My First Million - Billy of the Week: Tyler Perry

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

Sam Parr (@theSamParr) sits down with Steph Smith (@StephSmithio), indie creator and host of the "Sh*t You Didn't Learn in School" podcast, to talk about Tyler Perry and how he was able to become a billionaire in the entertainment industry.  _____ * Do you love MFM and want to see Sam and Shaan's smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. * Would you like to participate in our clips contest? Earn up to $10k by remixing My First Million episodes. To learn more, go to mfmpod.com/clips. * Want more insights like MFM? Check out Shaan's newsletter.

Tyler Perry, I don't know a lot about him, but I know that he's a baller. Yeah. And he's incredibly talented. So what's cool about Tyler Perry is like, one, he's a billionaire. But I mean, not a ton of people are billionaires, but like he is, I think, an unexpected billionaire in the sense that some people haven't even heard his name. Right. And there's a lot more people who you would think are more well known, who at least at first glance have done more things. But he's done a ton of things.

But just to compare it, you're like, okay, a bill. million dollars. Like he works in, you know, in the, uh, movie slash TV slash, um, play industry. So like, okay, that doesn't sound so crazy. But like Taylor Swift, guess what her net worth was? I pulled this earlier this year. So it's probably way higher, but. Maybe what? 50. So 365 million. Oh my God. Leo DiCaprio. How much do you think his net worth is? 100.

260. Serena Williams. Uh, is Serena the oldest or the youngest? She's the She's the younger one. Venus is the older. 200? Yeah, so 225. Anyway, I shared those.

Wait, but what are those? What's that source? I don't know. I mean, some site on Google. So yeah, take it with a grain of salt. Dude, those sites are bullshit. If you Google, like, I tested this.

If you Google a couple people's net worth, some of my personal websites come up number one. And I just made this shit up. And I've seen people cite it. Well, yeah, I mean, definitely take it with a grain of salt because I've definitely Googled some. this stuff before and you'll see someone and one site will be like, their net worth is like 50k. And another site, it'll be like their net worth is 50 million. So it's, it definitely,

you know, can vary. But the point is, through the podcast, I've met one or two like celebrities who if you Google, they'll be like, yeah, they're worth 10 or 15 and I've talked to them. They're like, I wish. They're like, I make like $100,000 a year. Yeah. Okay. So Tyler Perry is, like, at least, I think he was like written about by several different publications. I think they verified he's a billionaire. I believe with him. With him, I believe it, because he's on the Forbes list. Yes, exactly. So, Forbes is very reputable for that, for that reason.

His story is awesome because he basically, I mean, he didn't start out with much. So he used to, when he was younger, he used to watch his dad's subcontract and his dad would make 800 bucks and the person who he's contracting for with like net 80,000. And he remembers thinking at the time, like, I always knew there was more power in the man that owned the house rather than the man working on building it. So I wanted to be the guy who owned the house. like very early on understood the principal and the importance of ownership. And he had a messed up childhood. I think he was molested a little bit. I think his dad was abusive.

This guy went through a lot. Yeah. And he was also a high school dropout. So when he dropped out of high school, he was doing a bunch of different odd jobs. He struggled to pay rent. He was a bill collector. He sold cars. Like he did all types of stuff. But eventually he saved up enough, which was 12K to rent an Atlanta community theater. So this was his first bet. He basically wrote this play himself. It was called, I know I've been changed. And he started running this play.

And you're probably thinking like, oh, okay, overnight success. No, it was really bad at first. And he struggled to pay rent. And he actually worked on this play for over a decade. He produced the play. He sold the tickets. He designed the set. He sold the snacks.

So he was like doing the whole thing because no one else. would invest in him at the time. But over that decade, I think the play got better. He like reined in his chops. And basically, throughout that decade period, he sold over 100 million in theater tickets, 20 million in merch, and 30 million in just the videos of the plays.

Because again, he owned the IP. So he could actually make money. He was just making plays. Like interesting plays. And which sounds simple, but that's like in itself. Hard. Crazy.

So he made these wonderful plays. And was it like he made a bunch and then they went to different. And they like, did he like literally tour and just make like 50 grand a night through like hosting it in Atlanta and then Nashville and then like Chicago or wherever? I think that it was just this one play. I know I've been changed. But I do think they did like several tours. And actually one of the one of the different theaters that he eventually ended up at. So remember he was just at this like Atlanta community theater to start.

He ended up, you know, at the acclaimed Fox Theater. So he like moved his way up. And I think this one play I know I've been changed kind of helped unlock some things for him. So that was his start. He started with plays. But even then, you know, that 100 plus million, a lot of that was in theater tickets. I don't know how much profit he made from that. So the next thing is he basically said, okay, I want to do something new.

And that was a hundred million in over 10 years? Yes, exactly. So it's over like a long period of time. That's amazing. And so basically he wanted to create, I think, a movie next. And he basically wanted to create. It was called like the diary of a mad black woman, which is pretty funny. And he definitely knows his audience, right?

So he's definitely like tailored his career towards, you know, an audience that he understands really well. But when he wanted to create this, he basically, you know, like no one would take him up on it. He's looking for a distributor. And the only people that will take him up on it and act as his distributor was Lionscape. But even then, Lionscape was like, we're not so sure. So basically Tyler had to put up half the money. He said, look, like, you know, if this is what it takes, like, I'll put up half the money.

And how much was it? The nice thing about that, I'm not sure how much it was, actually. But the great thing about that deal, which you'll see throughout every deal he does. So the budget, by the way, the budget was 5.5. So he put up 2.2.2. What's that 3? Nice. So with that deal, though, he owned and controlled the content. So basically every deal he's done.

like he's he's owning that IP. So the Lionsgate CEO basically said like before it was released, like if this makes $20 million total, because yeah, like the budget was like 5 mil, he's like we'll be really stoked. And it did over $20 million in weekend one. And since then is made over $150 million in licensing alone. That's crazy. So like first of all, like I understand. So he launched this stuff in the 90s or not in the plays in the 90s.

or not in the plays in the 90s and 2000s. And basically like the black population is, I don't know what, 12% of America. And so you think like, so you're going to do a thing dedicated to only 12% of one group? Like there's no way that can be big. And he totally proved it correct because I, it's kind of like in,

is it ice? Where's Bjork from? Iceland. So I think Iceland. and Iceland doesn't have a lot of people. But Bjork is incredibly famous. And I think the reason is, is Iceland had so much pride

that a huge chunk of the Icelandic population was like, oh, we love Bjork. Therefore, once they start seeing her succeed, they get behind her and they go, Bjork is awesome. And that's almost what happens here a little bit. And that's kind of why sometimes it's cool to appeal to a smaller but more passionate base

than it is to appeal to the larger percentage. Yeah. And by the way, Iceland has a population. of 366,000 people. Is it that small? Very small. I remember I had a friend on exchange from Iceland, and she told me, not jokingly,

they have a dating app that makes sure that you are not related to someone that you are dating because it's such a small population. And hey, they made, and Bjork sucks. Sorry if you're a Bjork fan, but objectively, she sucks. It is not good music. So, like, it was definitely, you know,

they say it was like, it was the product good or the marketing good, the Icelandic marketing, or whatever she's from, And it was wonderful because they made her famous. That's so funny. Anyway, so that was his first foray into movies, but then he kept going. Okay, so he's done play.

Then he's done a movie. And now he wants to do TV. Okay, so he goes and basically he goes and creates 10 episodes first himself. Because again, he's like, I can do this. Like, I produced a play for 10 years. I don't need to hire a bunch of people. I can do this myself. So he creates 10 episodes first.

He sells it to one network called CW and they air it. And the ratings are through the roof. Absolutely love it. And because of that, it caught the attention of another network, which basically was like, hey, can we steal this? And they did. And they struck a deal for $200 million for him to leave this other network. And he would produce 90 more episodes. And again, he owned the episodes, which is kind of crazy. He owned the IP of those episodes, even after that $200 million deal. This deal alone is expected to have made him $138 million. So his show, his earnings. Then, you know, people still aren't really paying attention to Tyler for some reason. He continues to make, remember that Lionsgate deal that he did, he continues to make movies with them. And over time, he makes an 11 film franchise that's done over a billion in sales and netted him, specifically him individually, over $290 million. Because again, he always owned the copyright. And then Tyler made one, I mean, I'm sure he's made other bets, but one really big bet in 2015, which basically this whole time,

He's like an Atlanta native, right? And he kind of saw the potential for the city. And so he bought a plot of land worth $30,000, sorry, $30 million at the time, $330 acres and about double the size of a Warner Bros. Warner Brothers lot. And he turned it into this like production base or different like media companies could go and film shows. So since then, I think like the Walking Dead has filmed their Black Panther. And part of it is he actually like,

it wasn't just him betting on his city. He saw that in 2008, Georgia had changed the tax law. So there were certain incentives for production companies. So we saw these incentives and he said, you know what? I think people are different production companies. And I bet. Maybe they could have created those incentives just for him. Well, I mean, this happened.

So the law happened in 2008. He did this in 2015. So we saw that this was changing. And basically, in 2007 before that law, 67 million was spent in or sorry in Georgia and then in 2018 it was 2.9 billion

much thanks to Tyler and his investment there but basically because of that then he was also to he's since signed like a $150 million deal with Viacom, CBS to run another suite of episodes and he's just like kept going in every juncture he's made sure to own

what he's producing and so now he like has listen to this he's basically amassed 22 films, dozens of plays, and 1,200 TV episodes. That's what, like, his, like, life work so far, plus this, like, production base. And he owns much of his work. Even the latest $150 million deal, I think he sold it for five years. But after those five years, the rights returned to him. I love Tyler Perry.

Is there a Tyler Perry biography out there? I would read that in a heartbeat. He, I think there's a few. Go to Google Tyler Perry House. He's got a, this huge spread outside of Atlanta with a, private jet runway. No one has that. That is baller. So I was doing this podcast earlier today with Rob Walling. And I was talking about how at Hustle Khan, because I've met all these successful people and these billionaires and stuff like that, that I'm like, I was like often, I'll meet someone, like,

for example, like the founders of Casper or something like that. And I'll say to myself, you know, you're like maybe you're financially more successful than I am, maybe. And, And like your company is definitely bigger than my company. But I don't think that you're necessarily like if I, I don't think you're necessarily 20 times or 50 times more smart or smarter than I am or however much bigger. I was like, you know, like we're in the same ballpark. You might be a little bit or maybe even I might be a little bit smarter or even hardworking or something like that. The difference is is that maybe you just kept at it or there's probably some luck involved or you, you kind of like,

landed on the right idea. Like, you're not like significantly better than me. And therefore, that's why I believe that most people can accomplish something interesting. Of course, like, it definitely takes luck and like all this crazy other stuff to become a billionaire. But like, we can all become pretty successful if we just kind of stick with it because the intelligence isn't that big of a factor in order to achieve some success. However, I see guys like Tyler Perry. And I see the work that they like their output and their genius. And I think, well, we're just not the same. You're just better than me. Like, you are. so good at what you do.

I saw Hamilton the other day, and I was researching Lynn Manuel, and I was like, oh, you're just a freak. Like, you, like, I was watching it, and I was like, I don't even like musicals, but the fact that someone was so brilliant that they came up with us and put this together, that, like, I understand,

you should be a billionaire. Like, you should have it all. You should, or like, when I read Harry Potter, I'm like, how on earth does one person invent this in their brain? You, you're better than me. You and I, we are not the same. You are just a different human being and you're more of an alien than you are a human being. And that's how I feel about Tyler Perry.

That's how I feel about like Lynn and Manuel or what does his name, Lynn Manuel. And that's how I feel about like a JK Rowling type. So k. Rowing type. So kudos to Tyler Perry. He deserves it. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy. He's done like over 1,200 TV episodes. Like you have to be just like so good at what you do to be able to do that for like, I think his first play came out in 1992. So he's been creating for 30 years straight. And it's like some people are one hit wonders. Like this guy. not a one-hit wonder. He like, he knows what he's doing. He's like honed in his craft. And so yeah,

it's like super cool. I remember I got a lot of flack for this, but I like once tweeted something about like Jeff Bezos. I think he had like resigned. And I was like, this guy's been working on this company for 27 years. Like how rare is it that someone works on anything for even like five years straight? And these guys like Tyler Perry as well, like he's just like worked on his craft for decades. Like that's insane. Yeah, it's pretty cool. I think that um like we were talking about on this podcast. I was like, you know, I think I could become a billionaire if I wanted to. I just, you have to be willing to dedicate like 30 years to it. Like, I'm definitely smart enough and I, and I work pretty hard. I just don't know if I'm like, if I like want to spend the time doing it.

And, and, and, and I think a lot of people who achieve greatness, they're not much different. Except there are people. I was like, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, I was like, you just have more horsepower than I do. Like, you're just different. And I'm going to put Tyler Perry in that category. You just, you just, we're just, we're just, we're not the same. You know what I mean? Yeah, I know. It's just like a race car versus like, you know, not a race car. Like there's just no amount of modifications. Can I make my car as fast as that?

Yeah, you have to like have so much horsepower to want to do this for so long, which is why you're, you ask me all the time. You're like, you want to be a billionaire? And like every time you ask me, I'm like, less sure of the fact that I want to do it. Because I'm like, yeah, everyone wants to be a billionaire. Everyone wants to like amass. Well, maybe not everyone. But a lot of people are like, yeah, I'd love to live like a great life.

But a lot of people don't want to put in. that effort. And now I'm questioning. Like, I think I'll actually be pretty happy with less than a billion. Yes. I think you'll be, you do, you definitely don't need that to be happy. That's for sure.