George Clooney is 2018’s highest-paid actor because of tequila

George Clooney and Rande Gerber, two of the three
founders of Casamigos tequila.
Courtesy Casamigos

• George Clooney is the highest-paid male actor of 2018,
  even though he didn’t appear in a film.
• Instead, he has the $1 billion sale of his Casamigos
  tequila to thank for his $239 million pay cheque.
• This figure knocked former highest-paid actor Dwayne
  “The Rock” Johnson into second place.
• You can read the story of how Casamigos
  was set up by accident here.

George Clooney is officially the highest-paid male actor of 2018,
knocking Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson off the top spot — and he has
tequila, rather than films, to thank.

The 57-year-old earned $239 million between June 1 2017 and June
1 2018, making him the highest-paid actor on Forbes’ list despite
the fact he hasn’t featured in a film since 2016’s “Money
Monster.”

Instead, his position is mostly thanks to the $1 billion sale of his tequila
brand Casamigos to drinks giant Diageo in June last year,
according to Forbes, as well
as additional earnings from endorsements and older films.

The actor and two friends founded Casamigos, one of the
fastest-growing tequila brands in the world, in 2013. When
Business Insider spoke to Rande
Gerber, Clooney’s business partner, in March 2017, he said
the idea came about “by accident,” and that money was never the
reason for launching the brand.

In an email to CNBC last June,
Clooney said: “If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion
dollar company, I don’t think we would have said yes. This
reflects Diageo’s belief in our company and our belief in Diageo.
But we’re not going anywhere. We’ll still be very much a part of
Casamigos. Starting with a shot tonight. Maybe two.”

Elsewhere on Forbes’ list, The Rock came in second place banking
$124 million in the same period, followed by Robert Downey Jr. at
$81 million.

You can see the full list of the 10
highest-paid male actors, who made $748.5 million combined in
2018, here.