John Travolta Is Reportedly Worth Millions Following His Long Career

Sep 17, 2021

John Travolta has been a celebrity for decades, as he rose to fame in the 1970s. Most people know him for his roles in many successful films, such as “Grease,” “Saturday Night Fever” and “Pulp Fiction.” And after enjoying massive success as an actor, producer, singer and dancer, it’s safe to say that Travolta has amassed quite the fortune. But how much is the 67-year-old actor really worth? And how did it manage to accumulate so much wealth?

Travolta certainly didn’t start out with his multimillion-dollar fortune, as his family wasn’t wealthy. Born John Joseph Travolta in 1954, he was the youngest of six children who grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, with parents who were in the entertainment business, according to Biography.com.

The would-be actor decided early on that he, too, would become an entertainer, dropping out of high school at the age of 16 to pursue acting. Soon enough, he had landed his first role in an off-broadway production in 1972, only to join as a replacement for a cast member on a Broadway production of “Grease.”

But it wasn’t until 1975 that Travolta really supercharged his career after landing his role as Vinnie Barbarino in “Welcome Back, Kotter.” The television show solidified the young actor’s place as a teenage heartthrob, and soon enough, the actor had no problem landing big parts in feature-length films, with appearances in horror films like “The Devil’s Rain” and “Carrie.”

But if there’s one film that made the difference — that really set Travolta on the path to be a wealthy star — it’s his performance in Saturday Night Fever in 1977, which was a major success at the box office.

Since then, Travolta has taken high-paying role after high-paying role, which has no doubt allowed him to accumulate quite a bit of wealth. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Travolta regularly earns upwards of $10 million for his performances. In 1996, “Michael” yielded the actor $12 million while his more recent roles in “Be Cool” and “Hairspray” earned the actor $20 million and $14 million, respectively.

Beyond his career earnings, Travolta also has assets in real estate. In 1993, Travolta also acquired a 2.35-acre home in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The $3.5 million property featured an 8,100-square-foot main house, a tennis court, seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a large swimming pool and a spacious playground. The Travolta family sold the home in January 2020 to Scooter Braun, their next-door neighbor, for $18 million. In 2014, Braun had purchased the lot next door for $13.1 million. In September 2019, the Travoltas added a villa in Calabasas to their portfolio after purchasing it for $2.65 million.

The family also owns a 50-acre property in Maine, a mansion in Clearwater, Florida and a private airport home in Ocala, Florida. 

The 550-acre Jumbolair Aviation Estates was specifically built for people looking to fly in and out of their homes. Travolta and his wife, the late Kelly Preston, moved to the estate in the late 1990s, although it’s not entirely clear when the couple bought the home. It has always been Travolta’s dream to have planes in his yard, given his passion for flying, and with the help of his late wife, he achieved that dream.

“It was always John’s dream to have planes in his front yard — to practically be able to pull up to the house — so that when you wanted to go to dinner, all you’d have to do was step out the door, get on the plane and whisk off,” Preston told Architectural Digest in 2007. 

Per the Australian Today show, Travolta said, “We designed the house for the jets and have access the world at a moment’s notice." 

"I was five years old when I fell in love with aviation. It's in my blood,” he said in the Today interview. He continued by saying, "You can be the ultimate eccentric, like I am, and bring in Boeing 707, but you can also bring in any corporate jet or airliner."

And if you own an airport, why not own airplanes?

When Travolta first moved to the home, he bought his Boeing 707, which he called the “Jett Clipper Ella.” He named the plane after his kids. The actor doesn’t own the 707 anymore, however. In 2017, he donated the aircraft to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society.

“I’m a romantic, so I’m going to get on a 707 and feel like I’m the guy I was admiring as a child, in the masterful 707 or a big airliner,” he told Airport Journals. “I’m going to dramatize it—an illusion of yesteryear, of heyday. I get a bigger kick out of the 707, yet I don’t really care what plane I’m in; I love being in one.”

All in all, Celebrity Net Worth reports that Travolta has a net worth of about $250 million.

Did you know that Travolta was worth so much? What would you do with $250 million? Let us know — and be sure to pass this story on to others.