Larry David's Net Worth Is Reason for Enthusiasm
An entertainer only really has to do one thing exceptionally well in their whole life to achieve greatness. The rest of the stuff they can screw up and if they are a comedian, that makes great material for a comedy show. This is the secret behind Larry David’s stellar comedic career and what ultimately lead to the amazing level of Larry David's net worth.
Larry David's net worth now is about $400 million. It compares very favorably with his peers in the entertainment business. David is not a stunning beauty, but his net worth beats Angelina Jolie who is in the category of the highest net worth actor with about $100 million.
Matthew McConaughey has the same as other top comedians net worth with his cool $95 million, along with Bill Maher who is one of the richest comedians with a net worth of $100 million.
David’s net worth now matches another celebrity Californian, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold Schwarzenegger's acting and sometimes comedic efforts, in films like Twins and Kindergarten Cop, make him similar to the richest comedian in the world with a net worth of $400 million. That is David-level and both got famous for popularizing catchphrases. With Schwarzenegger, it is “I’ll be back.” With David, it is “Yada. Yada. Yada.”
Here is the story of how it all began and then, how all the yada, yada, yada happened.
Larry David’s Early Career
Brooklyn born Larry David made his stand-up comedian debut in Greenwich Village at Folk City in 1974. Folk City was the scene for an eclectic mixture of folk music and stand-up comedy. Legends of the 1960s folk music movement like Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez performed there.
He lived in a rundown apartment building in Hell’s Kitchen among a bunch of crazy people and low-lives. David is quoted as saying that when he was totally broke he would wander the streets of New York looking for an alcove that he thought he would live in when he became homeless.
During this period, Larry David landed a role as an actor and became a scriptwriter for the late-night television comedy show Fridays.
After nearly a decade of struggling to get by and doing odd jobs while acting, like driving a taxi cab and very odd jobs like being a bra salesman, in 1983 David’s writing talent led to a big break with a writing gig for Saturday Night Live. He wrote for the SNL show for one season. Nevertheless, only one of his SNL sketches aired.
When he left the SNL show, David starting performing again as a stand-up comedian. Jerry Seinfeld was also doing stand-up comedy at that time.
How Larry Met Jerry
In the book, Seinfeldia: The Secret World of the Show About Nothing that Changed Everything the story is revealed about the comedic bromance between Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David started at a birthday party of Carol Leifer. David gave some new jokes that he wrote to Carol for her birthday as a present. She was too drunk to read them, so she handed them to Jerry who read them. The birthday party guests thought Jerry’s reading of the jokes were hilarious. At that moment, it became obvious to the men that there were some creative sparks between them.
The Seinfeld Phenomena
In 1989, David partnered with Jerry Seinfeld to co-create the Seinfeld television series. Neither Larry nor Jerry thought that anyone would really be interested in a sitcom about a New York comedian talking with his friends. It was too close to real life for them to realize how funny it was.
The pilot episode was at least well-received enough for the network executives to give it a try. That lead to a deal with the NBC television network. NBC did not expect much from the first shows and started the show in the dead time of summer in a time slot running after the already popular show Cheers. To everyone’s surprise, the audience started to build up.
Eventually, Seinfeld would be watched weekly be nearly forty million viewers. The final Seinfeld episode had one of the top ten largest viewership of all time.
Image source: New York Post
David started as a writer, co-creator, and worked as an executive producer for the show during its last two seasons. He wrote and produced about 62 episodes of the total 180 episodes made of Seinfeld.
David wrote the episode entitled The Contest for which he won an Emmy. In 2009, it was the number one of the top 100 TV episodes of all time as ranked by TV Guide. The episode is about a hilarious contest where the characters bet each other who can go the longest without masturbating. What makes it hilarious is, since this was prime time television, the word masturbation is never used in the show, just many euphemisms for it.
David’s life was the inspiration for the character George Constanza played by Jason Alexander in the sitcom. A fun fact is that David also appeared the Seinfeld show for 20 cameo roles.
The Seinfeld show ran for almost a decade from 1989-1998. It was David’s ownership interest in the show that made him really rich.
The Big Seinfeld Payday
For Larry David’s portion of the syndication rights in the Seinfeld television series, he received a $650 million contribution to his net worth.
His net worth went up from $30 million to around $900 million after the deal to sell the show to Columbia Tristar was done for $1.7 billion.
Both David and Seinfeld own 25% each of the equity in the show. The payouts from the $1.7 billion deal continue each year, giving David about $40 to $50 million annual cash flow, on a declining scale, until the contract ends.
Hulu bought the streaming rights to the Seinfeld show for $180 million. David made about $80 million from that deal. Over the past 20 years, the show generated over $3 billion in revenues and continues to make money in syndication, giving a long-term valuation of about $17 million per episode.
Do Not “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
After Seinfeld, in 1998, David created a project as a monumentally called Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm that became the television show Curb Your Enthusiasm for HBO. David starred in the show. It started airing in 2000. It aired what was supposed to be the television series finale at the end of its eighth season in 2011. However, after a six-year hiatus, it returned in 2017. It renewed for a tenth season in 2018 and another new season which finished in 2021.
The show is a fictionalized version of David’s life as a television writer/producer and his adventures with his friends and celebrities in LA. Each episode of the show has a simple outline. The show does not use scripts. The actors are free to ad-lib and improve through awkward situations and create as much spontaneous comedy as possible. Larry David's net worth got another big boost from this show.
Larry David Does Not Deserve To Be Rich?
Many falsely think that David just got “lucky” and that the Seinfeld show came only from the talent of Jerry Seinfeld who was the star. However, anyone who has been in the business knows that a comedian is only as good as the material he or she has to work with. Seinfeld writes much of his material. He also knows that David and other show staff writers of the Seinfeld show created other terrific material for him. During the last season, Seinfeld got $1 million per episode, and he had equal ownership with David, so he is not complaining about Larry David’s net worth.
Subsequently, almost to prove his point, when David created his own show Curb Your Enthusiasm, David became the star and there are no written scripts. David’s pure comic genius comes directly from David’s mind and the other actors doing improve with him in the show.
The Cost Of a California Divorce
At one point, Larry David’s net worth was $900 million, then, in 2007, David and his wife Laurie agreed to an amicable divorce after 14 years of marriage. Under California law, spouses share equally in their married partner’s net worth. David’s net worth dropped by half from the divorce.
David was not bitter about his divorce. He even said that there is an exaggeration in his net worth. He does not have all the money right now. Much of it still comes to him in the future as annual payments. David said that this is the California law and his wife earned the money by having to put up with him for those many years.
Regarding his success, David says that money allowed him to buy more things, but he still cannot walk up to a woman at a bar and say hello. After he became rich, he developed an allergy to caviar and that, he says, is a perfect metaphor for his life.
Larry David’s Real Estate
The “Hobbit” House
David owned a unique house in California. This house is in the up-scale area of Pacific Palisades on the way driving to Malibu. It is a charming English cottage style that looks like a fairy-tale home, which could be used by hobbits from the Lord of the Rings. The 10,000-square-foot home has seven bedrooms and ten bathrooms. There is a delightful separate guest house.
The views of the Pacific Ocean from the windows in the master bedroom and the living room are stunning. It has a large deck and many fireplaces. The in-ground swimming pool ha a nice design. There is even a playroom with an adorable puppet stage to have shows for friends and family. Built originally in 1950, it has a cottage design that makes attractive use of stone and exposed wooden beams. Surrounding the house are mature landscaping and trees. The property is very private and gated for security.
David bought this home in 1998 for $1.26 million after he was financially successful but not yet super-wealthy. Variety that has a nice photo spread of the property, reports that he sold the Palisades home for $12 million in 2014. No longer needing to be in California as much after divorcing his wife, David returned to his roots in New York.
Martha Vineyard House
David owns a 70-acre estate in Martha’s Vineyard where he spends most of his time, when not in New York City. Instyle reports that he lives with his daughter, Cazzie David. Cazzie says that she loves her father deeply and just likes to be around him. She says he likes to watch old movies from the 1940s, which are boring to her; however, she loves to watch her father watch the movies. David has another daughter Romy who does not live with them but comes for frequent visits. The three plan to work on a creative project together.
New York Living
When he was just starting out in stand-up comedy, Larry David lived in an apartment in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City at 484 W. 43rd Street. He lived next door to real-life Kenny Kramer who became the inspiration for the character called Kramer in Seinfeld.
Now, Larry David’s net worth allows him to rent five-star suites in luxury New York hotels on the Upper East Side when he is in town working. That is a far cry from the rundown tenement buildings where he used to live when younger. However, he still knows where the alcove is that he chose many decades ago, just in case he ends up homeless.
Money Management Basics
Larry David’s Car Collection
Not much of Larry David's net worth comes from his car collection because he does not have one. In 2009, he was seen driving a Toyota Prius which he donated to raise money for environmental awareness, and then he got a new one to use in real life and in his television shows.
In the 2017 episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, David swapped out his Prius and is seen driving a Tesla Model S that he borrows from Ted Danson in the show. In one episode, he gets a ticket for honking the horn at a police officer who does not notice that the light turned green. The cop claims that the Tesla S has an “aggressive” horn.
Now, David likes to drive a BMW i3 in both real-life and in the show that is the competitor with the Tesla Model S. Once again real life mirror’s David’s character’s antics in the show. This is the source of David’s continued success.
Conclusion
David is enjoying his life at 75 years young with the companionship of his daughter Cazzie. He thinks all the fuss over his net worth is ridiculous; however, he does appreciate living in a beautiful estate in Martha’s Vineyard and being able to stay in the finest hotels in New York when working on creative projects. There must be a big pile of money somewhere but his lifestyle is somewhat modest for a person of his means. No private jet or yacht. The biggest part of Larry David’s net worth comes from the television syndication deals and his house in Martha’s Vineyard.
David still remembers the time when he worried that he was going to end up homeless when he was first starting out. That is probably why he stays relevant and still can use his exceptional skills for capturing observable comedy about regular goofy things that everyone can relate to.
A word to all the nice, attractive, single middle-aged ladies out there. If you see Larry David in a bar or restaurant in Martha’s Vineyard it is your task to go up and say hello to him. Ask him to take you for a tour of his estate and grab a ride in his BMW i3, then after one date, dump him. We want to make sure he stays funny, knocked down a bit, and has more “shit happens” stuff to put in his show.