Tyler Perry has officially been added to Forbes’ list of billionaires.
The 50-year-old filmmaker and actor’s net worth is set at $1 billion, having earned more than $1.4 billion pretax since 2005, Forbes said. His $280 million studio lot in Atlanta is the largest film studio complex outside of Hollywood
Perry is also set to receive the 2020 Governors Award on Sept. 20 at the 78th annual Primetime Emmys.
Perry told Forbes that throughout his career he’s made it a point to own everything he makes — a lesson he said he learned at a young age from his father.
“My father was a subcontractor, and he would get paid on Fridays and be so happy that he had made $800,” he said. “But I would watch the man that owned the house sell it and make $80,000. So, I always knew that there was more power in the man that owned the house rather than the man that actually was working on it and building it. So, I always wanted to be the guy that owned the house.”