JAMES PATTERSON: ~ $800 MILLION

Who doesn’t even know James Patterson? The best-selling author is considered one of America’s best. James Patterson was born in New York in 1947 and is a best-selling novelist and philanthropist. According to a survey by Forbes, Patterson defeated JK Rowling and Stephen Edwin King with an income of US$70 million in 2011 and US$84 million in 2012, becoming the world’s highest paid writer.

He has written a total of 147 novels since the year 1976, and 114 of them are listed in the New York Times bestsellers list. Patterson sold more than 300 million copies of his books as of date, and he was also the first man to sell 1 million e-books. He now has a massive net worth of $800 million! Well, here’s a trivia: he graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English and an M.A. in English. He’s a pure genius, indeed!