Jami Gertz

The Fortune Behind the Spotlight

Jami Gertz isn't the name that usually comes up in major debates about acting method. But year after year, her name tops the list of the richest actresses in the world. Her fortune didn't come exclusively from film sets, although cameras were the necessary springboard for building a financial empire that now amazes the industry.

In 1981, she made her big-screen debut in On the Right Track, and shortly after appeared in Endless Love. These were the years of binders covered in stickers and ensemble casts of teenagers with teased hair. Back then, no one could have imagined that this girl from Chicago would one day own an NBA team.

The industry never saw it coming.

In 1987, she shot The Lost Boys under the direction of Joel Schumacher. That role as Star put her at the center of the youth culture of the era, alongside Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland. The shoot in Santa Cruz was intense and captured a modern vampire aesthetic that film schools still study today.

That same year, she worked on Less Than Zero. In this adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel, she shared scenes with a very young Robert Downey Jr. in a raw story about the decay of golden youth in Los Angeles. It was a difficult project that let her move away from the innocent-girl roles the system tried to push on her.

Vampires and Investment Funds

In 1989, she married Tony Ressler. At that point he wasn't the magnate we know today, and she earned more money than her husband thanks to her advertising and film contracts. Together, they decided to invest their savings in businesses that had nothing to do with Hollywood scripts.

The money didn't come from film.

But television gave her a second, very profitable career. In 1994, she appeared in an episode of Seinfeld titled The Stall. She played Jerry's girlfriend who refused to hand Elaine Benes toilet paper in a movie theater restroom. Those few minutes of comedy brought her more popular visibility than many of her earlier leading roles.

In 1996, she appeared in Twister as Dr. Melissa Reeves. The film was a mass phenomenon and grossed nearly $500 million worldwide. The shoot in Oklahoma was a months-long technical nightmare under giant fans and artificial debris, but the final paycheck was worth it.

It was an absolutely risky bet.

The Basketball Business

From the 1990s on, her screen appearances became more selective. In 2002, she starred in the sitcom Still Standing, which aired for four seasons. In 2012, she returned to television with The Neighbors, in which she played a mother who discovers her neighbors are aliens.

In 2015, her life changed scale. Alongside her husband, she led the investment group that bought the Atlanta Hawks for close to $850 million. Since then, she's been seen far more often in the front row of basketball arenas than on the red carpets of European festivals.

In 2022, she returned to film with a supporting role in the romantic comedy I Want You Back, produced for digital platforms. Her appearance was a nod to her longtime fans, in a production shot entirely in the state of Georgia. Financial records from 2024 place her estimated net worth above $3,000 million.

In 2022, she filmed her scenes for I Want You Back in just a few days of local production in Atlanta.