If celebrities did real jobs how long would it take them to earn their current worth?

We all know that lots of people aren’t doing a job directly related to their university degrees but did you know that many celebrities are also in the same boat? This makes us wonder what would happen if they weren’t famous and if they had to survive in the “normal” job market, relying simply on their degrees like we do?

Interested to find this out, SEO provider Reboot utilised Payscale.com and estimated the potential 2023 annual salary of 27 celebrities based on their university degrees, revealing the mind-blowing number of years they would need to reach their current net worth if they took an alternative job!  

How long would it take celebrities to reach their current net worth?

Celebrity	University	College/university degree	Potential job role	Predicted salary 2023 €	Number of years to reach current net worth
Chris Martin	University College London	Ancient World Studies	Museum curator	45,264	3,293
Prince William	University of St Andrews	Geography	Architectural technologist	37,342	2,494
Emma Watson	Brown University	English literature	Writer	35,080	2,257
Bradley Cooper	Georgetown University	English	Editorial assistant	55,889	1,667
John Legend	University of Pennsylvania	English, African American literature	Writer	64,273	1,449
Tom Hiddleston	University of Cambridge	Classics	Archivist	33,948	1,098
Kourtney Kardashian	University of Arizona	Theatre Arts and Spanish	Production Manager, Theater	56,821	1,066
Gerard Butler	University of Glasgow	Law	Lawyer	73,554	1,013
Natalie Portman	Harvard University	Psychology	Clinical psychologist	89,423	938
Eva Longoria	California State University	MA Chicano studies	Higher education lecturer	83,309	894

Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin ranked first as the celebrities who would take the longest to reach their current net worth if they had to earn their fortune based on a university degree alone! Graduated from University College London with a degree in Ancient World Studies, the British singer would be most likely to be a museum curator like other graduates with the same degree. It is estimated that he would be earning an annual salary of €45,264 this year, which would have required him to work 3,293 more years in order to reach his current net worth! 

Prince WIlliam ranked second. Despite his current net worth standing at $100 million, most typical Geography graduates would earn €37,342 on average in 2023 after 17 years of work experience. If Prince William was born into a different family, he may have instead become an architectural technologist – meaning that it would have taken him 2,494 years to become as rich as he is now. 

In third place is actress Emma Watson, who graduated from Brown University with a degree in English literature. With her English degree and interests in journaling and reading books, she could have become a writer after graduation, earning potentially a salary of €35,080 this year. This means it would take her 2,257 years to reach the same net worth she has now if she didn’t step into the acting industry playing Hermione Granger. 

Who would earn the most with their university degree?

Celebrity	College/university degree	Potential job role	Predicted salary 2023 €
Ken Jeong	Medical degree	Doctor / General Practitioner	178,430
Mayim Bialik	PhDin neuroscience	Neuroscientist	151,833
2 Chainz	Psychology	Clinical psychologist	97,806
Christy Turlington	Masters in Public Health	Healthcare Consultant	94,080
Natalie Portman	Psychology	Clinical psychologist	89,423
Eva Longoria	Masters in Chicano studies	Higher education lecturer	83,309
Wanda Sykes	Marketing	Marketing executive	80,108
Gerard Butler	Law	Lawyer	73,554
John Legend	English, African American literature	Writer	64,273
Issa Rae	African and African-American studies	Broadcast journalist	57,752

As a medical graduate and an officially licensed physician for a few years, it was estimated that American actor and comedian Ken Jeong would be earning €178,430 a year now if he chose to pursue his medical career. 

American actress Mayim Bialik, graduatedwith a PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA, ranked second as the celebrity who would earn the most with university degrees (€151,833).

Rapper 2 Chianz, in third place, would be earning approximately €97,806 as a clinical psychologist in the US based on his degree in Psychology.