- Matthew Perry died not long ago, and speculation about who will inherit his riches has already begun.
- Perry once stated that he would not see “a dime” of his father’s money.
- A lawyer has since revealed his thoughts on who might inherit the Hollywood star’s estate.
When he died, television personality Matthew Perry had never been married or had any children. He once declared that his father, John Perry, would not inherit his money.
Matthew struggled with substance misuse for the entirety of his childhood and, at one point, carried booze into his father’s house, who was married to someone else at the time.
Perry claimed in his biography, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” that his stepmother was so disturbed by what he did that his father politely requested him to leave. At the time, the Hollywood actor recalled thinking to himself:
“Oh, I’ll leave, but neither of you will ever see a dime of my money, ever, I thought, but I did not say.”
Perry’s Death & Lawyer’s Views on Who Might Inherit His Fortune
Perry died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54, from an apparent drowning at his home in Los Angeles. Tre Lovell, an entertainment lawyer, expressed his thoughts on who might inherit his fortune three days following his unexpected death.
Lovell highlighted Perry’s salary in an interview from the hit ’90s sitcom “Friends,” in which he co-starred for ten years with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc.
Lovell added that Perry and the rest of the cast members earn “$20 million” in residuals each year and will continue to do so as long as the program airs.
He went on to say that residuals are paid even after someone dies since it is considered a “obligation” to a performer, which could even go to their offspring.
In Perry’s case, Lovell also explained that there will be a designee who will determine where his royalties would go moving forward. According to him, it remains unclear if the Emmy-nominated actor had set up a trust for his estate or whether he had a will to determine his assets.
Lovell said that if Perry did not have any of the details mentioned above in place, then his fortune could go to his next of kin. He further explained:
“[Given] the fact that he didn’t have a spouse or children, it would go to his parents, equally.”
Lovell also divulged that Perry most likely set up something to at least have some of his money go to addiction recovery charities, which he supported. The television star, who spoke candidly about his finances over the years, revealed in an October 2022 interview that he forked out about “$9 million” trying to recover from his alcohol and drug addictions.
Moreover, Perry became involved in helping others overcome their addiction issues as he even turned his Malibu beach home into a men’s sober living facility called Perry House. In addition, he penned in his book that there was no chance that he could go broke while indulging his addiction.
Perry shared he foresaw a change in his life financially after landing the role of Chandler Bing in “Friends,” which turned him into a household name. He disclosed that he and his co-stars made a million dollars per episode and that by season ten, they were each earning “$1,100,040 an episode.”
“Friends” was viewed by 52.9 million people and was regarded as the most-watched show ever to follow a Super Bowl. It raked in more money through ad revenues, which totaled over half a million dollars for thirty seconds of airtime. The show became lucrative for NBC.
Soon after, Perry started getting movie offers that were paying a million dollars, and one of those films was “Fools Rush In,” in which he starred alongside Salma Hayek. Eventually, Perry realized that drowning his pain by giving into addiction was not beneficial for him and finally sobered up in 2013.
He once said, When I die, I don’t want ‘Friends’ to be the first thing that’s mentioned – I want helping others to be the first thing that’s mentioned.” This quote is featured on his newly-founded foundation website, which was formed in his honor after he died.