What is the net worth of Matt Damon?
Matt Damon, recognized as an American actor, writer, producer, and philanthropist, boasts a net worth of $170 million. His significant career breakthrough occurred in 1997 with the co-writing and starring role in the Academy Award-winning film Good Will Hunting. The film achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success, earning Damon, alongside his co-writer Ben Affleck, an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Following Good Will Hunting, Damon has featured in a series of other successful films, such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), The Bourne Identity (2002), The Departed (2006), and The Martian (2015). Collectively, his films have grossed over $3.88 billion in North America, positioning him among the highest-grossing actors ever.
In addition to acting, Damon has made a name for himself as a producer. He has been involved in producing various films, including Good Will Hunting, The Departed, and Manchester by the Sea. Furthermore, he co-founded the production company Project Greenlight, which has delivered several successful independent films.
Although he turned down an exceptionally lucrative film opportunity that would have made him the highest-paid actor in history, as detailed later in this article, Matt has still achieved considerable success.
Below are some of Matt Damon’s major box office achievements:
- Good Will Hunting (1997): $225 million worldwide
- Saving Private Ryan (1998): $481 million worldwide
- The Bourne Identity (2002): $214 million worldwide
- The Departed (2006): $292 million worldwide
- The Martian (2015): $630 million worldwide
Early Life
Born on October 8, 1970, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Matthew Paige Damon is the son of stockbroker Kent Damon and professor Nancy Carlsson-Paige, who divorced when Matt was just two years old. He grew up in a six-family communal home in Cambridge alongside his brother, Kyle, raised by their mother. Among his close childhood friends is fellow actor Ben Affleck, with whom he shared an early aspiration for acting. Matt attended Harvard University from 1988 to 1992, but he left 12 credits short of obtaining a BA in English.
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Early Career
During the late ’80s and early ’90s, Matt secured minor roles in films including Mystic Pizza, Courage Under Fire, and School Ties. After leaving school in 1992, he began filming Geronimo: An American Legend, mistakenly believing it would be his first major hit at the box office.
A few years later, his breakthrough occurred when he and Ben Affleck created and starred in Good Will Hunting. Initially, the script was part of Damon’s school project, which they later developed into a screenplay while living together in Los Angeles. Both received an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, while Damon earned a nomination for Best Actor. This rapid ascent from obscurity to fame brought an unexpected culture shock for them both.
Significant film roles followed in blockbuster hits such as The Rainmaker, Saving Private Ryan, and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Although some films from the late ’90s and early 2000s underperformed at the box office, Damon’s success continued to flourish.
Generally, performances received positive feedback.
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Film Franchises
Matt Damon hit the jackpot when he was cast in George Clooney’s “Ocean’s” trilogy, appearing as conman Linus Caldwell in all three films. This series featured an ensemble cast of some of the industry’s biggest stars, all of whom infamously agreed to significant salary reductions to participate.
The actor discovered another lucrative opportunity when he took on the leading role in the Jason Bourne franchise. Released in 2002, The Bourne Identity earned him critical acclaim and solidified his status as a rising action star. He reprised his character in two additional Bourne films but chose not to participate in the fourth installment, The Bourne Legacy, launched in 2012. Damon returned for the fifth film in the series, 2016’s Jason Bourne, amassing a total of $87 million across all four Bourne movies.
Awards and honors: In 2007, Matt Damon was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Throughout his career, he has garnered numerous award nominations, including five Academy Award nominations, five nominations from the Screen Actors’ Guild, and seven nods for the Golden Globes. He has won an Oscar and two Golden Globe Awards and was named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2007.
Producing: Together with Ben Affleck and others, Damon produced the reality series Project Greenlight, which provided first-time filmmakers a chance to create their own film projects. To produce the show, Damon, Affleck, and Chris Moore established the production company LivePlanet. Subsequently, Damon and Affleck went on to found another production company called Pearl Street Films.
Notably, Matt chose to forgo the lead acting role in Manchester by the Sea, opting instead to take on a producer’s role. His replacement, Casey Affleck (Ben’s younger brother), ultimately won an Oscar for the part. In 2023, he starred in Air, which co-starred and was directed by Ben Affleck, as well as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, where he portrayed Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project.
(Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
Philanthropy
With deep passion for philanthropy, Matt supports 37 charitable organizations. He serves as an ambassador for ONEXONE, a nonprofit focused on enhancing the lives of children in North America, and is a spokesperson for Feeding America, a foundation dedicated to combating hunger. He established the H2O Africa Foundation and co-founded the Not On Our Watch Project, which seeks to prevent atrocities like the genocide in Darfur. His other affiliations include the One Campaign and Water.org.
Personal Life
While filming the comedy Stuck On You in Miami in 2003, Matt met Luciana one night at a local club.
Barroso, who was a bartender and a single mother at the time, quickly realized he wanted to marry her. The couple tied the knot in 2005, and they have since welcomed three more children into their family.
Jimmy Kimmel “Feud”
A longstanding public “feud” exists between Damon and Jimmy Kimmel, dating back to the early days of Jimmy Kimmel Live. It all began with a light-hearted joke: Kimmel concluded a somewhat disappointing show with the remark, “I want to apologize to Matt Damon. We ran out of time,” implying that the A-lister was cut from the show. Since that moment, both have taken playful jabs at each other publicly, but it is all in jest; in truth, Damon and Kimmel are friends.
Avatar Missed Paycheck
Matt disclosed in October 2019 that he had turned down a leading role in the 2009 blockbuster Avatar. The offer included a share of the film’s box office earnings. Avatar went on to become the second-highest-grossing film of all time, grossing over $2.8 billion worldwide. In a 2019 interview, Damon stated that accepting the role would have netted him approximately $250 million.
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Controversy
During the peak of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement in 2017, Damon participated in several interviews that appeared to downplay the experiences of sexual assault victims. He later expressed regret for his remarks in a 2018 appearance on The Today Show.
Real Estate
In 2012, Matt and Luciana acquired a remarkable mansion in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles for $15 million. In January 2021, they put the sprawling 13,500-square-foot house up for sale at $21 million. By August 2021, they reduced the asking price to $17.9 million and quickly found a buyer a month later.
In 2017, they purchased a penthouse in Brooklyn Heights, New York City, for $16.8 million, marking it as the highest price ever paid for a home in Brooklyn at that time.
In 2022, Damon invested $8.5 million in a retreat located in Westchester County, New York, specifically in Bedford.
In April 2024, he bought a condo in Los Angeles for $9 million.