Tyler Perry is a walking testimony of how far hard work can get you. From living out of his car, to now owning his 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios, Tyler has officially been named Hollywood’s newest billionaire. Forbes estimated that he has earned more than $1.4 billion pretax since 2005. The New Orleans native shows the importance of ownership— “OWN your stuff!” During his 2019 BET Awards acceptance speech, he let us know “while everybody was fighting for a seat at the table, I was down in Atlanta building my own.” He owns creative control of his works, encompassing countless TV episodes, stage plays and movies. The land on which he built his studio was once a Confederate army base where “they plotted and planned to keep 3.9 million Negroes enslaved, but now that land is owned by one Negro.” He built the studio in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Atlanta so that black kids had an example of what a black man can do. He has been blessed to be a blessing to others and worked to hire black actors who weren’t getting hired. His studio, which is said to be designed by a creative for creatives, is made up of 12 sound stages, 200 acres of greenspace and sets which can be rented out for productions. It’s amazing, truly. Growing up, we’d watch his original stage plays on repeat, so I know many Madea scripts word for word. I’m so proud of his success and love to see how far he’s come. Congratulations Tyler Perry!
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