Kevin Hart’s Bank Account, No Laughing Matter!

27 Sep, 2016

Since 2006, Jerry Seinfeld has seemed the insurmountable King of Comedy. His combined pretax earnings over the last 10 years top $900 million, and year after year he has claimed the top spot on our list of the world’s highest-paid comedians.

No longer: For the first time since FORBES started delving into the money of the funny business, someone other than Seinfeld has taken the title of the top-earning joker. Between June 2015 and June 2016, Kevin Hart made $87.5 million—over $30 million more than Seinfeld’s $43.5 million. That haul also earned Hart sixth place on the Celebrity 100, FORBES’ annual list of celebrity money-makers.

The reason for Hart’s dominance is simple: He tours like no other comedian. In the 12-month period, Hart played over 100 shows with an average gross of over $1 million at each stop. And these shows aren’t at dingy comedy clubs; Hart played stadiums and arenas, including Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center. Because the stand-up comedian’s set requires little more than a stool, water bottle and microphone, he takes home a larger cut of that gross than most rock stars would.

“He is a comedian, of course, but he is drawing crowds that you would typically only see for musician,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar. “Only a few comedians [are] capable of playing sports arenas the way that Kevin Hart does.”

To pad his tour earnings—which make up the overwhelming majority of his eight-figure haul—Hart took to both the big and small screens, starring in the films Central Intelligence and Secret Life of Pets, and shooting commercials for Hyundai , Foot Locker and H&M.

Forbes

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