James Patterson is among the world’s best living authors after having allegedly sold over 400 million books worldwide, adding more to his eye-watering net worth.
Recently it was revealed James has written his most personal book yet, his memoir, but he’s also revealed how he got to the point where he’s sold over 425 million books, according to Fox Business.
James Patterson’s career
James may be one of the world’s most successful and well-known authors today, but his life started out very different. The 75-year-old grew up in a working-class family in New York but eventually attained a BA and MA in English at Manhattan College and Vanderbilt University, respectively.
Upon graduating from university, many would assume James threw himself into the literary world – but, in fact, he began working as an advertising executive at J. Walter Thompson.
Things all changed when he wrote his first novel in 1976, The Thomas Berryman Number, for which he won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel By An American Author. Since then he’s written over 200 books.
Novels featuring his character Alex Cross – a forensic psychologist formerly of the Washington DC. Metropolitan Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation, who now works as a private psychologist and government consultant – are among his most popular and the top-selling U.S. detective series in the past ten years.
James has had more than 114 New York Times bestselling novels and holds The New York Times record for most #1 New York Times bestsellers by a single author, a total of 67, which is also a Guinness World Record, according to Penguin.
Along with numerous awards James has also worked with dozens of people to co-author books including, J.D. Barker, Candice Fox, Maxine Paetro, Andrew Gross, Mark Sullivan, Ashwin Sanghi, Michael Ledwidge, and Peter de Jonge.
James has even worked with former Presidents when he co-authored the novel, The President Is Missing, with Bill Clinton.
James Patterson Net Worth
James did eventually retire from advertising in 1996 to focus on his writing, which is probably a wise move as now the writer isn’t just a multi-award-winner and loved worldwide, but he’s also amassed a staggering net worth.
According to Celebrity Net Worth James is worth an eye-watering $800 million – and takes home around $90 million a year – making him one of the richest living writers in the world, sliding in second just behind the Harry Potter creator, J. K. Rowling.
However, it does put him ahead of the two iconic writers Stephen King and Dannielle Steel.