Celebrity

What Is Salma Hayek’s Net Worth? She Is The Richest Eternals Star

Hayek makes hundreds of millions of dollars, and she’s also married to a multi-billionaire.

(L-R) Mexican-US actor Salma Hayek, Chinese film director Chloe Zhao, US actor Angelina Jolie and Br...
TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images

Hollywood staple Salma Hayek’s 2021 keeps getting bigger — just like her bank account. The 55-year-old bankable entertainer has already starred in Bliss with Owen Wilson and reprised her Hitman’s Bodyguard role in the sequel Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. Now, before 2022 arrives, she will appear in Eternals and House of Gucci, two of the most highly anticipated films of the year.

While Hayek likely brought home a sizable paycheck for House of Gucci, which co-stars Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, it’s undoubtedly the Marvel flick Eternals that will help make her even richer than she has ever been. Impressively, Hayek is the wealthiest member of the Eternals cast, ahead of Angelina Jolie ($120 million), Kit Harington ($14 million), Kumail Nanjiani ($8 million), Gemma Chan ($6 million), and Richard Madden ($6 million).

Four acting projects in a single year is significant, and they all surely added to Hayek’s ever-expanding net worth. Already a majorly successful producer and actor, she’s made herself extremely wealthy — but just how much is the Mexican-American global superstar really worth?

What Is Salma Hayek’s Net Worth?

$200 million

Hayek is one of the highest-paid and wealthiest actors in Hollywood. Her net worth is estimated to be somewhere in the vicinity of $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and that sum only tells part of the story when it comes to how she lives. Since 2009, Hayek has been married to Francois Henri Pinault, the CEO of Kering, which owns brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Puma, Volcom, and Brioni. Pinault is worth $7 billion, which brings the couple’s total to at least $7.2 billion. Pinault’s father is worth many more billions (nearly $50 billion, according to Forbes), so at some point, the family may inherit even additional wealth.

3 Ways Salma Hayek Makes Her Millions

1. Films & TV

Hayek earns the bulk of her millions from starring in films and TV, with movies being her real moneymaker. She got her start as the star of the Mexican telenovela Teresa, which made her a household name and face in her home country. After becoming a star in Mexico via TV and the celebrated film El Callejón de los Milagros, Hayek decided to pick up and move to Los Angeles to try to make it in Hollywood. She spent years in L.A. studying to perfect her craft, and eventually, Hayek began landing supporting film roles. She quickly worked her way up to leading lady on films like Fools Rush In, Breaking Up, 54, Wild Wild West, and Chain of Fools.

In 2002, Hayek reached new levels of both fame and critical acclaim when she starred in the stylized biopic Frida, based on the life of beloved artist Frida Kahlo. The movie was adored by the industry, and it performed well at the box office. Hayek earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Frida, though the prize went to Nicole Kidman for The Hours.

Throughout her decades as an in-demand actor, Hayek has also fronted movies like Grown Ups, Puss in Boots, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, and soon Eternals and House of Gucci. She has also appeared on TV in programs like 30 Rock and Ugly Betty, which she also produced. She even won an Emmy for directing The Maldonado Miracle.

Her per-project salary is difficult to nail down as those numbers aren’t normally made public, but to star in a movie, Hayek likely pulls in several million dollars.

2. Modeling & Advertisements

In addition to making huge sums with her acting talents, Hayek has lent her name and face to brands for a handful of campaigns throughout the years. She landed one of her first major deals with Revlon in 1998, when she was still just a rising star. After that partnership concluded, Hayek signed with Avon, and she has been working with the cosmetics giant since 2004 in a longstanding relationship that has earned her millions.

Hayek has also appeared in ads for companies like Chopard, Campari, and even the Lincoln brand of cars, which leveraged her to reach out to the Spanish-speaking market. What she earns for these print ads and TV-ready spots is almost always confidential.

3. Entrepreneurial Activities

Hayek has also found the time to run a production company, one which has released several successful and critically acclaimed projects since its creation in 1998. Named Ventanarosa Productions, the firm has produced movies such as El Coronel No Tiene Quien le Escriba, In the Time of the Butterflies, and the Oscar-winning Frida.

The production company’s biggest success came when ABC picked up the series Ugly Betty, which was based on a Colombian telenovela. The sitcom ran for four seasons and won three Emmys, including for star America Ferrera. Hayek earned two nominations for TV’s biggest award, both as a producer on the program (Outstanding Comedy Series) and for her own short-lived role (Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series).

Hayek has also branched out from entertainment in her entrepreneurial activities, and she’s found continued success with the companies she’s launched. In 2008, she co-founded a health-focused juice delivery brand called Cooler Cleanse, which is still going strong more than a decade on. Several years later, she added to her portfolio in this world by creating Blend It Yourself, which ships healthy ingredients to customers’ doors to use for smoothies or wear as face masks.

Hayek also parlayed her beauty into a line of products for hair and skin called Nuance by Salma Hayek. First launched in 2011 at CVS, the brand may have been discontinued from that one chain, but customers are still buying the products on Amazon and Walmart.