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George Clooney is 2018’s highest-paid actor because of tequila

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casamigos
George Clooney and Rande Gerber, two of the three
founders of Casamigos tequila.

Courtesy Casamigos

  • George Clooney is the highest-paid male actor of 2018,
    even though he didn’t appear in a film.
  • Instead, he has the $1 billion sale of his Casamigos
    tequila to thank for his $239 million pay cheque.
  • This figure knocked former highest-paid actor Dwayne
    “The Rock” Johnson into second place.
  • You can read the story of how Casamigos
    was set up by accident here.

George Clooney is officially the highest-paid male actor of 2018,
knocking Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson off the top spot — and he has
tequila, rather than films, to thank.

The 57-year-old earned $239 million between June 1 2017 and June
1 2018, making him the highest-paid actor on Forbes’ list despite
the fact he hasn’t featured in a film since 2016’s “Money
Monster.”

Instead, his position is mostly thanks to the $1 billion sale of his tequila
brand Casamigos to drinks giant Diageo in June last year
,
according to Forbes, as well
as additional earnings from endorsements and older films.

The actor and two friends founded Casamigos, one of the
fastest-growing tequila brands in the world, in 2013. When
Business Insider spoke to Rande
Gerber, Clooney’s business partner, in March 2017
, he said
the idea came about “by accident,” and that money was never the
reason for launching the brand.

In an email to CNBC last June,
Clooney said: “If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion
dollar company, I don’t think we would have said yes. This
reflects Diageo’s belief in our company and our belief in Diageo.
But we’re not going anywhere. We’ll still be very much a part of
Casamigos. Starting with a shot tonight. Maybe two.”

Elsewhere on Forbes’ list, The Rock came in second place banking
$124 million in the same period, followed by Robert Downey Jr. at
$81 million.

You can see the full list of the 10
highest-paid male actors,
who made $748.5 million combined in
2018, here.

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