It’s been 36 years since Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen first starred as Michelle Tanner on the classic sitcom Full House, and it’s safe to say the duo have come a long way. The two have been working since infancy and swiftly turned their popularity from Full House into a full-fledged media empire and, once they retired from acting, several successful fashion ventures.
After the pair left the entertainment world, they rarely appear in public or do brand deals, but have still managed to amass a net worth that rivals even a Kardashian’s. Their vast wealth may come as a surprise, given their last joint film was New York Minute in 2004, but the twins continue to be high earners thanks to their diversified income.
What is Mary-Kate and Ashley’s joint net worth and why is it so high?
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have a reported net worth of a combined $500 million according to Celebrity Net Worth and other sources. While that might seem high, it makes sense if you’ve followed their career; by the end of Full House, the two were making $80,000 per episode (via The Washington Post) — more than some people make in a year before they were even double digits in age.
While they were still playing Michelle Tanner, the pair started to diversify their income by venturing into self-produced content. In 1993, they established the company Dualstar and became some of the youngest producers in history, thus ensuring they kept most of their income from video series like The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley. They continued to build upon their Dualstar library with direct-to-video classics like Holiday in the Sun and When in Rome (and I mean classics — these girls were shaping our collective Y2K consciousness) while simultaneously starring in short-lived sitcoms like So Little Time. What’s that sound you hear? That’s the sound of the Olsen twins cashing in their pre-streaming residual checks; you know, back when you could make a living from acting alone.
By the time the two retired from acting — Ashley in 2004 and Mary-Kate in 2011 — the two were already some of the wealthiest women in entertainment. Forbes categorized their joint net worth as $100 million in 2007 when the two were only 20, but how did they manage to increase that number by so much while retiring from the very industry that helped them make their initial fortune?
The answer is fashion. The twins showed an early interest for personal style in their early film work and would eventually turn that love into full-time careers. When the girls were still teens, they launched a Wal-Mart clothing line as well as a beauty line. Mary-Kate and Ashley would continue to explore fashion with the launch of brand The Row and Elizabeth and James (named after their siblings) in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The Row famously began out of Ashley’s quest to create the perfect shirt (and from what I’ve heard, she succeeded) and has since become one of the most popular brands within the realm of “quiet luxury” through its elegant, label-less pieces. The Olsen’s brand of elevated basics have earned them accolades and more millions than one could possibly know what to do with.