Harvey Weinstein Net Worth

Introduction: 

Harvey Weinstein Net Worth, How did the American film producer attain his wealth? Read on to find out more about Harvey Weinstein Net Worth and his career.

Harvey Weinstein Early Life

He is an American film producer and film studio executives. Harvey Weinstein is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company. 

He alongside his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005. Together they own a combined 42% of the company. 

Harvey Weinstein Career

Harvey Weinstein was born in Flushing, New York on March 19, 1952. During his career, he  won an Academy Award for producing Shakespeare in Love and earned 7 Tony Awards for producing a variety of winning plays and musicals including The Producers, August: Osage County and Billy Elliot the Musical. 

While operating Miramax they produced many films including most notably Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and Good Will Hunting. While operating The Weinstein Company, the brothers produced The Imitation Game, The Butler, Inglourious Basterds, Silver Linings Playbook and Django Unchained, to name a few.

In 2004, Weinstein was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the British film industry. His career has been riddled with Praise, but also with criticism. 

Weinstein has been criticized by some for the techniques he allegedly applied in his business dealings, specifically for such deeds as ‘campaigning’ for Oscars for his films during Oscar season, which led to a ban on such campaigns by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

He cultivated a reputation for ruthlessness and fits of anger. Reportedly, he once put a New York Observer reporter in a headlock and threw him out of the party. On another occasion, Weinstein publicly criticized director Julie Taymor and her husband during a disagreement over a test screening of her movie Frida.

Weinstein was accused of harassing Sydney Pollack on his deathbed about the release of the film The Reader. In another controversial move, in 2009, Weinstein publicly voiced opposition to efforts to extradite Roman Polanski from Switzerland to the U.S. regarding the 1977 charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old. In 2013, New York Post film critic Kyle Smith accused Harvey Weinstein of making numerous anti-Catholic films, including Priest (1994), The Butcher Boy (1997), The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Philomena (2013).

In 2017, Harvey was forced to respond to numerous sexual harassment claims lodged by women such as Ashley Judd dating back 20 years. On October 9, 2017, Harvey was fired by the board of directors of The Weinstein Company. 

Within weeks, Weinstein was banned from working with various production guilds in the entertainment industry that will essentially make it impossible for him to work again in the industry.

Harvey Weinstein Net Worth

Harvey Weinstein Net Worth as of today is $25 Million. Harvey Weinstein Net Worth is acquired from his career as a film producer.

At the peak of his career, Weinstein’s net worth was estimated at $300 million. However, much of this valuation was based on the value of The Weinstein Company before the sexual scandals of 2017 broke worldwide. 

In the wake of the scandals, Weinstein was at times reportedly too cash poor to pay for various spousal support obligations. This news came after he was fired from his own company and forced to pay his most recent wife Georgina Chapman a $20 million divorce settlement. 

On January 12, 2017, Harvey told a judge he was too broke to pay spousal support obligations to his first wife and their two children for the previous year. A judge agreed and issued a temporary halt on a $5 million debt he owed. His ex-wife countered with a complaint that Weinstein has used all of his liquid assets to pre-pay tens of millions of dollars of attorney’s fees to protect him from various potential lawsuits around the globe.

In May 2019, it was reported that Harvey had reached a $44 million settlement with his victims. The $44 million figure would break down like this: $30 million would go directly to plaintiffs in cases against Weinstein, while the other $14 million would go towards legal fees for Weinstein’s (mostly former) associates who are also named as defendants in the lawsuits in question. The settlement will be majority paid for by Harvey’s insurance companies.

In December 2019, it was reported that the settlement had actually been reached at $25 million. The payment would actually be made by an insurance company. If the deal went through at $25 million, 18 alleged victims would split $6.2 million. 

No individual would receive more than around $500,000. Separately, $18.5 million would be set aside for future claimants in an ongoing class-action lawsuit.

Summary: 

Harvey Weinstein is an American film producer and film studio executive who is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company. 

He was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the British film industry.

As of 2020, Harvey Weinstein’s net worth is $25 Million.