Stan Lee Isn't As Rich As You Might Think – But He Does Get $1M A Year From Marvel For Life

Stan "The Man" Lee, one of the creators of the Marvel Universe and mascot for the brand going back more than half a century, is one of those public figures who probably seems wealthier than he actually is to many members of the general populace. "After all," conventional wisdom might go, "he created Thor, and Iron Man, and the X-Men, and Spider-Man for goodness' sake, so he must be getting a generous slice of the profits from the big and small-screen adventures of those myriad characters he dreamed up." But even though Stan isn't likely ever to go broke for the rest of his days, he's been known to point out that he's not as rich as some people tend to assume.

In a Playboy interview a few years back, Lee answered a question about his imaginary Tony Stark lifestyle like this:

"My daughter was looking at the internet the other day and read that Stan Lee has an estimated $250 million. I mean, that's ridiculous! I don't have $200 million. I don't have $150 million. I don't have $100 million or anywhere near that."

Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Discovery Times Square

Stan Lee's actual net worth is a perfectly respectable $50 million, which incidentally happens to be a lot more than what most of Lee's contemporaries in the comic book field have to their names. Marvel pays him a lifetime annual salary of a million dollars, and he's never been shy about contributing his name and/or creative input to a variety of usually superhero-related projects. His most recent work was published in 2016 – Stan Lee's 'God Woke' – and earned a 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards' Outstanding Books of the Year Independent Voice Award.

Meanwhile, Lee's most recent financial endeavor wasn't quite so successful. Early last year he sold his Hollywood Hills house at a loss of $170,000 – but don't worry, he's doing OK.

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Stan Lee Isn't As Rich As You Might Think – But He Does Get $1M A Year From Marvel For Life image 1

A Look Back On Stan Lee's Life: Photos Of The Marvel Pioneer Through The Years | HuffPost

Stan Lee quotes: 18 of the Marvel creator's quotes including Excelsior and Nuff' said - Irish