Stephen King Net Worth & Earnings (2025):
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Stephen King Net Worth & Earnings: Aka, the “Master of Horror,” is one of the most successful American authors of all time – best known for his horror, supernatural fiction, crime, sci-fi, and fantasy novels.
This New York Times best-selling author has sold over 350 million copies worldwide, and many of his works have been adapted into films and TV series – No wonder he has a whopping $400 million net worth!
Today, we’re going to be diving deep into Stephen King Net Worth, career, and we’ll be looking at:
loads more…
Want to know more about one of our favorite authors – the “King”?
Read on!
Table of Contents
Who Is Stephen King?
Stephen Edwin King, noted as the “King of Horror”, is an American author of horror, fantasy, suspense, and science fiction who has a net worth of $400 million.
The master of horror’s career was set in motion when he began writing Carrie (when he was 26 years old) and published it in 1974.
But hang on a minute…
It all started as a short story that he had thrown away sometime earlier. Thanks to his wife for that lifesaver.
She took the manuscript out of the trash and encouraged him to finish the story.
In 1976, it was made into a successful horror film starring Sissy Spacek.
His books sold more than 350 million copies worldwide, some of them have been adapted into films and television series.
King has published 61 novels and 6 non-fiction books. He’s considered one of the best selling authors to date.
As of 2025, Stephen King’s net worth has reached a stunning peak of $400 million.
| Net Worth: $400 million |
| Date of Birth: September 21, 1947 |
| Gender: Male |
| Nationality: American |
| Relationship Status: Married (Tabitha Spruce King) |
| Children: 3 |
| Profession: Professional author |
How Much Is Stephen King Worth?
The net worth of King is a massive $400 million
(below is Kings year on year earnings).iWith 350 million copies of his works sold worldwide, it is no surprise that he reached that towering net worth.
Stephen King Career Earnings By Year
| Year | Earnings $ |
|---|---|
| 2010 | $25 million |
| 2011 | $39 million |
| 2012 | $20 million |
| 2013 | $17 million |
| 2014 | $19 million |
| 2015 | $15 million |
| 2016 | $15 million |
| 2017 | $27 million |
Salary Highlights
An author typically earns from the sales and royalties of their books, however, in King’s case, he earned $2,500 in advance for his book Carrie, which is equal to $14,525 in today’s money.
Carrie’s paperback rights later sold for $400,000, which today would be equivalent to $2.3 million.
Fee Range
The King, as one of the most popular authors to date, has sold masses of copies in all four corners of the globe.
Here’s a fact:
Authors don’t get a lot of cash from publishing their books. Usually, their earnings range from $1-$3 per copy sold, depending on demand.
So, since King’s works gain an estimate of $56 million each at the box office, we can suppose that he earns a boatload of cash from royalties.
The more of his films hit the silver screen, the better for him.
Stephen King Books
Being one of the best selling authors of all time, The King has rooted his fortune in his books – and the films drawn on those literary pieces he’s written.
He hasn’t made any profitable investments or joined any endorsement deals.
As a matter of fact he much prefers to be low-key – than spending time in the spotlight.
He writes his books, signs off on screenplays, and sits back to enjoy the fruits of his accomplishments.
But first off…
Ever wondered why King used pseudonyms in his written works?
The reason was that a writer was restricted to publish just one book every year – the general opinion of publishers back then.
Publishers thought that producing more would be inappropriate to the press.
So what King did to multiply his publication without overwhelming the demand of the market was he persuaded his publisher, Signet Books, to reproduce his novels under another name.
Here are his books written under his pen name Richard Bachman: Rage (1997), The Long Walk (1979), Road Work (1982), Thinner (1984), Regulators (1996), and Blaze (2007).
He’s also written another book under his pseudonym John Swithen, The Fifth Quarter (1972), and Beryl Evans, Charlie the Choo-Choo: From the World of the Dark Tower (2016)
Meanwhile…
He’s published 61 novels in total, seven of those are written under his pen name Richard Bachman, and six non-fiction books and some of them have been turned into popular films or series like Carrie, It, Stand By Me, The Stand, Misery, and The Shining. Snippets of King’s writing from when he was 9 years old can be seen in the 1993 book, “First Words”.
Here’s a top 10 list of his best selling books of all time.
Carrie
This horror novel by King revolves around Carrie White, whose telekinetic powers were freed after being taunted by her high school classmates at her senior prom.
Salem’s Lot
The story circles around an author named Ben Mears, who returned to his hometown Salem’s Lot, Maine to write a book about a house that has haunted him since childhood, only to find out that his neighbors are becoming vampires.
The Shining
It centers on the life of Jack Torrance, a struggling writer and recovering from alcoholism, who has been hired as a caretaker and settles in at the isolated Overlook Hotel with his wife, Wendy, and son Danny, who possesses psychic abilities that enable him to see the horrifying past.
The Stand
The plot centers on a deadly virus called “Project Blue” or most commonly known as “Captain Trips” that destroyed most of the world’s population. The survivors choose between Mother Abigail, who is receiving visions from God, and Randall Flagg, the Dark Man. The two groups prepare for the final battle between good and evil.
The Shawshank Redemption
Andy Dufresne is sentenced to 2 years in prison at the Shawshank State Penitentiary for murdering his wife. He becomes friends with Ellis “Red” Redding, an inmate, and has been serving a life sentence imprisonment. Check out The Shawshank Redemption here.
Pet Sematary
Dr. Louis Creed moved to Maine with his family where he met his neighbor named Jud Crandall. The family’s cat was then killed on the road. Louis followed his neighbor’s advice to bury it in a mysterious ground near the old pet cemetery in the woods behind his house.
It
The story follows the experiences of seven children as they are terrorized by an evil entity that exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. “It” primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its preferred prey of young children.
Misery
Misery tells the story of a novel author, Paul Sheldon who met a severe car accident and was rescued by a former nurse, Annie Wilkes, who happened to be his psychotic fan. Annie took him to her remote house to recover but became furious when she found out that Paul had killed Misery Chastain off in his latest book. Annie held Paul as her hostage and forced him to write a story that would bring Misery back to life.
11/22/63
This novel is about Jake Epping who traveled back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which happened on November 22, 1963.
Lisey’s Story
Lisey’s story is the story of Lisey Landon, a widow of a famous novelist, Scott Landon. After the death of her husband, a strange guy named Zach McCool called her and threatened her that if she would not turn over Scott’s documents, he would make her suffer. Lisey begins to remember strange events from her marriage that she had suppressed and finds clues that may help save her life.
Investments
King and his wife Tabitha own Zone Radio Corp, a radio station group in Bangor, Maine consisting of WZON/620 AM, WKIT-FM/100.3, and WZLO/103.1.
Controversies & Litigation
Stephen King vs. New Line Cinema 1992
King filed a lawsuit issued by a New York court in 1992 against New Line Cinema over intellectual property rights. The studio used the title of King’s short story for their film “The Lawnmower Man” and was using King’s name to sell the film.
He demanded that his name be removed from the film and its advertising.
In a settlement later that year, the studio agreed to pay the writer $2.5 million in damages.
However, in 1993, the author, being suspicious about the studio’s compliance, hired an investigator to check out video-store copies in five cities.
He then found out that the New Line had released the film with his name still attached to it.
Later, the court decided the studio should pay King $10,000 a day if his name were not removed by the end of the week.
In addition to that, the studio had to pay King any profit earned from the video.
In the end, the “King” had won the victory of the legal battle.
How Stephen King Spends His Money
With his humungous net worth, maybe you’re wondering what the “King” spends his money on?
Bear with me, because I’m going to show you how this author likes to splash his cash.
This King is a man of charity works. He donates a lot of money to charity.
King and his wife give scholarships to local students in Maine and contribute to many other local and national charities.
On a different note –
… King purchased a home in Bangor, Maine for $135,000 in 1980 which is estimated to be worth $853,579 today.
Stephen King Houses
The author and his wife have a Victorian home built in 1870 in Bangor, Maine. The interior of the house features 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and a total of 4,952 square feet.
This waterfront mansion located in Casey Key, Sarasota, Florida offers a 6,817 square-foot home with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a swimming pool, and a tennis court that was constructed around 2014.
The author bought this in April 2001 for $8.9 million.
All The Cars…
The King sure loves classic cars…
…but how do I know?
Well, we can infer it just by reading his books. If you’ve noticed, he often includes them in his volumes.
But can we tell if he really owns those cars written there?
Hell yeah!
We can assume he writes about the ones he owns.
So here are the cars that have been featured in some of his novels:
A 1959 Plymouth Fury
In the book titled Christine, we can see King’s fondness for anything with a wheel at each corner.
This book is all about a 1958 Plymouth Fury. The story revolves around a car with a peculiar past. It includes the demise of the wife and child of the previous owner – inside the car.
As the plot progresses, more fatalities transpire – each of which are connected to Christine.
We see that the car has taken human characteristics.
1953 Buick Roadmaster
Another horror novel of King which features a car is From a Buick 8. It’s a well-written imaginary ghost tale about the elusive vehicle.
It centers on the town of Statler in Pennsylvania, where the state police of troop D kept a strange 1954 Buick Roadmaster in the barracks since 1979.
It turns out the car isn’t what it appears to be – when the whole town is struck by unusual and supernatural occurrences.
1965 Ford Mustang
This car is featured in King’s novel Misery.
It’sabout a novelist Paul Sheldon who had a car accident riding his 1965 Ford Mustang on the way through the mountains in Colorado. He was rescued and held captive by a psychotic fan named Annie Wilkes, who forced him to write a novel for her.
1954 Ford Galaxie Sunliner
A classic car featured in 11/23/63 is a 1954 Ford Galaxie Sunliner.
In 11/23/63, the time traveler, Jake Epping, travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John Kennedy.
He touched down in 1958.
He purchases a 1954 Ford Galaxie Sunliner as he tries to exist in a world of this era. As he transitions to life in mid-century America, the Ford Galaxy makes Epping change his identity.
Here are 10 things you might not have known about the modern-day horror master.
- He was hit by a car, then bought the car that hit him.
- He played in a band with other successful authors.
- He had battled drug and alcohol problems in the ‘80s.
- He suffered from triskaidekaphobia.
- He banned his own book, “Rage”.
- His house looks like it could be haunted.
- He was inspired to write by H.P. Lovecraft’s “Lurker in the Shadows”.
- He tries to write a minimum of 2,000 words a day.
- He has written under two pen names: Richard Bachman and John Swithen.
- He threw the first draft of “Carrie” into the trash.
Stephen King Philanthropy
Stephen is not just an author, but he is also a philanthropist. He doesn’t hesitate to help, especially local people in his hometown, Maine.
Stephen together with his wife, Tabitha, founded the “Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation” which gives more than $2.8 million yearly to charities.
Each year, he donates $4 million to libraries, schools, and organizations that support the arts.
Aside from that, he donates lifesaving equipment to local fire departments in need of utility assistance.
Back in 2011 of November, his foundation donated $70,000 to help the families in Bangor, Maine pay for their heating bills.
- Get ready for self-doubt. Then shut it out.
- Don’t fear change.
- Keep going. No matter what, keep going.
- Communicate clearly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Stephen King a billionaire?
Not yet. Presently, his net worth is $400 million.
What is the title of Stephen King’s top-selling novel?
These are his top-selling novels, according to Forbes: Carrie (1974),’ Salem’s Lot (1975), The Shining (1977), The Stand (1978), Pet Sematary (1983), It (1986), Misery (1987),11/22/63.
Where is Stephen King now?
After 37 years of living in this small Maine city, the literal King of horror novels is decamping elsewhere. Apparently, he’s been spending more time at his summer home in Center Lovell, ME, a lake region near the New Hampshire border, and catching the Sunshine State’s rays in Casey Key, FL.
What is Stephen King’s IQ?
Augusta, ME (AP) – A leak from the records division of the Maine State Board of Education has revealed that Stephen, the best-selling horror author of all-time, has an IQ of 40.
What is Stephen King’s longest book?
Stephen King’s longest book is “The Stand”
Summary: Stephen King Net Worth & Earnings
So there you have it…
…everything you need to know on how this all American author made his fortune.
I’m sure you’ll agree, he’s one of the greatest authors of all time – demonstrated by the sheer volume of his sales.
What I found captivating in this article is the fact that he always has a heart for his hometown – and serving there by encouraging education in the arts.
I’m sure there’s a lot we can learn both from his huge success.
I hope you enjoyed this article – you might also want to check out Stephen’s Bounce Mojo Bio, and the best of his memes.
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