According to Grazia Magazine, the cast members of Friends earn nearly $20 million as residuals from syndicated reruns every year, which is 2% of the $1 billion in revenue received by Warner Bros. Television. After the show's 2004 finale, the cast began to receive residuals from syndication. After seasons 9 and 10 of the show, when they started receiving $1 million per episode, the cast kept the rights to these earnings. According to USA Today, all of the Friends cast members—Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry—receive 2% of the syndication revenue, or about $20 million per person annually, out of the $1 billion in revenue generated for Warner Bros.
According to Fox Business, Netflix paid Warner Media $100 million to maintain their licensing agreement, allowing Netflix to continue streaming "Friends" through the end of 2019. As HBO Max was being introduced, WarnerMedia also spent $425 million to purchase the streaming rights to "Friends." Warner Bros. was in association with Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, the main creators and producers of the “Friends” series.
Earnings of 'Friends' and its Cast Members
According to Parade, some of the best-paid TV actors of all time are still members of the Friends cast. Each cast member received $22,500 per episode during the first season of the show. The pay was increased to $40,000 for each episode the following season, but there were problems because not all six actors were given the same amount. Equal compensation was the focus of future negotiations, with season 3's episodes starting at $75,000 and season 4's episodes starting at $85,000. Warner Bros. increased it by $100,000 per episode for season 5 and then by $125,000 for each of the six cast members per episode in season 6. Seasons 7 and 8 saw the first significant pay raise, with each core cast member receiving $750,000 per episode.
Aniston, Cox, and Kudrow were the highest-paid actresses at the time of their signing thanks to the final two seasons of Friends, which drove the cast contracts even higher. The cast agreed to a $1 million per episode deal for seasons 9 and 10. Given that season 9 had 24 episodes and season 10 had 17 episodes, the cast had individually earned close to $17 million by the end of season 10 alone.
The Friends cast continues to earn close to $20 million per year, according to Grazia Magazine. This is a result of the royalties generated by the prior contracts they agreed on. According to reports, WB receives in the neighborhood $1 billion annually from Friends merchandise and other agreements.
FAQs for Friends
A. Their income for ten seasons is not available on public platforms. But, it earns $1 billion as a residual for Warner Bros. every year.
A. Marta Kauffman and David Crane have an estimated net worth of $700 million, individually and Kevin S. Bright’s net worth is nearly $300 million, as of 2024.
A. Warner Bros. receives $1 billion annually from syndication reruns, of which Friends' cast members receive $20 million, or 2% of the total revenue generated. There have been certain increments in the total amount though in recent years.
A. Jennifer Aniston's net worth is estimated to be at $320 million; Courtney Cox's net worth is $150 million; Mathew Perry's net worth is $120 million; David Schwimmer's net worth is $120 million; Lisa Kudrow's net worth is $130 million and Matt LeBlanc's net worth is $85 million.
