Cameron Diaz Net Worth (Money & Salary)

What is Cameron Diaz’s net worth and salary?

Cameron Diaz, a model and actress hailing from California, boasts a net worth of $140 million. She became a global sensation in 1994 when she starred alongside Jim Carrey in “The Mask.” Ever since, she has maintained her status as an A-list celebrity, featuring in numerous films and earning hundreds of millions solely from her acting fees. With total box office earnings exceeding $7 billion, Cameron ranks as the fifth highest-grossing actress in the U.S.

Her career began as a model, appearing in campaigns for brands like Calvin Klein and Levi’s, as well as on the cover of Seventeen Magazine among others. She later redirected her efforts towards acting. After a brief foray into soft-core pornography, she auditioned for a comedic role opposite a rising actor named Jim Carrey. The film she was ultimately cast in, “The Mask,” went on to achieve significant box office success that year, propelling her career forward. The subsequent years were spent refining her skills through acting classes and participating in various smaller, independent films. This strategy reaped benefits, as her return to mainstream films saw her emerge as both a more talented actress and a larger box office attraction. Since establishing her foothold in Hollywood, she has appeared in films such as “Feeling Minnesota,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Being John Malkovich,” the “Charlie’s Angels” series, “Vanilla Sky,” “Gangs of New York,” “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Bad Teacher,” and “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” among numerous others.

Early Life

Cameron Diaz was born on August 30, 1972, in San Diego, California, and grew up in Long Beach, California. She attended Long Beach Polytechnic for high school, where she shared classes with Snoop Dogg.

Diaz has described her early life as modest. Her family would collect soda cans for extra cash, as that $20 held significant value for them.

With her striking blonde hair and long legs, Cameron signed with Elite Model Management at the age of 16 and swiftly began her professional modeling career. Over her first five years in modeling, she secured numerous prominent fashion campaigns and editorial work while living in various countries, including Japan, Australia, and Paris.

Success

At the age of 21, Diaz returned to Southern California and, despite her lack of acting experience, successfully auditioned for the female lead role opposite Jim Carrey in the 1994 film “The Mask.” Remarkably, she took her first acting class only AFTER securing the role. The film became a major success, grossing over $340 million globally, and instantly elevated Cameron to stardom.

In the following years, additional film offers came her way, one of which was the 1997 hit “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” A year later, the trajectory of Cameron’s career would see yet another significant boost.

Cameron Diaz gained significant recognition after playing the titular character in the comedy “There’s Something About Mary,” which grossed $369 million worldwide and earned her first Golden Globe nomination. Shortly thereafter, she also received nominations for her performance in the critically acclaimed film “Being John Malkovich.” Additionally, Diaz appeared in various other successful movies, including “Charlie’s Angels,” which made $264 million globally, “Vanilla Sky,” for which she received four prestigious award nominations, and the Academy Award-winning film “Gangs of New York.”

Other notable films featuring Diaz are “In Her Shoes,” “The Holiday,” “What Happens in Vegas,” “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Knight and Day,” “The Green Hornet,” “Bad Teacher,” “Sex Tape,” “Annie,” and several others.

She also lent her voice to Princess Fiona in the Shrek franchise, with the second installment, “Shrek 2,” raking in $919 million worldwide.

Notable Salaries

From 1998 to 2011, Cameron earned over $160 million in base film salaries at the height of her career. Currently, she commands a minimum salary of $10 million for lead roles, with peaks reaching as high as $20 million. For her role in “There’s Something About Mary,” she reportedly earned $2 million. Subsequently, she made $12 million for “Charlie’s Angels” and $20 million for its sequel, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (directed by McG). This made her the third actress ever to achieve a $20 million movie paycheck. Additionally, she earned $17.5 million from “Gangs of New York.”

For the first “Shrek” film, Cameron received $3 million, followed by $10 million for the sequel in 2004.

Bad Teacher Paycheck

In 2011’s “Bad Teacher,” Cameron opted for a substantial pay cut, taking $1 million upfront in exchange for a lucrative share of the film’s backend gross. The movie ended up grossing over $210 million worldwide, and in the end, Cameron took home $42 million. That figure ranks among the 20 highest single-film paychecks received by an actor.

Retirement

After announcing her retirement from acting in 2014, Cameron maintained that decision until June 2022, when it was revealed that she would return to the screen, joining Jamie Foxx in the upcoming Netflix action-comedy “Back in Action.”

In 2009, Diaz was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Personal Life

Cameron has been married to Benji Madden, the founder of Good Charlotte, since 2015. They were introduced by Nicole Richie, who has been married to Benji’s brother Joel since 2010. The couple welcomed their daughter via surrogate in December 2019.

Real Estate

A range of impressive properties has been owned by Cameron across the US, with a primary focus on New York and California. In 2001, she invested $1.34 million in a residence perched above the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, which she later sold to Ariana Grande for $4.9 million in 2022. Additionally, Diaz retains ownership of a much larger Beverly Hills compound that she acquired from fellow actress Candice Bergen for $9.5 million back in 2010. Nicole Richie and Joel Madden reside just a few houses away, in a property Nicole bought for $6.7 million in 2015.

Cameron held onto a loft in Greenwich Village, New York for many years, selling it in 2015 for $4 million. However, she still has a home base in NYC, having purchased a $9.5 million condo in the Chelsea neighborhood in 2013.

In 2022, Diaz and Madden invested in an 11,000-square-foot mansion located in Montecito, California, for $12.67 million.

In October 2020, Cameron and Benji acquired a new mansion in Beverly Hills for $14.7 million. This property features 9,000 square feet of space, with seven bedrooms and ten bathrooms, set on 1.7 acres. Situated in a gated community at the peak of Beverly Hills, they decided to list this home for sale in June 2024 for $17.8 million. Here is a video tour: