‘Friends’: The Cast Ranked From Richest To Poorest
The cast of Friends used collective bargaining to level out their salaries. As an ensemble cast, they wanted to be treated as equals as their wages grew from $22,000 per episode to $1 million. Each cast member of Friends earned around $90 million in base salary alone from the show before the addition of any backend bonuses and ongoing royalties from syndication, racking each actor up an impressive net worth. For 10 seasons, the Friends cast was considered the gold standard of sitcom television, but where do they stand financially today? Here is the net worth of the Friends cast ranked from richest to poorest.
Jennifer Aniston heads the pack with $320M
Of all the Friends cast members, Jennifer Aniston (who played Rachel Green) has amassed the greatest wealth since the series ended in 2004. She is the frontrunner of the sextuplet actors who were the cornerstone of must-see TV from the mid-1990s through the early 2000s and is the richest of all.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Aniston is worth a reported $320 million. The core of her wealth came after Aniston and her Friends castmates renegotiated their contracts and took home $1 million per episode beginning in 2002 for seasons 9 and 10. Therefore, from those seasons alone, Aniston netted around $22 million annually, totaling $44 million.
Coupled with a successful movie, television, commercial, and endorsement career that has spanned over 20 years, Jennifer Aniston continues to have success with the films We’re the Millers, Office Christmas Party, and Netflix’s Murder Mystery movies. She currently stars alongside Reese Witherspoon in Apple TV’s The Morning Show.
Courteney Cox is second with $150M
Second to Jennifer Aniston is Courteney Cox. She is worth a reported $150 million.
Cox rose to superstardom as Monica Gellar in Friends but began her television career years earlier. She scored bit parts in series such as As the World Turns, The Love Boat, and Code Name: Foxfire before scoring her first series, Misfits of Science, in 1985.
Cox landed a role on Family Ties two years later, playing Alex Keaton’s girlfriend, Lauren Miller, from 1987 to 1989. And, of course, who could forget her star turn as the girl Bruce Springsteen dances with in his music video for “Dancing in the Dark”?
Following her Friends success, Cox segued into movies, becoming an integral part of the Scream franchise of films. She also starred in Dirt, Cougar Town, and Shining Vale and guest-starred on many series such as Shameless, Drunk History, and Barely Famous.
Lisa Kudrow ranks third with $130M
Best known for her portrayal of Phoebe Buffay, the delightfully ditzy BFF of Monica and Rachel, Lisa Kudrow has racked up an impressive amount of money in her bank account since Friends ended. Estimates put Kudrow’s net worth to be around $130 million. The star of dozens of movies since, Kudrow scored big in the hit films Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, The Girl on the Train, and Booksmart.
NBC television fans recognize Kudrow from her role as oddball waitress Ursula Buffay on Mad About You. In a plot twist, Ursula’s twin sister, Phoebe, jumped the shark to appear on Friends during several instances.
She also starred in the series Web Therapy, The Comeback, Bojack Horseman, Human Discoveries, and Space Force and voices the character Honey in HouseBroken.
David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry tie for fourth and fifth with $120M
As nerdy paleontologist Ross Gellar, David Schwimmer was the nicest guy on Friends, a role which helped elevate his net worth to $120 million. However, it took 10 seasons for him to unite with his teenage crush, Rachel Green, and raise their daughter Emma together.
Before Friends, Schwimmer worked steadily as an actor since 1989. At the start of his career, he played Michael in three episodes of ABC’s The Wonder Years. After a series of bit parts, his career gained traction with stints on the TV series LA Law, NYPD Blue, and Blossom.
He reunited with Lisa Kudrow for several Web Therapy and starred in an installment of American Horror Story, where he played attorney Robert Kardashian. Feed the Beast, Homecoming, Will & Grace, and Intelligence followed. He continues to hone his craft as a director and producer as well.
Matthew Perry’s net worth matches his Friends co-star Schwimmer. He began his career as a child actor on the series 240-Robert.
More minor roles followed until Perry was cast in the Boys Will Be Boys series in 1987. His next network series was the Valerie Bertinelli-led Sydney. Following his success on Friends, Perry starred in the sleeper rom-com Fools Rush In and the films Almost Heroes and The Whole Nine Yards.
In 2006, Perry starred in the series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, followed by roles in Mr. Sunshine, Go On, and a reboot of The Odd Couple.
Matt LeBlanc comes in sixth with $85M
Cast as lovable, hapless actor and New York native Joey Tribbiani on Friends, Matt LeBlanc has a net worth of $85M and is the “poorest” of all his cast members. He has remained a television mainstay, preferring to concentrate his work on the small-screen and behind the camera.
In the 1980s, LeBlanc appeared in a series of television commercials for such nationally-known products as Heinz and Coca-Cola. He didn’t land his first series role until 1988 as part of the cast of TV 101.
He became a breakout star in the role of Vinnie Verducci in the series Married With Children. That character was spun off into his 1991 Top of The Heap series, which lasted only seven episodes. The role of Vinnie spun off one more time for the series Vinny & Bobby, which also only lasted seven episodes.
LeBlanc capitalized on his Friends success with the spinoff Joey, which only lasted two seasons. From 2011-2017, he starred in Episodes; from 2016-2020, he starred in the series Man With a Plan.
Friends Episodes are on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and HBO Max. Episodes of Friends air on Comedy Central, TBS, Nick at Night, and in broadcast syndication on local TV stations
