Dwayne Johnson at 51 - what is his net worth and is he set to become a birthday billionaire?

He’s managed to parlay a successful wrestling career into an even more successful movie career; add on top of that his production works with “Young Rock” and even acquiring an American Football league from his former boss and you could say that it was been a memorable career for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who turns 51 years old today.

The former “People’s Champion” of the WWE wasn’t destined for a career in the wrestling ring though - originally, he was a defensive tackle for the University of Miami and even played some professional games for the Canadian Football League. However after getting cut from the roster of the Calgary Stampeders, Johnson would make his move into professional wrestling - following in the footsteps of his father Rocky Johnson and his grandfather, the High Chief Peter Maivia.

Though his early years as a good guy in the then WWF was met with disdain from an audience that looked for a more edgier, realistic product, it was the advent of the WWE’s “Attitude Era” which saw Rocky Maivia transform into the egomaniacal “The Rock,” and history was all but made. With his sharp tongue, fantastic in ring ability and more important his ability to capture the attention of the millions (and millions) of fans watching live and around the world, Hollywood surely was beckoning for the next crossover start from the world of wrestling.

Unlike Hulk Hogan before him, The Rock garnered immediate box office success with roles in The Mummy 2 and the spin-off, The Scorpion KIng - Johnson’s first headlining role in a feature film. That helped establish him as a box office property, and while some of his early films catering to families may not have been critically revered, his inclusion in the long running Fast and Furious franchise demonstrated that Johnson can be the action hero that Hollywood was long looking for. 

From there, Johnson ended up being cast as a Hollywood leading man; he would show off his comedic chops in both the Baywatch film opposite Zac Efron, Bob Stone in the Kevin Hart collaboration Central Intelligence and voiced Maui in the soon-to-be live action remade Moana in 2016. He would reach his current apex as a bankable box office star by appearing in the remake of Jumanji in 2017, reprising the role once again of Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone in the 2019 remake, while also throwing his hat into the ever increasing ring of superhero movies, portraying Shazam’s nemesis Black Adam in the movie of the same name in 2022. 

Those last movie roles have made Dwayne Johnson one of the highest paid men in Hollywood, with Forbes including him in the 2022 list of Highest Paid Entertainers in the world, reaching the fifth position.

But how much is Dwayne Johnson worth, and is he on his way to being one of the first actors to become a billionaire in the next few years?

What is Dwayne Johnson’s net worth?

As of writing, Dwayne Johnson’s net worth is $800 million USD (£216.3 million), which has been amassed by three different avenues for Johnson so far. Firstly is of course the fee he can attain from acting roles, which Forbes have stated can be anything over the $20 million threshold these days. Two of his movies, “Red Notice” and “Black Adam” saw Johnson command $20 million and $22.5 million USD respectively.

The second revenue stream comes in the form of Johnson’s production work behind the camera, especially with hit NBC comedy “Young Rock” (available for streaming on Now TV in the United Kingdom), which follows the life of Dwayne Johnson as a child growing up around the wrestling business. Johnson is also the producer of “The Titan Games,” a sports competition reality series which aired on NBC from January 3, 2019 to August 10, 2020.

Finally, there is his successful Under Armor line Project Rock sells clothing, shoes and headphones, which could be considered passive income to some, yet for Johnson he likes nothing more than to demonstrate that he is a firm believer in what he puts his name too - so no Puma collaborations yet, I am afraid

But the real earner, much like Ryan Reynolds with Aviation Gin, is  Johnson’s 30-40% stake in Teremana Tequila and a current $2 billion conservative estimate valuation of the brand. In theory, The Rock could make over $1 billion from the tequila company.

Will Dwayne Johnson become a billionaire?

If reports are correct that, including the worth of the tequila brand he is involved with and that he earns from acting and endorsements $100 million USD per year, that means that Dwayne Johnson could be a billionaire in a mere two years time; providing that the alcohol business doesn’t belly up. 

However, given how cautious Johnson has been regarding his endorsement deals, and the careful financial team he has around him, we could indeed see The Rock topple Tom Cruise as the highest earning actor in Hollywood; time will undoubtedly tell - two years in fact