Bryan Cranston
$40 million
Wikimedia Commons, via Wikipedia: Robin Williams
The Robin Williams Estate is valued at an estimated $50 million, representing the legacy of one of the most celebrated and versatile entertainers in American history. Born Robin McLaurin Williams on July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, Williams spent four decades as a stand-up comedian, film actor, and voice performer whose work spanned comedy, drama, and animation. His movies grossed more than $3.6 billion at the worldwide box office during his lifetime.
Updated March 2026: According to Finance Monthly, Williams’ net worth at the time of his passing in 2014 stood at approximately $50 million, reduced from a career peak estimated at $130 million by the late 1990s. Two divorces, extensive real estate holdings, and charitable giving contributed to the decline from that peak.
Robin McLaurin Williams was born at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 21, 1951. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a senior executive in Ford’s Lincoln-Mercury Division, and his mother, Laurie McLaurin, was a former model. As an only child in an affluent household, Williams described himself as a quiet, introverted boy who used humor and self-created characters to cope with loneliness. After relocating several times for his father’s career — including a period in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where Williams attended the private Detroit Country Day School — the family settled in Tiburon, California, when Williams was 16. It was at Redwood High School in nearby Larkspur that he first discovered the drama department and began channeling his natural comedic instincts on stage.
Williams enrolled at Claremont Men’s College intending to study political science before transferring to the College of Marin to focus on theater. His talent there was so evident that in 1973 he earned a full scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, where he was one of only 20 students admitted into the freshman class and one of only two accepted into the Advanced Program — the other being Christopher Reeve. Juilliard’s conservative classical training ultimately proved too constraining for Williams’ improvisational genius; his instructor Gerald Freedman called him a “genius” and in 1976, following John Houseman’s suggestion that the school had nothing more to teach him, Williams left to pursue stand-up comedy.
Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, quickly developing a reputation for frenetic, improvisational energy unlike anything audiences had seen. By 1977, he was performing at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, where David Letterman later recalled Williams’ arrival as “like a hurricane.” In 1978, he was cast in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy, playing an alien from the planet Ork. At its peak, the show drew 60 million weekly viewers and turned Williams into a household name overnight.
Williams received his first leading film role in Popeye (1980). Over the following decades, he built one of the most eclectic filmographies in Hollywood history. His dramatic breakout came with Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), which earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He earned three additional Oscar nominations — for Dead Poets Society (1989), The Fisher King (1991), and ultimately won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as therapist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting (1997). He also voiced the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin (1992), the highest-grossing film of that year, a role that redefined what voice acting could be in animated films. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) grossed over $219 million domestically, making it the second-highest-grossing film of the year.
Throughout his career, Williams won six Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005 and was named a Disney Legend in 2009. Four films were released posthumously: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014), A Merry Friggin’ Christmas (2014), Boulevard (2014), and Absolutely Anything (2015).
At his financial peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Williams’ net worth was estimated at approximately $130 million. By the time of his death, the estate was valued at around $50 million due to the costs of two divorces, high-maintenance real estate, and substantial charitable giving. His wealth was assembled through multiple income streams:
Williams was married three times. He married actress Valerie Velardi in 1978; their son Zachary Pym Williams was born in 1983 and the couple divorced in 1988. He subsequently married Marsha Garces in 1989; they had a daughter, Zelda Rae Williams (born 1989), and a son, Cody Alan Williams (born 1991), before divorcing in 2010. In 2011, Williams married graphic designer Susan Schneider, who remained with him until his death.
Williams was candid throughout his life about his struggles with substance abuse, including cocaine addiction in the late 1970s and early 1980s — a habit he described as being directly related to the stress of sudden fame. He entered rehabilitation multiple times and spoke publicly about the importance of treatment. He was deeply committed to charitable causes, including the Comic Relief USA telethon, which raised more than $80 million for the homeless over its run.
Williams died on August 11, 2014, at his home in Paradise Cay (Tiburon), California, at age 63. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease earlier that year. A subsequent autopsy revealed Lewy body dementia — a diagnosis that his widow Susan Schneider Williams later said explained the profound cognitive and psychological deterioration he experienced in his final months. Following his death, his widow and his three adult children from previous marriages entered into a legal dispute over his estate, which was ultimately resolved with Schneider Williams receiving a life estate in the Tiburon home and his children inheriting the majority of his personal possessions, including his Academy Award and Golden Globes.
The Robin Williams estate was valued at approximately $50 million at the time of his death in August 2014. At his career peak in the late 1990s, his personal net worth was estimated at around $130 million, but costs from two divorces, real estate expenses, and charitable giving reduced the estate significantly by 2014.
Williams built his wealth through a combination of major film salaries — including a reported $20 million for Bicentennial Man — stand-up comedy tours and Grammy-winning albums, television work including Mork & Mindy, and voice acting including the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin. His films grossed more than $3.6 billion worldwide over the course of his career.
Williams’ estate was distributed under a legal settlement reached in 2015. His widow, Susan Schneider Williams, received a life estate in the Tiburon, California home and certain personal effects. His three children — Zachary, Zelda, and Cody Williams — inherited the majority of his personal possessions, including his Academy Award, six Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, per the terms of the trusts Williams had established before his death.
Born on July 21, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, Robin Williams passed away on August 11, 2014 at the age of 63.
Robin Williams stands 5’7″ tall (170 cm).
Robin Williams was married three times: to Valerie Velardi (1978–1988), Marsha Garces (1989–2010), and Susan Schneider (2011 until his death in 2014). He had three children: Zak, Zelda, and Cody.
Yes, Robin Williams had three children: Zak (~43), Zelda (~37), and Cody (~35). Zelda, named after the Legend of Zelda video game character, has become an actress and director in her own right.
Robin Williams lived in the Paradise Cay neighborhood of Tiburon, California. His home was sold for $5.35 million in 2020, six years after his passing.
At his peak, Robin Williams earned $20 million for a single film, including Bicentennial Man (1999). He was consistently among the highest-paid actors in Hollywood throughout the 1990s and 2000s.