4 Child Stars Who Became Billionaires

From Jami Gertz to Selena Gomez, these former child actors have built substantial fortunes

NEED TO KNOW

• Several child stars went on to create fortunes outside of Hollywood
• Selena Gomez became a billionaire thanks to her beauty company, Rare Beauty, in addition to her music and acting career
• Others, like Jami Gertz, left the spotlight altogether

Growing up in the spotlight has its ups and downs, but several former child stars have turned their early fame into fortunes.

"I made a lot of money in entertainment at a very young age and I saved it," Jessica Alba, who landed her first film feature when she was 13, told Forbes in June 2015.

After years of working in the industry, the actress co-founded The Honest Company in 2012, which was valued at $1 billion just three years later.

Alba isn’t alone — a number of former child and teen stars have parlayed early success into impressive wealth, from billion-dollar business ventures to sprawling entertainment empires, including Jami Gertz and Selena Gomez.

Here’s a closer look at five celebrities who turned childhood fame into massive fortunes.

01 of 04

Jami Gertz

Gertz’s role as an owner of the Atlanta Hawks — which she purchased with her husband, Tony Ressler, whose net worth is currently estimated at $11 billion, per Forbes — is a far cry from her days as a young actress starring in classic films like Twister and Sixteen Candles.

But she's long pushed back on the narrative that her wealth stems solely from her marriage.

“Everyone thinks I married a rich guy,” Gertz told The Hollywood Reporter in October 2018. “But I made more money — way more money — than Tony when I met him. I paid for our first house. I paid for our first vacation. I married him because I fell in love with him.”

02 of 04

Brock Pierce

Since starring in the Disney film The Mighty Ducks, former child star Brock Pierce has amassed a massive fortune in cryptocurrency.

According to Forbes — which named him the ninth-wealthiest person in the crypto industry in 2018 — he was one of the early pioneers who funded multiple companies.

His estimated crypto net worth was between $700 million and $1 billion at the time.

“I literally walked away from all of the opportunity,” Pierce told Rolling Stone in July 2018 of his decision to leave Hollywood when he started high school.

He continued, “I’ve been doing this my whole life. Once you reinvent yourself three, four, five times, you eventually just realize you can do this infinitely, with whatever time you have.”

03 of 04

Selena Gomez

Gomez may have gotten her start on Disney Channel and Barney & Friends, but the actress and singer has her entrepreneurial chops to thank for her $700 million net worth, which at one point was estimated to be over $1 billion.

According to Forbes, her biggest asset in 2025 was her makeup line Rare Beauty, which she launched in 2020.

In addition to her company, according to Forbes, she's also earned around $90 million from her TV shows, music, tours and brand endorsements, and $24 million from her Emmy-winning comedy series Only Murders in the Building.

04 of 04

Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner first gained fame as a child star in reality TV, working alongside her older sisters in Keeping Up with the Kardashians since she was 9 years old.

The entrepreneur went on to start her own beauty empire, Kylie Cosmetics, in 2015, eventually selling 51% of it in January 2020 for $600 million.

Though at one point she was worth over $1 billion, making her one of the youngest self-made billionaires ever, Forbes reported her net worth to be $670 million as of June 2025.

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