he set his Guinness Record.

Gervais will perform at the Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl on May 31, 2025 (via @HollywoodBowl | So far, Gervais has announced 20 dates in Britain and four in North America. All 20 dates in the UK are sold out, but more shows will be announced soon, including London show dates.

According to BirminghamLive, general ticket prices for the shows were £51.50 ($67). It will likely add another fortune to the comedian’s net worth.