Earlier this month, when Forbes magazine released its annual list of highest-paid actors, Dwayne Johnson topped it quite unsurprisingly.

The wrestler-turned-actor had a bumper year with two big releases – Moana 2 and Red One.

Most of the other stars in the top 10 had big releases behind them, barring Jerry Seinfeld, who maintained his top 10 spot courtesy of royalties from his iconic show.

Yet, the comedy veteran lost his spot as the world’s highest-paid comedian to a junior – who himself had little success at the box office, and yet earned $81 million in 2024.

The world’s highest-paid comedian

Kevin Hart earned $81 million net ($108 million gross) to end up as the highest-paid comedian in 2024. In the overall list of all actors, Hart stood at number 3, behind only Dwayne Johnson ($88 million) and Ryan Reynolds ($83 million).

Surprisingly, he was ahead of Jerry Seinfeld in number 4, who earned $60 million, largely on the back of Seinfeld and Unfrosted.

Kevin Hart’s most successful year (monetarily) earned him more money than even Hollywood icons and superstars like Tom Cruise ($15 million), Hugh Jackman ($50 million), Brad Pitt ($32 million), and George Clooney ($31 million).

How did Kevin Hart make his millions

Hart relied on diversity, the hallmark of any good investment portfolio. In his citation, Forbes noted that ‘nobody had a more diversified entertainment slate in 2024 than Hart’.

In 2024, he “starred in a theatrical release (Borderlands), a Netflix film (Lift), an Amazon Prime movie (Die Hart 2: Die Harter), a series on The Roku Channel (Die Hart season three), a series on Peacock (Fight Night), the roast of Tom Brady on Netflix, a weekly podcast for Spotify (Gold Minds), not to mention 90 stand-up comedy shows.”

The comedian also earned through endorsements, in addition to these $81 million earnings from just entertainment work. As Forbes succinctly put it: “you basically can’t turn on any screen without seeing the 45-year-old comedian.”