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Donald Glover is an incredibly successful entertainer. He’s succeeded as a writer, actor, and rapper. He was the voice of Simba in the remake of The Lion King. 

Donald Glover smiling
Donald Glover | Rich Fury/Getty Images for Vanity Fair

It seems as though Glover has conquered the entertainment world, and at this point in his career, he can probably afford to buy almost anything he wants. That wasn’t always true, though. Glover earned his fame through hard work and dedication and wasn’t always as wealthy as he is today.

How did Glover spend his first paycheck?

Glover’s first job out of college was as a writer for the TV show 30 Rock. As he explains during his interview with Jimmy Kimmel, this was a pretty great job for a college student. Glover was even working as an RA in his dorm when he started his writing job, which gives you a sense of how young he was.

During the interview, Glover describes how he had more money than most of his friends and more money than he was used to spending. When Kimmel asks what he spent his first big paycheck on, he was probably expecting a typical answer such as a fancy car, clothes, or a cool watch, but instead, Glover spent it on Gushers!

Glover quickly explains his response to Kimmel, saying that he wasn’t allowed to have much candy as a child. In fact, he didn’t really have anything with a lot of sugar in it. This made him crave candy even more when he left home, so he thought being able to buy all the Gushers he wanted was a pretty big deal!

When Kimmel asked Glover what he would suggest parents do to avoid their kids craving candy like this when they are older, Glover recommended giving kids access to candy growing up, so they won’t think it’s as exciting as he did. 

Glover’s career after ’30 Rock’

Glover has moved on from his days as a writer at 30 Rock, though we imagine he can still afford whatever candy he desires. According to Britannica, although Glover did occasionally appear on screen in 30 Rock, his acting career really took off when he was cast as Troy Barnes in Community

Community made Glover a household name, and he continued acting in other films and sketches and doing stand-up comedy while on the show. After leaving Community, Glover was involved in a number of big-name projects, including Spiderman: Homecoming, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the 2019 remake of The Lion King. Glover also created, wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Atlanta.

Glover has also been incredibly successful as a rapper. His music, which he releases under the name Childish Gambino, has earned many nominations, five Grammy awards, and critical acclaim. He began releasing mixtapes in 2008 and released his first major label album, Camp, in 2011. Glover has gone on to release multiple other albums and mixtapes, almost all of which became hugely successful.

Glover’s net worth today

Glover has clearly been extremely successful in his career. Between acting, rapping, writing, and even having his own TV show, he’s likely to have saved up quite a bit from his paychecks. Add in any endorsement deals he’s done, and he’s a long way off from his days as an RA. So what is Glover’s net worth today?

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Celebrity Net Worth estimates that Glover is worth about $35 million. That’s no surprise for someone who made it onto Forbes‘ 30 under 30 list back in 2011! No one would be surprised to see that number continue to climb, as Glover does not seem like he’s going to slow down anytime soon.