George Clooney may not have helmed a hit in years, but his wallet hasn’t noticed. Thanks to the up to $1 billion purchase of his Casamigos Tequila, Clooney scored a career high pretax paycheck of $239 million between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018.

The 57-year-old tops Forbes’ annual ranking of highest-paid actors, which tallies both onscreen and extracurricular earnings in our 12-month scoring frame. Last June, British liquor conglomerate Diageo announced it would purchase Casamigos for $700 million up front with the potential for an extra $300 million over the next decade. For Clooney, that meant an estimated $233 million pretax from Casamigos, plus additional earnings from endorsements and older movies.

“If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion-dollar company, I don’t think we would have said yes,” Clooney told CNBC when the deal was announced.

Casamigos was founded in 2013 by Clooney, nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber and real estate tycoon Mike Meldman. According to a source close to the business, the trio invested $600,000 apiece and owned equal stakes in the company prior to the acquisition.

Clooney’s tequila cash edges Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson, who banked $124 million pretax to rank No. 2 on the highest-paid actors list. He tallied the largest ever acting take-home from front-of-camera roles in Celebrity 100 history, thanks to giant upfront paychecks and a cut of profits on blockbusters including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. A huge social following allows him to negotiate an extra seven figures atop his standard contract for promotion, helping nearly double his 2017 earnings.

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The World's Highest-Paid Actors 2018: George Clooney Tops List With $239 Million
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