Sacha Baron Cohen Net Worth 2024: Putting $160 Million In Da Bank

Sacha Baron Cohen is a famous British comedian, actor, film producer, entrepreneur, and writer with a staggering fortune. In 2024, Sacha Baron Cohen’s net worth has reached $160 million.

Cohen is best recognized for his portrayal of Ali G, Bruno Gehard, and Borat Sagdiyev, among other popular roles. His successful acting career has won him several prestigious awards and worldwide fame.

If you are interested in learning more about his story and wealth, keep reading.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Net Worth: Full Breakdown

Based on extensive research into the available data, we’ve compiled a detailed breakdown of Cohen’s current net worth. While some financial details are not publicly disclosed, as can be expected, the following table provides an insightful estimation of the comedian’s major assets and earnings:

Sacha Baron Cohen: Early Life, Education, and Family

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen was born in Hammersmith, London, on October 13, 1971. He’s the son of Daniella Cohen, a photographer, and Gerald Baron Cohen, an editor and clothing store owner.

Cohen has two older brothers: Amnon and Erran. He is also related to Sir Simon Baron Cohen, the autism researcher, and the playwright Dan Baron Cohen.

Sacha Baron Cohen studied at the independent Catholic St Columba’s College in St. Albans. He later attended the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School located in Elstree.

Following his graduation, Cohen enrolled at Christ’s College in Cambridge, where he studied history with a focus on antisemitism. He graduated with upper-second-class honors in 1993, with a thesis on the Jewish Activists’ role in the American Civil Rights Movement.

During his time in college, Cohen found his love for acting. He joined the Footlights comedy group and took part in several productions, including Cyrano de Bergerac and Fiddler on the Roof. Besides his work with the troupe, he also acted in performances with Habonim Dror, the Labour youth organization. Eventually, he made his television debut on Fanfare for Young Musicians, where he played the cello.

Personal Life

In March 2010, Sacha Baron Cohen married Australian actress Isla Fisher in Paris, six years after their engagement. Right before the wedding, Isla Fisher converted to Judaism and they decided on an intimate Jewish ceremony with only six guests.

Sasha and the actress Isla Fisher had their first daughter Olive in 2008, followed by their daughter Elula three years later, and their son Montgomery in 2015.

In April 2024, the couple announced that they had filed for divorce a few months earlier in 2023, sharing the news on social media:

“In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage. We have always prioritized our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change. We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”

Sacha Baron Cohen Net Worth: Becoming A Smash-Hit Comedian

Sacha Baron Cohen was a major fan of Peter Cook and Monty Python, but he shared that his greatest influence to join comedy was Peter Sellers. Today, Cohen has reached a point where people compare him to his idol Sellers, having created an incredible acting career for himself.

Early Career Days

After Cohen obtained his degree, he spent some time working as a fashion model. In the early 1990s, he started hosting a weekly program with Carol Kirkwood on Windsor’s cable television.

Inspired to take on a bigger role, Sacha Baron Cohen sent out a self-taped audition to Pump TV at a time when the UK’s Channel 4 was looking for a replacement for its series The Word. Having caught the attention of a producer, he was employed to host Pump TV, a role he held until 1996.

After his short stint as a Pump TV host, Sacha Baron Cohen started presenting F2F, the youth chat program for Granada Talk TV. He also took a small role in a McCain’s Micro Chips advertisement, playing a chef in the Ping Pong commercial.

At this point, Cohen expressed his desire to become a clown, so he took clown training in Paris, studying under Philippe Gaulier at the École Philippe Gaulier. Cohen once shared:

Without him, I really do doubt whether I would have had any success in my field.

The Creation of Cohen’s Character Ali G

In 1998, Sacha Baron Cohen appeared on Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show, which helped him garner fame and attention for playing one of his most popular characters, Ali G. His work on the show helped him win the Best Newcomer Award at the British Comedy Award in 1999, with GQ Magazine naming him Comedian of the Year.

He appeared during two-minute sketches on the Paramount Comedy Channel, propelling himself to fame with Ali G, the fictional stereotype of a “chav” (British suburban male) who imitated urban black British hip-hot culture and spoke in rude-style English with expressions borrowed from Jamaican Patois.

In 2000, Cohen made his first feature film appearance when he took a role in the British comedy The Jolly Boys’ Last Stand. That same year, he played Super Greg in several TV advertisements for Lee Jeans and appeared as Madonna’s limousine driver in her video for Music.

Da Ali G Show also began that same year. By 2002, the show was so popular that it won BAFTA for Best Comedy.

Two years later, Ali G was the main character in a feature film titled Ali G Indahouse, in which Cohen’s fictional character is elected to the British Parliament and plans to bulldoze a community center in Staines. Returning to the small screen, his TV show was a major success, being exported to the US a year later, with the new episodes set in the States for HBO.

Da Ali G Show led to the creation of two more movies: Borat in 2006 and Bruno in 2009. The lead characters were each played by Cohen and used the same outlandish humor, despite being very different characters.

Fast forward to 2012, Sacha Baron Cohen received the Outstanding Achievement Award from Sir Ben Kingsley at the British Comedy Awards. Dressed once again as Ali G, the famous comedian shared:

I is grown up now. I ain’t living in my nan’s house any more. I is living in her garage.

Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat Sagdiyev

Baron Cohen first developed the Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev for F2F’s short skits that aired on Granada Television in the UK in 1996 and 1997. However, Sacha Baron Cohen focused on his Ali G persona at the time, and it was a few years before he revisited Borat. Borat was later featured in Da Ali G Show in various segments, mocking society and violating social taboos by using vulgar language.

In 2006, a feature film with Cohen’s Borat Sagdiyev character was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, titled Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The film was released in the UK on November 2 that same year, followed by its release in the US and Australia that same month.

In the extremely silly movie, Sadgiyev and his colleague Azamat Bagatov travel around the US to produce a documentary while Borat Sagdiyev attempts to marry Pamela Anderson. The movie debuted at the number one spot in the United States, grossing $26.4 million in just 837 theatres.

For this role, Sacha Baron Cohen won the 2007 Golden Globe for Best Actor in Musical or Comedy, which was his sixth such award at the time. The film was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, but lost to Dreamgirls.

In 2007, Sacha Baron Cohen published a dual-titled travel guide: Borat: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and Borat: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of US.

Later that same year, in December, Cohen announced that he was retiring the Borat character, as well as that of Ali G. Even so, he has since brought back this character thrice:

• 2018: During his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live

• 2020: In the sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, for which Sacha Baron Cohen received yet another Golden Globe Award.
• 2022: At the Kennedy Center Honors during his standup routine for the induction of U2

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Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno Gehard

The third alter ego Sacha Baron Cohen is famous for is Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion show presenter who tricks his subjects into behaving embarrassingly and making provocative statements.

In May 2009, Cohen staged a silly stunt with Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards, where he appeared as Bruno and dropped from a height onto the famous rapper.

 

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The Bruno character was incredibly successful, and Hollywood powerhouses were fighting over the film rights to a collection of Baron Cohen’s interviews he conducted while playing Bruno. Eventually, Universal Pictures beat Sony, Dreamworks, and other companies to spend $42.5 million for the film rights to the interviews and released a film combining them in July 2009.

Other Movie and TV Roles

Sacha Baron Cohen has appeared in several movies and shows, including:

• 2005: Curb Your Enthusiasm
• 2005: Madagascar (voiceover)
• 2006: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
• 2007: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• 2010: The Simpsons: The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed (as Jacob)
• 2011: Hugo
• 2012: Les Misérables
• 2012: The Dictator
• 2013: Eastbound and Down
• 2013: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
• 2016: The Brothers Grimsby, produced by Cohen’s production company and starring him
• 2019: The Spy, a Netflix series
• 2020: The Trial of the Chicago 7

In 2010, media outlets announced that Sacha Baron Cohen would be playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, but he left this project and was replaced by Rami Malek, who won an Oscar for the role.

Sacha Baron Cohen has also presented at the MTV Europe Music Awards twice, once as Ali G in Germany, and once as Borat in Portugal.

One of his most popular and successful movies on the list is The Dictator, where Cohen played Admiral General Aladeen, “a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed”.

Admiral General Aladeen came from a fictional country called the Republic of Wadiya and the movie targeted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was still alive at the time. The movie was directed by Larry Charles, the director of both the Borat and Bruno films.

Producing and Hosting Who Is America?

In addition to these roles, Baron Cohen also portrays different characters in Who Is America?, including his famous character Erran Morad, an Israeli anti-terrorism expert. Other characters he portrays in the show include:

• Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., a conspiracy theorist and citizen journalist
• Rick Sherman, a British ex-convict
• Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello, a lecturer on gender studies and a Democratic activist
• Gio Monaldo, an Italian fashion photographer and billionaire playboy

This is an American political satire mockumentary television series that premiered in July 2018 on Showtime, with Baron Cohen as its host.

Despite the success of Who is America?, Baron Cohen denied that the show would return for a second season due to the publicity surrounding it, which would make it hard for him to dupe his guests.

Cohen’s Earnings from Comedy

For the most part, the details of how much Cohen has earned from his comedy and movie roles remain undisclosed. However, we did find some details of his earnings:

• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm added $80 million to his net worth, according to Deadline.
• Cohen was paid $8.47 million for Bruno and $4.25 million for Borat, according to the Daily Mail.
• He made approximately $53 million for his role in The Dictator, comprising $17 million salary and 30% box office cut.

Awards and Accolades

As one of the most popular people in British comedy, Baron Cohen has received a large number of prestigious awards, including:

• Two awards for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Borat and its sequel
• Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performance in The Trial of the Chicago 7
• Two BAFTA Awards for Da Ali G Show
• MTV Music Awards for Best Comedic Performance for Borat
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, Toronto Film Critics Association Award, and San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Borat
• Two Peter Sellers Awards in 2007 for Borat and 2010 for Bruno
• International Leadership Award in 2019 by the Anti-Defamation League

Legal Trouble and Lawsuits

In 2005, following the MTV Music Awards Ceremony in Lisbon, the government of Kazakhstan threatened Cohen with legal action for alleged violation of the law, and the authority in charge removed the website he created for his character Borat.

In 2006, two students from the University of South Carolina who were featured in Borat sued the filmmakers, claiming they were duped into signing release forms. A Los Angeles judge denied them a restraining order to remove them from the film.

In 2009, a charity worker at a bingo game sued Cohen, claiming that an incident shot at a charity bingo tournament for the movie left her disabled. However, she later retracted the statement and the case was dismissed in late November of the same year.

The following year, Cohen was faced with another lawsuit.

The Palestinian grocer Ayman Abu Aita filed a lawsuit alleging that he was defamed by false accusations in the movie Bruno, presenting him as a terrorist. In September 2012, the claim was settled out of court, but the details remain undisclosed.

The most recent lawsuit was in 2018 when former Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama sued the comedian for $95 million after a mock interview in Who is America? In July 2021, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the lawsuit since Moore signed a consent agreement that barred his claims.

What Else Does Sacha Baron Cohen Make Money From?

For the most part, Sacha Baron Cohen earned his fortune from his role as an actor and comedian, but he also earned a lot of money as a film producer through his company and from his public appearances.

In addition to this, the famous comedian has a fortune invested in real estate, most of which he acquired while married to the Australian actress Isla Fisher.

Public Appearances

For most of his early career, Baron Cohen avoided interviews done out of character. On rare occasions, he would appear as himself. These appearances include:

• 2004: Late Show with David Letterman
• 2004: The Opie and Anthony Show
• 2006: All Things Considered
• 2007: Fresh Air with Terry Gross

Spelthorne Community Television

In 2015, Sacha Baron Cohen partnered with Andrew Newman, the former chief executive of Objective Productions, to set up a production company called Spelthorne Community Television. The company was named after the district Ali G is from, and specializes in creating scripted TV comedy content.

Not long after the company’s creation, Channel 4 joined the duo by investing in their comedy production company, taking a minority stake worth an undisclosed sum.

Real Estate Assets

In 2005, Cohen spent $2.45 million on a property in Hollywood Hills. In 2011, he and his then-wife listed the property for rent and later put it on the market in 2013. They sold it to a Seattle-based church in 2016 for $2.5 million.

In 2010, the couple bought an estate in Beverly Hills, paying $14 million for it. They also acquired a $2.45 million Laurel Canyon mansion which they lease for $9,950 a month.

Cohen lives a very private life, so the details of how they split their real estate assets following the divorce remain undisclosed.

What Can We Learn from Sacha Baron Cohen’s Story?

The famous English comedian has many lessons to teach us. Cohen leverages his distinctive style of comedy to create fictional satirical characters to carve a niche for himself.

By embracing such an unconventional approach and using his unique talents, he has stood out in the entertainment industry, building a fortune and fame for himself.

Cohen has taken significant risks with his controversial humor and provocative characters, often pushing the boundaries to deliver his satire. This risk-taking attitude could have easily led him to serious trouble, but it was actually pivotal in his recognition and success.

Cohen has continuously evolved throughout his career, creating new characters and exploring different genres. This adaptability has allowed him to remain relevant and successful over the years.

Cohen’s passion for comedy and acting was evident early on, from his college performances to his clown training. Pursuing what he loved enabled him to excel and find fulfillment in life, teaching us the importance of following our passions and dreams.

Despite his public persona, the comedian has kept his personal life relatively private. The balance between private and public life is very important for people, especially those with high-profile careers.

Finally, beyond acting, Cohen invested in real estate and became an executive producer and the owner of a production company. Diversifying his investments has contributed to his financial growth and stability.