REESE BECOMES RICHEST ACTRESS
THE STAR BECOMES THE WORLD’S RICHEST ACTRESS AS SHE SELLS HER PRODUCTION COMPANY FOR . BILLION
Two decades ago, Reese Witherspoon won hearts by playing the ultimate flaxen-haired ditz, Elle Woods, in Legally Blonde. And just as everyone in the 2001 rom-com underestimated the tenacity of Elle, few would have foreseen the Hollywood heavyweight that Witherspoon would become 20 years later.
On August 2, Forbes magazine officially declared the charming Southern belle, 45, as the world’s richest actress when she announced her media company, Hello Sunshine, had been sold to private equity firm Blackstone for an eye-watering $1.2 billion. Founded by Witherspoon in 2016, the business includes Reese’s Book Club, a mobile book club app and a film and TV production wing, which is behind hits such as Big Little Lies and Morning Wars.
The sale brings Witherspoon’s personal wealth to $540 million, reported Forbes. Despite the staggering payday, the actress isn’t planning on putting her feet up and retiring just yet. Witherspoon retains an 18 per cent stake in the company and a spot on the board. The mum-of-three
plans to use her position to create even more content targeted at women.
“I started this company to change the way all women are seen in media,” Witherspoon said following the announcement. “I’m going to double down on that mission to hire more female creators from all walks of life and showcase their experiences. This is a meaningful move in the world because it really means that women’s stories matter,” she added.
Despite being entrepreneurial savvy, which has seen the star become a fully fledged business mogul, Witherspoon never planned to go out on her own. The company was born out of necessity as her birthdays ticked over and the offers of roles in the rom-coms she was renowned for started to dry up.
“I’ll never forget, I had a financial adviser tell me, ‘You need to start saving.’ I was, like, 37 and he said, ‘You need to start saving right now because you’re going to be making drastically less money in your 40s,’” she told the Los Angeles Times. “Basically, [he said,] ‘You’re not going to have much of a career,”’ she explained.
Reaping the benefits of Witherspoon’s success are her husband Jim Toth and their 8-year-old son Tennessee, and the two children the actress shares with ex Ryan Phillippe – daughter Ava, 21, and son Deacon, 17. Though Witherspoon doesn’t mind sharing the spoils, it was the talent agent, 51, whom she’s been married to for 10 years, who first suggested she should combine her two passions: film and books.
“[Jim] said, ‘You should produce movies. You read more books than anybody I know. You should just buy some of them and turn them into films,’” Witherspoon told US Harper’s Bazaar magazine.
To those who know the A-lister best, her meteoric rise comes as no surprise. Even before Witherspoon landed her first role playing Dani in The Man in the Moon at age 16, she already had a reputation for being a perfectionist. As a child, her family nicknamed her “Little Miss Type A” for her competitive and high-achieving personality, she previously confessed.
It was the strong work ethic that Witherspoon had from a young age that she has parlayed into several successful companies, including her clothing line, Draper James.
Witherspoon would be the first to tell you that people have underestimated her during her career. “Being a Southern person and a blonde, it’s not a good combination,” she previously said. “Immediately, when people meet you, they think of you as not being smart.”
But now, the star has proved all her detractors wrong and is laughing all the way to the bank!
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