JK Rowling: How Much is the Harry Potter Author Worth?

By Ellen Killoran | June 17 2011 1:16 PM

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is one of the richest women alive, reportedly earning $1.6 million dollars every three days from the Potter empire. Her estimated net worth is now $1 billion, according to Forbes.

Reuters

British author JK Rowling holds her HC Andersen Literature Prize 2010 at Odense Concert Hall

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While Rowling isn't necessarily known for having lavish tastes, she certainly manages to spend at least part of her fortune - and lately has had a habit of snatching up real estate.

Rowling - who lives with her husband Neil Murray and their three children in Edinburg, Scotland - also owns multi-million dollar properties in nearby Pertshire; Kensington, West London; and Tasmania, Australia. Just this month, she bought her second property in Tasmania - a $10 million dollar estate which a family member said she would be using as a vacation home.

She has also recently purchased a $1.3 million home next to her Edinburg mansion, which she bought with the intent to tear it down in order to expand her garden.

In 2006, she and her family stayed at a seven-bedroom Hamptons retreat that reportedly cost $123,000 a week to rent.

According to The Daily Mail, Rowling frequently travels by private jet but does not indulge in luxury cars, preferring to drive something less conspicuous. At times in her post-Potter life, she has employed a bodyguard on a salary of almost $250,000, the highest paid in her moderately sized staff which includes a personal assistant and two secretaries.

The billionaire author is a dedicated philanthropist, having donated tens - perhaps hundreds - of millions to various nonprofit organizations over the years. She a leading crusader for multiple sclerosis research and treatment, having lost her mother to the disease in 1990. She has also offered significant fundraising support to the UK anti-poverty fundraiser Comic Relief.

Rowling - known as Jo to her friends and family - is as famous for her incredible rags to riches story as she is for the creation of the famed wizard. At the time she was writing the first books, the single mother was living on government assistance and was despairing of how she might support herself and her family.

The Harry Potter series of books have sold more than 400 million copies, and the brand is worth over $15 billion.