According to Forbes magazine the year 2012-2013, Robert John Downey, Jr. is the richest Hollywood actor. There have been years of struggle with substance abuse, rehab stints, and even a little jail time, and through all this, he emerged as the biggest movie star in Hollywood. Now he is a bankable star, who went laughing to his bank to stash his $75 million earnings from 2012-2013. A whopping sum!

Read About: Richest Actors In The World

Net Worth	$140 million
Date of Birth	4th April, 1965
Age	48 years old
Famously Known As	Iron Man, Tony Stark, Hulk, Sherlock Holmes
Famous Superhero Movie (By Marvel Studio)	The Avengers, Iron Man Sequel, The Incredible Hulk
Own Production Company	Team Downey
First Movie	Pound (At the age of five and directed by his father)
Father's Name	Robert John Elias
Married Twice	Deborah Falconer and Susan (Present wife)
2 Children	Indio Falconer and Exton Elias Downey
Weakness	Drug Addiction (Imprisoned many times due to it)

His oodles of talents speak for his success and earned accolades for his role in ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ on his return tour. The who’s who of the Marvel Studio put him up the cinematic map by casting him as Tony Stark in Iron man- their first self-financed production. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Robert Downey Jr.’s wife

In the year 1992, this Hollywood actor married Deborah Falconer, an American musician and also a yesteryear Elite Model. After four years of a long marriage, Deborah filed for divorce in 1996. During the making of the 2003 thriller movie Gothika, this richest actor started romancing Susan Nicole and later married on August 27 in the year 2005. Together, they established a production company named ‘ Team Downey. The actor also appreciates Susan’s support in helping him get rid of substance abuse. Downey and Susan have been blessed with a baby boy in 2012. He has a son from his previous marriage too. They have bought a palatial ranch-like mansion in Malibu, California, a befitting abode and definitely Tony Stark-worthy. It is a $13.4 million home of 3500 sq ft., facing the Pacific Ocean.

Films And Career Of Richest Hollywood Actors

He started his acting career at the age of 5, wherein he acted as a puppy in his father’s film, named Pound, an avant-garde filmmaker, Robert Downey Sr., his mother, an actress herself, instilled in him the love for acting. Hence, acting is in his blood. From action to drama, comedy to even gruesome, he has tried it all and his prowess in histrionics shone through his problems. Less than Zero, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Chaplin, Soapdish, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes series, Iron Man trilogy, and The Avengers are some of his movies where he is most widely recognized for his roles. He received his first Oscar nomination for Chaplin in the early ‘ 90s; he went on to win a BAFTA in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category.

It is strange how fortune and fame favor the richest actor. Just a few years ago, he was considered a box office no-no, and studios adjudged him as damaged goods. He started brilliantly in the late ’80s with movies like The Pick-Up Artist and Less Than Zero. But drugs pulled him down until he became undependable. The directors gave him work, but for the most part, his career seemed to be plummeting.

Awards And Accolades

He has won more than 15 international awards like MTV Movie Award for Best Fight, People’s Choice Award, Golden Globe Award, Saturn Award, etc. He forayed into the small screen with Ally McBeal in 2000 and was a regular cast member. Soon after he won accolades for his performance and took home the 2001 Golden Globe Award, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award a little later too. But his employer’s patience was tested because of his complicated personal life, which forced his employers to wrap up the series without him in the final episodes.

Mel Gibson, his long-standing friend, stood by him like a rock in his hour of need. When he could not even get something as commonplace as an insurance bond due to past troubles with the law, Gibson got his work in The Singing Detective in 2003. And now it’s kind of payback time for Downey. He wants his close friends, Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster, to join the Marvel Universe roster. Downey burst into the big screen as a box-office star in 2008 with his smash hit Iron Man, wherein he played the wealthy industrialist-turned-crime fighter Tony Stark. And there was no looking back after that.

Skills And Success In Hollywood

The Iron Man showed to the world his mettle as a blockbuster attraction. The 2008 production of Iron Man raked in a whopping $585 million worldwide. He took a risk and starred in the war spoof Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller and Jack Black. Accolades rolled in for his role, which also saw Oscar, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild nominations for best performance by a male actor in a supporting role. RDJ starred in the Sherlock Holmes franchise, directed by Guy Ritchie, which essentially piggy-rode on the able shoulders of RDJ. The Sherlock Holmes franchise too hung on his screen charisma.

Ranking And Assets

According to the ranking of Forbes magazine, and in the list of most powerful celebrities he ranks #20. He jumped 46 places in a span of two years and in the same period he gave hits like Iron man 3 and The Avengers. “The Avengers” movie is the third highest-grossing movie of all time after Titanic and Avatar, with a mind-blowing $1.5 billion at the box office. Though it was a multi-cast movie, he was spectacular, because anybody could play Captain America or others, but Iron Man could be none other than RDJ. He was the one who benefited the most from this and made a tidy sum, a huge cut of $50 million from the movie’s back end. He earned more than anyone making him one of the richest actors in the world, including director Joss Whedon. On the whole, his total earnings in the year 2012-2013 are $75 million.

Who Is The Bollywood Richest Actor?

Movie Business

He was lucky enough to have his agents to be able to negotiate ‘first dollar participation’ for him, that is, when a film makes a certain profit, a percentage is paid to the richest Hollywood actor. And those who manage this earn rich dividends, as has RDJ. Johnny Depp has made around $250 million from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Tom Cruise gets $75 million from Mission Impossible movies.

He has starred in six movies that have each made over $500 million at the global box office. The Avengers and Iron Man 3 each raked in over $1 billion. The Iron Man franchise has earned $2.4 billion. And this is what makes him a bankable star in Hollywood. As long as the Iron Man is willing to don his suit, silver will continue to crinkle. He invested in Time Warner, a YouTube venture with Maker Studios so that he can earn more money than ever. He and Steve Levin co-founded @Downey Ventures for investing in digital media start-ups and consumer entertainment technology companies.