How Much Is William Shatner Net Worth in 2025?
In 2025, William Shatner’s estimated net worth is $100 million. That number pops up everywhere Celebrity Net Worth, news outlets, even Shatner’s own social posts (well, after you squint through the wisecracks, which he’s always good for).
For context, that’s enough to buy a small fleet of original Enterprise props and still have plenty to keep a “redshirt insurance fund.”
His wealth isn’t just from one big paycheck. Shatner’s earnings come from:
- Acting roles (TV, movies, voice gigs yep, his voice is everywhere)
- Book deals (including both memoirs and wild sci-fi novels)
- Convention appearances and event hosting
- Endorsement deals (most iconically, Priceline)
Fun fact: There’s a persistent rumor he made $600 million in Priceline stock. It’s a whopper, but he’s denied it, laughing off the idea in interviews. Seems $100 million is still more than enough to boldly go where most can’t.
Who Is William Shatner?
William Shatner is the Canadian actor, author, director, and pop culture icon best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek.
Born in Montreal in 1931 (seriously, he’s 94 in 2025 still making jokes and going strong!), Shatner’s career spans nearly seven decades.
He’s not just Captain Kirk. He’s also a Broadway performer, Emmy-winning lawyer Denny Crane, sci-fi novelist, and, more recently, even a space tourist (hopping on Blue Origin’s rocket because, of course, Kirk finally went to real space).
He’s a classic Shakespeare guy who somehow ended up fronting sci-fi conventions, dropping surprise music albums, and narrating documentaries like a mixture of Orson Welles and your favorite slightly eccentric uncle.
There’s a certain gleeful weirdness to Shatner’s public persona he’ll deliver a spoken-word version of a Beatles song one minute, then troll fans online about his wealth the next. In other words: never boring.
Just think, without him, we might not have “KHAAAN!” as one of pop culture’s most-quoted screams.
William Shatner Career Earnings
Shatner didn’t pull TV mega bucks from Star Trek reruns. That’s right thanks to how syndication worked in the 1960s, rerun residuals didn’t exist yet. He’s joked about not seeing a penny even after decades of late-nighters still catching him on TV.
But he hustled elsewhere:
- Star Trek conventions: He can charge $10,000-$20,000 per appearance (sometimes that’s just the travel fee). Multiply by dozens of events per year, plus photo ops and autographs, and you get serious coin.
- Series Success: From T.J. Hooker and Rescue 911 to Boston Legal, network TV paid much better in the later years especially with his Emmy-winning lawyer gig.
- Film Roles: Miss Congeniality, Dodgeball, Over the Hedge not blockbusters, but nice paydays for picking up supporting roles.
- Endorsements: The Priceline deal is legendary even if he didn’t get $600 million, he did make big money as the company’s iconic spokesperson from 1998 onward.
- Book sales and music recordings: People apparently really do buy his memoirs, sci-fi books, and those unforgettable spoken-word albums (seriously, seek them out for a good chuckle).
Some actors coast, but Shatner always found new ways to cash in he’s equal parts performer and relentless entrepreneur. There’s a lesson in resilience there: keep finding new gigs, and sometimes you end up richer than the Ferengi.
William Shatner Early Life
Shatner’s story starts in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in a tight-knit Jewish family, his dad a clothing manufacturer and his mom a teacher.
He hit the acting bug super young age eight, already in radio plays for the CBC, plus gigging in children’s theater. He was the kind of kid who did Shakespeare festivals in Ontario, not backyard hockey.
He graduated from McGill University in 1952, having balanced his student life with amateur acting and broadcasting.
His earliest gigs? Assistant manager at a local playhouse, understudy work, and eventually the jump from Canadian stage performances to Broadway in New York.
- Got a Theater World Award for “Suzie Wong” in 1959
- Debuted in film opposite Yul Brynner in “The Brothers Karamazov” in 1958
- Played a Nazi agitator in “The Intruder” (1962) odd, but true
- Early TV roles on Playhouse 90 and Goodyear Theater before TV was even cool
He was ambitious but also willing to work odd jobs while chasing auditions a trait that makes sense for someone whose eventual career would run the gamut from sci-fi fame to horse breeding.
