Tyler Perry has amassed a huge fortune and is worth a reported $1.4 billion, but that doesn’t mean he will be a personal bank for his family members.
The media mogul, 55, appears to have a strict policy and doesn’t want to be considered “welfare” to members of his family who expect handouts from him because of his vast wealth.
During a recent appearance on the YouTube series “Den of Kings”, Tyler revealed that he once fired his aunt because, after giving her a job so she could earn her own money, she didn’t bother showing up.
“She said she wanted a job. She would always call asking for money, I would send her the money,” Tyler told host Kirk Franklin.
“I said, ‘Listen, I want to help you. I want to help you build this thing, not be welfare to you. So, let me give you a job.'”
However, after her repeated no-shows, Tyler said he had no choice but to fire her.
“So, I’m like, ‘Okay, well you gotta go.’ You want me to hand you the money, but you don’t want to work for it. See, that doesn’t work for me,” he said.
Tyler later revealed that following the death of his mother in 2009, he financially severed ties with several more family members.
© Getty ImagesHe explained that he sent them letters telling them that they had 60 days to get a job because he was cutting them off.
“I’m not going to keep supporting you like that,” he recalled telling them, adding: “They all got jobs.”
He continued: “And it wasn’t even, like, jobs where they made a lot of money, but it was a job. It was something else for them to do, feel some pride in. That’s the same thing I would want someone to do for me.”
© WireImageTyler applies the same mentality to his 10-year-old son, Aman, admitting he expects a strong work ethic from him, too.
“There are certain things that he wants. He has to do chores and work for it,” Tyler said. “I don’t believe in just giving us things that are just going to handicap us. That is the worst thing you can do.”
Tyler previously explained during an appearance on The Sherri Shepherd Show in December 2024 that he and Aman’s mother, Gelila Bekele, are not raising their son to be a “spoiled rich kid.”
© Rex“He was complaining once, this was about five years ago, he was complaining about flying commercial because the lines were so long,” he recalled, adding that Aman has flown coach ever since.
“So he understands, I worked, he did not,” he explained. “So when he works, he can learn that lesson. He’s not gonna be one of those ridiculously spoiled rich kids, I can’t stand that. He ain’t got no money.”
Net worth
Tyler has amassed his billion-dollar fortune thanks largely to his Madea franchise, a series of comedy films and television movies he created centering on the Mabel ‘Madea’ Simmons character, which he portrays. The franchise has grossed over $660 million alone.
He has also developed several other TV shows and has appeared in movies, including Star Trek, Gone Girl, and Don’t Look Up.
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