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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 336 Antonia Ax:son Johnson|# 338 Igor Olenicoff ➡

# 337 David Geffen 

$8.50B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 11/18/2024
-$4.3M (-0.05%)

# 337 David Geffen 

$8.50B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 11/18/2024
-$4.3M (-0.05%)
OccupationCofounder, DreamWorks Animation
Source of WealthMovies, Record Labels
Age81
ResidenceBeverly Hills, California
Marital StatusSingle
EducationDrop Out, The University of Texas at Austin
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$2.05B
David Geffen
David Geffen
United States
Net worth: $8.50B

Self-Made Score 

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Chronograph

Wealth History

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Biography

Overview

David Lawrence Geffen was born on February 21, 1943, in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrants Abraham Geffen and Batya Volovskaya.
He attended Brooklyn's New Utrecht High School, graduating in 1960, and briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin and Brooklyn College before dropping out.
Geffen moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, eventually attending Santa Monica College.
Despite challenges with dyslexia, he began his career in 1964 as a mailroom clerk at the William Morris Agency, where he later became a talent agent.
In 1971, Geffen co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts after struggling to secure a record deal for Jackson Browne.
He then founded Geffen Records in 1980, releasing successful albums by artists like Donna Summer and John Lennon's 'Double Fantasy.'
In 1994, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, producing films like 'Risky Business' and 'Beetlejuice.'
Geffen is renowned for his extensive contemporary art collection, including works by Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, and Willem de Kooning, valued at $1.1 billion in 2013.
He has made significant philanthropic contributions, notably pledging $150 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2017, the largest gift in its history.

Real Estate

David Geffen is a luxury property owner, boasting one of NYC's most expensive apartments, a residence in the Hamptons, and two estates in Beverly Hills.
Until 2017, he owned a Malibu compound on Carbon Beach, which was subject to controversy over public beach access.

Art Collection

Geffen's art collection includes significant works by American artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning.
He made headlines for selling paintings from his collection, including a Jasper Johns and a De Kooning, for a combined sum of $143.5 million in 2006.

Yachts

In 2007, Geffen purchased a half-share in Larry Ellison's luxury yacht, Rising Sun, later acquiring the remaining half in 2010.
He bought the 115-meter yacht Pelorus from Roman Abramovich in 2011 for $300 million and sold it later that year for €214 million.
Geffen faced criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic for posting about self-isolating on his yacht, drawing attention to his significant carbon footprint.

Controversy

Geffen was embroiled in controversy over a Malibu compound, where he initially failed to provide public beach access as promised, leading to legal battles.
In 2022, he was investigated for insider trading of options on Activision Blizzard, although he denied the allegations.

David Geffen's Wealth is Equivalent to:

6,543,495 Herman Miller Aeron Chairs

Herman Miller Aeron Chair

1,608,325 Gold Bars (50 gram)

24K Solid 50g Gold Ingot

86,872 Tiny Homes

Tiny House, Two Bedroom Solar Prefab Home

How long would it take you to become as rich as David Geffen?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 43.43% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach David Geffen's net worth of $8.50B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 58.67% compared to 23.91% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

Enter data in all but one field below, then calculate the missing value

David Geffen is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For David Geffen, Movies and Record Labels are the primary sources. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. We only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers.

Edited by: Lee Bailey