Celebrity Wives Who Make More Money Than Their Husbands

The gender pay gap, or, in other terms, the difference between how much men and women make for performing the same duties in the same fields, is a longstanding prevalent issue in countries across the world. While it may seem unlikely, in reality, the United States, despite its highly developed economy, is no exception. According to the Pew Research Center, studies show that, on average, American female workers made only 82% of what their male counterparts earned in 2022. Shockingly, this is no progress compared to the gender pay gap that prevailed in America in 2002, when women typically earned $0.80 for every dollar men pocketed for the same occupation.

It's no surprise that female celebrities face the same discrimination. In 2019, The Wire estimated that women in Hollywood, on average, were paid $6.6 million, whereas men doing the same work earned $11.9 million. Taking into account these recent studies on the topic, it's safe to say that Hollywood still has a lot to do to abolish gender-based discrimination. Even in marriage, money plays a huge role, and large pay differences between couples sometimes leads to tension in the marriage — and possibly divorce. However, there are exceptions, and many happy marriages exist where women earn considerably more than their partners. Here's a list of celebrity wives who are worth more than their husbands, inspiring and empowering women by smashing a part of patriarchy the world can and should do without.

Oscar-winning actor Julia Roberts reportedly has an astounding net worth of $250 million, whereas her husband, cinematographer Daniel Moder, is said to be worth $10 million. However, despite such a wide pay gap between them, the pair, by Hollywood standards, has clearly been going strong for the past two decades. Having met in 2000 on the set of the 2001 film "The Mexican," a project they worked on together, Moder and Roberts tied the knot in 2002 and are parents to twins Hazel and Phinnaeus and son Henry.

Working in the industry for nearly four decades, Roberts has earned staggering amounts of money for most films she's done. While she reportedly made only $300,000 for 1990's "Pretty Woman," Roberts broke all records in 2000 by becoming the first female Hollywood actor to earn $20 million for a single film – "Erin Brockovich," a project that earned Roberts a much-deserved Academy Award. Later, in 2010, she reportedly made $3 million for six minutes of screen time in the Garry Marshall rom-com "Valentine's Day" and received 3% of the film's gross box office earnings. Then, in 2016, the actor was paid $3 million for four days of shooting the Jennifer Aniston-starring, Garry Marshall-directed rom-com "Mother's Day." No wonder Roberts has a net worth so unbelievably high!

Best known for movies such as "The Princess Diaries," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Rachel Getting Married," and "Love & Other Drugs," Anne Hathaway is reportedly worth $80 million, which far surpasses the net worth of her husband, Adam Shulman. Shulman, an actor and jewelry designer Hathaway married in 2012, is worth an estimated $1 million. That said, the difference between their individual earnings doesn't seem to be a problem. The couple is apparently living a happy married life and share two sons, Jonathan Rosebanks and Jack, born in 2016 and 2019, respectively.

Hathaway's net worth comes as no surprise. She has been in the film industry for more than two decades and has reportedly earned massive amounts of money, even for small cameos. For example, Hathaway was paid $7.5 million for 19 minutes of screen time in the 2012 film "The Dark Knight Rises." Furthermore, Hathaway reportedly earned $10 million for playing a brief role in 2012's "Les Misérables," the movie that brought her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Another factor that undoubtedly helped Hathaway succeed is her ambitious nature. As she told Elle in 2022, "When you are not born into the life that you would like to have for yourself, you have to be ambitious ... I love that I'm hardworking ... And I love that I have really big dreams and goals for myself."

Singer and actor Jennifer Lopez's relationship with her now-husband, actor Ben Affleck, has been one of the most scrutinized Hollywood affairs. The pair, who called their initial engagement off in 2004, rekindled their romance nearly two decades later, ultimately saying "I do" in 2022. Despite being extremely successful in their individual fields of expertise, the two are nowhere near each other in terms of their net worth. Affleck's estimated net worth is $150 million, whereas Lopez is said to be worth a jaw-dropping $400 million.

In her nearly four-decade-long Hollywood career, Lopez has pocketed astonishingly huge amounts of money for most of her work. For example, Lopez broke Planet Hollywood records when her "All I Have" residency at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino sold more than $1 million in tickets in 2016. Back in 2010, Lopez was even rumored to have signed a $12 million contract with Fox to serve as a judge for the 10th season of "American Idol." In 2008, Lopez sold photos of her then-newborn twins, whom she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony, to People for $6 million. She later told the Daily Beast that some of that money went to charity, while the rest was saved for her kids. However, no matter what it may look like, Lopez isn't really "money-crazy." She produced and starred in 2019's "Hustlers" for free, justifying her decision by telling GQ, "I do what I love."

Actor-turned-talk show host Kelly Ripa is a household name, thanks to her hosting "Live!" for over two decades now opposite co-hosts over the years who included Regis Philbin, Michael Strahan, and Ryan Seacrest. Since Seacrest's 2023 departure from the show, Ripa has hosted it with her longtime husband, actor Mark Consuelos. Consuelos and Ripa, who are parents of three, are reportedly worth $40 million and $120 million respectively. However, Ripa, who now annually earns about $20 million for "Live" (she also hosts ABC's primetime family-friendly game show "Generation Gap"), wasn't always paid as much as she deserved. Surprisingly, at one point, it was a very serious gender-biased discrimination against Ripa that actually worked in the favor of her husband.

While acting in the soap opera "All My Children," Ripa earned far less than her then-co-star, Mark Consuelos, even though she joined the show before he did. As Ripa told Variety, "It wasn't until I got what we call my 'fancy job' that I started actually earning more money than him." However, she also made clear that the previous and current pay gaps have never really affected the dynamic the couple share, saying, "We have been together so long that it's always been collective money. We are very much old-fashioned in that sense."