JAMES PATTERSON—$800 Million

American author and esteemed philanthropist, James Patterson, whose books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide and earned the distinction of being the first author to be able to sell 1 million digital books, is reportedly worth $800 million. This, of course, isn’t at all surprising considering he reportedly rakes in $70-90 million a year from book sales alone. Indeed, some wealth tracking sites have listed him as the third wealthiest author in the world, surpassed only by J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame and Elisabeth Badinter, who’s said to be “France’s most influential intellectual.”

So Patterson definitely is, to his credit, in good company. Patterson is best known for his enthralling fictional thriller novels. At least sixteen of his novels were adapted into TV and big-screen films and series, such as Women’s Murder Club, Zoo, Sundays at Tiffany’s, Alex Cross, Maximum Ride, and Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, to name a few.