How risqué Ricky Gervais, 61, went from a Reading council estate to a net worth of £128m 

It was revealed on Friday that Ricky Gervais has made history by raking in a whopping £1.41 million at the Box Office for a single stand-up performance.

In his record-breaking performance, the 61-year-old actor and comedian took the stage at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 6 as part of his Armageddon show, which is currently taking him around the world on a global tour.

And far from his lucrative touring being his only bank account filler, Ricky, who has been with his partner Jane Fallon for 39 years, is worth £128 million during his time in the spotlight – most notably launching with The Office in 2000.

After writing and starring in the iconic BBC comedy, playing the now legendary David Brent, Ricky enjoyed huge success with other shows including Extras, Derek, Life’s Too Short, An Idiot Abroad and After Life.

Ricky has previously spoken about his humble beginnings revealing that he went to “a rough school on a council estate” and while he said “there’s nobility in poverty” he admitted that if he wanted to get rich he “wants to be proud on the method’.

WHERE IT BEGAN

Ricky grew up in Reading, in a large estate called Whitley, which consisted of council housing and what he described as his ‘rough school’.

His father, Lawrence Raymond ‘Jerry’ Gervais, who died in 2002, was a laborer and courier who met his mother Eva during a blackout and went on to have four children. Eva passed away from lung cancer at the age of 74.

Gervais often refers to life growing up in Reading on his Twitter feed and in 2013 said: ‘I went to a pretty rough school on my council estate. I remember lunch on the playground felt a bit like The Hunger Games.”

Speaking about making money, he said, “I never craved money. In fact, the first few years of getting a new found wealth I felt guilty about it, I still do…

“There really was a nobility in poverty and that’s why I’ve always thought that if I want to be rich and famous, I should be proud of how I got my money and how I got my fame.”

HOOKING IN

In 2021, his fortune in the UK was revealed to have risen to nearly £16 million during the pandemic, figures from his business empire show.

The After Life star’s fortune rose by £2.7 million between 2020 and 2021 as his TV shows continued to be successful during the lockdown.

Its main business Red Lion 100 Limited saw its value increase by £1.2 million from April 2020 to the end of March 2021 to £8.6 million.

Despite the huge jump in the company’s fortunes, Ricky, the company’s sole shareholder, chose not to pay himself a dividend from the company’s funds, having withdrawn just £505,000 in 2020.

Another company, Red Lion 99 LLP, rose by £1.4m to £3.5m. Derek Productions Limited saw his fortune increase by £100,000, while two other companies remained stable with around £800,000 in possession.

Ricky saw huge success last year when season two of Afterlife streamed on Netflix became one of the hits of the first lockdown. As a result, the star signed a new deal with Netflix to write a third season, which is currently filming.

The figures do not include cash earned by Ricky’s US arm, which is augmented by royalty payments from the US version of his hit series The Office.

The show added millions to its wealth as it turned out to be a huge hit that lasted for nine seasons until 2013. Accounts for Red Lion 100 show that the company owes its US company – named Gervais Ink Inc – £451,000.

PROPERTY

Gervais owns several properties around the world, including homes in London, Los Angeles, and New York City.

His eight-bedroom London home – located in Hampstead – cost an eye-watering £10.8 million when he bought the property in 2016.

He previously revealed in one of his posh pillows that he owns a tennis court, though he hasn’t had a chance to make the most of the grounds.

Speaking to The Mirror at the time, he said: ‘I didn’t even enjoy the tennis court. The best thing we’ve ever bought. My partner Jane and I go to our house in Buckinghamshire and play tennis all the time.’

performances

His lucrative performance earlier this month set an all-time record as it was the world’s highest-grossing single performance ever by a British stand-up comedian.

Ricky said of his incredible record, “Learning about this record is the icing on the cake. I was happy if it didn’t rain.’

The After Life actor had previously shared a series of tweets about his Hollywood Bowl show, sharing his pride in performing on one of the most “surreal” nights of his life.

He tweeted, “Thank you Hollywood Bowl for one of the most surreal nights of my life. What a location. What a bustle. I can’t even imagine what my mom would think if I played the Hollywood Bowl…

“I hope she would startle at the language, tell me I look fat and secretly be proud. I wish I had filmed it now…if only to remind myself it really happened. Mentally.’

The star also took to Instagram to share a photo of the venue at night, captioning the image, “That time I played a packed Hollywood F**king Bowl.”

PHILANTHROPY

Ricky is an avid philanthropist and last year he used a portion of the proceeds from his Supernature tour ticket sales to donate to charity.

He split £427,243.42 from ticket sales from his Supernature UK tour between three animal charities: International Animal Rescue, Animals Asia and Nowzad.

The equal split gave each charity a donation of £142,414.47.

Ricky said of the donation, “It’s such a privilege to be able to help animals in need simply by doing work that I already love.”

Pen Farthing, Founder and CEO of Nowzad, says: ‘Nowzad’s charity, its staff and the animals we care for are extremely excited and (and somewhat still in shock) about the amazing and super generous donation from the patron of Nowzad; Ricky Gervais.

The man’s comedic talents are legendary, but his passion and drive for promoting and supporting animal welfare knows no bounds. Thanks Ricky – from all of us. You are the difference.’