Comedians Who Were Born Filthy Rich

Comedians are some of the bravest people in the world. Not only do they get up in front of a crowd on a daily basis — a frightening prospect in and of itself — but they seek laughter and approval while also trying to be honest ... sometimes to a fault. They're the modern-day jesters who tell it like it is, speak truth to power, and put a mirror up to society to show us all how silly, tragic, maddening, or unfair life can be.

Of course, in order to discuss (and mock) the world, comedians have to not only live in that world, but also, on some level, understand the plight of the common man. Ironically, some of the most successful of these populist purveyors of incendiary wit aren't "of the people" at all ... and they never were. A few of the entertainment industry's most clever and innovative comedians got rich doing their thing, which only added to the proverbial pile of money they (or their parents) already had. Here are some of our favorite comedians who were free to pursue their artistic ambitions because they were born filthy rich.

In 1993, Conan O'Brien took over for David Letterman on NBC's Late Night franchise, according to Rolling Stone. While it was a tall order to replace one of the most innovative and ironic talk show hosts, O'Brien eventually made a name for himself with stuff way sillier than Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks" and "Top 10" list segments. Every night, his show featured a wild sketch or strange character, such as the PimpBot 5000 or Preparation H Raymond. 

O'Brien was just 30 years old when he landed Late Night (via Biography), but already had a firm grasp on comedy, having honed his skills through stints as a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons, and as the editor of the famed Harvard Lampoon humor magazine. Yep, O'Brien started working in comedy almost immediately after graduating high school, and had the luxury of pursuing it full-time thanks, in part, to his wealthy parents. Sure, the red-headed talk show host got into Harvard, but when the tuition bills were due, it undoubtedly helped to have a well-off mom and dad. According to Britannica, O'Brien's father was a doctor and Harvard Medical School instructor, while his mother was a partner at a law firm.

He may have been born rich, but Nick Kroll certainly doesn't rest on his laurels. Over the last decade and change, this multi-hyphenate has worked hard to become one of the top names in comedy. While starring on the hit sitcom The League, he also frequently performed stand-up. He later created the Kroll Show, a Comedy Central sketch series which served to showcase the many different characters he fostered as a veteran of the Improv and podcast scenes. 

Of course, if all that didn't work out, Kroll probably could have fallen back on a handsomely salaried position in his father's company. According to The New Yorker, Jules Kroll served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York before taking over his father's small printing company, where he uncovered all kinds of bribes and overpayments his clients had been stuck with by other vendors. That prompted him to start one of the world's first corporate investigation firms in 1972: J. Kroll Associates, later called Kroll, Inc. The elder Kroll's commission was a percentage of whatever amount he'd save a company. However, the business eventually focused on exposing international financial crimes perpetuated by nefarious heads of state like Saddam Hussein and Ferdinand Marcos. While that work made Nick Kroll's dad quite wealthy, he met a huge payday when he sold Kroll, Inc. to insurance company Marsh & McLennan for just under $2 billion in 2004.

Aziz Ansari's success as a stand-up comedian (he sold out Madison Square Garden in 2014) and comic actor (he played Tom Haverford for seven seasons on Parks and Recreation) apparently wasn't enough to satisfy his fertile creative mind. Alongside Parks writer Alan Yang, he created Netflix's Master of None: A thoughtful, cinematic series about a struggling Indian-American actor named Dev. As its main creative force, Ansari starred in the show and had a say in the casting of other roles. However, when it came time to cast the actor and actress who would play Dev's father and mother, the multi-talent couldn't find suitable on-screen talents. So, he did the logical thing and gave the roles to Shoukath and Fatima Ansari — his actual parents. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Ansari said of his father to The Wrap. "He's probably funnier than I am." 

The gigs brought the older Ansaris fame, but not fortune, as they played minor roles in the streaming series. But that's just fine — they're good when it comes to money, because one of them is a doctor. According to Becker's ASC, Shouketh Ansari is a gastroenterologist at the Sandhills Endoscopy Center in Hamlet, North Carolina, as well as the medical director — a position he's held for more than 30 years.

B.J. Novak is best known for portraying Ryan Howard, the smug yet ultimately incompetent, wannabe executive, on The Office for nine seasons. Novak also wrote for the show, and has since published a couple of quirky, humor books that made the bestseller lists: One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories and The Book with No Pictures. It turns out that writing, not acting, is actually the Novak family trade — although being famous for it with a prominently displayed author name is not. 

The writer-actor's father is William Novak, a nonfiction author who, according to a 1992 profile by the Los Angeles Times, hit the bestseller list five times in the previous ten years. And yet he was never a household name or publishing titan, because he was a ghostwriter and a co-writer for autobiographies of extremely famous and powerful people. Look closely at the life stories of Nancy Reagan, Oliver North, Lee Iacocca, former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, Magic Johnson, and Sydney Biddle Barrows (a.k.a. the scandalized "Mayflower Madam"), and there you will see on the cover or title page: "With William Novak." That said, he commanded top dollar for his services, including a six-figure advance for the Johnson book, for example.