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?

CelebrityUniversityCollege/university degreePotential job rolePredicted salary 2023 €Number of years to reach current net worth 
Chris MartinUniversity College LondonAncient World StudiesMuseum curator45,2643,293
Prince WilliamUniversity of St AndrewsGeographyArchitectural technologist37,3422,494
Emma WatsonBrown UniversityEnglish literatureWriter35,0802,257
Bradley CooperGeorgetown UniversityEnglishEditorial assistant55,8891,667
John LegendUniversity of PennsylvaniaEnglish, African American literatureWriter64,2731,449
Tom HiddlestonUniversity of CambridgeClassicsArchivist33,9481,098
Kourtney KardashianUniversity of ArizonaTheatre Arts and SpanishProduction Manager, Theater56,8211,066
Gerard ButlerUniversity of GlasgowLawLawyer73,5541,013
Natalie PortmanHarvard UniversityPsychologyClinical psychologist89,423938
Eva LongoriaCalifornia State UniversityMA Chicano studiesHigher education lecturer83,309894

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?

CelebrityCollege/university degreePotential job rolePredicted salary 2023 €
Ken JeongMedical degreeDoctor / General Practitioner178,430
Mayim BialikPhDin neuroscienceNeuroscientist151,833
2 ChainzPsychologyClinical psychologist97,806
Christy TurlingtonMasters in Public HealthHealthcare Consultant94,080
Natalie PortmanPsychologyClinical psychologist89,423
Eva LongoriaMasters in Chicano studiesHigher education lecturer83,309
Wanda SykesMarketingMarketing executive80,108
Gerard ButlerLawLawyer73,554
John LegendEnglish, African American literatureWriter64,273
Issa RaeAfrican and African-American studiesBroadcast journalist57,752

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. 

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