There is a problem with me. Something that makes me curious can get stuck in my head for days on end—until I have found the right answer (or the answer I want). At the moment, I am quite badly stuck, unable to accept my defeat in front of this simple question: why are so many people around the world so curious about any celebrity’s net worth? I mean, if you don’t wish to tighten the noose around the tax-defaulters, why else would you be interested in a famous person’s wealth? Not everyone works for the income tax department and gets paid for keeping tabs on people’s moneys.
If the celeb is a business magnate or industrialist, the curiosity is still understandable because one might be interested in knowing their business turnover, their strategy, or the current industry dynamics to name a few zones of their enterprise and influence.
But why exactly would anyone be interested in knowing about Angelina Jolie’s real estate investment or Amitabh Bachchan’s current bank balance and foreign investments, for instance?
Another case scenario: you are a struggling actor and you wish to be a star someday soon. So, your curiosity might be guided by your interest in a possible financial future in that field.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to know how much an established actor or singer earns or owns in the business if you are currently auditioning and fighting for roles. I feel such curiosity is quite akin to the kind all of us feel when we aspire for a particular job role—when we aren’t quite sure of the salary possibilities. While negotiating the pay package with any company, we want to be well-equipped with info from other employees from the same company or field. So, we go to glassdoor or ambitionbox to check employee reviews.
I don’t think anyone of us blindly believes these anonymous reviews on job sites; there is always a possibility of people mucking all info on such platforms. But we would still be tempted to read that obscure item about the fancy houses an actor owns or the billion-dollar investment they just made in a foreign enterprise. What’s the authenticity, dear reader?
Sadly, even though much desired, most reportage in this area is not even authentic. Amongst the many things humans like to keep private, money tops the list. No celeb ever comes out and makes public declarations about their earnings.
Ironically, in most cultures around the world (except India, of course), it is considered quite inappropriate to pry about other people’s income. Even close family other than one’s wife and children have no clue about how much they have invested in shares or what’s their monthly in-hand salary. But people in those same cultures are glued to websites flashing celebrity net worth. These blogs and videos get a crazy amount of hits and likes. Try a google search on the topic if you don’t believe me.
You don’t know how much your sibling made just this last month but you still feel confident about the YouTuber telling you about Kate Winslet’s total assets. Isn’t that funny? Why would you be so gullible when confronting information that in most cases is fake—a mere clickbait?
Since the readership on the topic is humongous, even established publications are forced to tease people with small pieces of info about celebrity wealth. A Cosmopolitan article titled, “Leonardo DiCaprio’s Net Worth Just Caused My Jaw to Drop” made my jaw drop for completely different reasons. Some subheadings in the piece go like: “He’s made $100 million from endorsements alone” and “He owns a private island.” Interesting much? I don’t blame the publications; they are only catering to a large audience out there that slurps this precious info with great joy.
Over the last few days, I have leisurely researched the subject to satisfy my inquisitiveness. Alas, most articles that try to dissect why people are interested in celeb net worth are just like mine—surprised about people’s fascination but unable to conclude anything. Sample these if you fancy:
Why is Everyone So Fascinated with Celebrity Net Worth?
A short article by Johanna Gruber says:
“It’s natural to compare your life to a celebrity’s. The obsession with looking up every celeb’s net worth comes from a compulsion to compare the details of a normalcy to extravagance. That initial shock of seeing how many millions of dollars someone has is almost addicting.”
Is it simply because people dig all sorts of info about celebs? So, you mean people who are interested in Rihanna’s baby bump might be the same people to get a kick out of her material assets? I don’t know. But if it’s that simple, I am good. I can sleep well tonight without bothering further about this question.
But . . .why does this little voice inside of me tell me it’s not that simple? There is more to it than just people’s usual, harmless interest in celebrities—their clothes, their handbags, and their airport styles.
For the paucity of research in this area, I am not totally satisfied with these content pieces. I would like to keep this inquiry open for brainstorming. Tell me why you think celebrity net worth is such a big thing globally. You won’t? Great! I appreciate your nonchalance on the matter. You are a rare gem, sire. The world needs more of you (and I). 🙏😋😊
Ambika Singh,PhD 
It’s the Power Distance in such societies, that on the surface claim of minimal Power Distance and Equal Rights, yet are structured in such a way to foster deep inequalities and access to opportunities based on wealth alone. This Power Distance keeps reminding the Hoi Polloi through such articles that ‘You will never get here’ and thus, reinforce the inequalities between the new serfs and the wealthy class, through a very selected section of their media – the kind that is mainly targeted at the middle-earnng segment – to remind them to ‘know their place’. Thus, such articles are ‘control mechanism’-s, on societies struggling with general low income, low savings, high cost of living , high inflation and ever spiralling asset prices.
This slow spoon-feeding of the ‘reminder of inequality’ is meant to get the Great Unwashed normalised to the increasing wealth inequality just like how a frog is slowly boiled, so that there is no ‘Let them eat cake’ moment ever. A lot of thinking seems to have gone into this communication strategy, given the private ownership of such media houses.
LikeLiked by 1 person