How Ariel Winter Achieved a Net Worth of $12 Million

Not many 23-year-olds own a Range Rover, two Mercedes, and a 5,000 sq ft, $2.7 million mansion. Then again, there're not many 23-year-olds like Ariel Winter. Best known for playing the smart, sarcastic Alex Dunphy in "Modern Family," Winter is worth the dazzling sum of $12 million. "Modern Family" might be over, but she's still raking in the dough from her other projects as an actress. If you've ever wanted to know what it takes to become a multi-millionaire before you're barely out of your teens, find out now as we take a look at how Ariel Winter achieved a net worth of $12 million.

From Cool Whip to Modern Family

As thelist.com explains, Winter, like many of Hollywood's biggest stars, began her career in commercials. Her first job was at the age of just 4 years old in a Cool Whip ad, where she did a great job of convincing people that yes, hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and skim milk really does taste like honest-to-goodness whipped cream. After that, the jobs started coming in thick and fast. By the time 2009 rolled around, she'd made guest appearances on a score of TV programs, including "Listen Up," "Freddie," "Monk," "Bones," "ER," and "So Notorious." She'd also started lending her voice to various animations, voicing Thumper's sister in "Bambi II," several characters in "Ice Age: The Meltdown," Marlene Wallace in "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete," and, perhaps most famously, Gretchen in "Phineas and Ferb." By the time she auditioned for a little TV show called "Modern Family" in 2009, she was already a name. But she was about to become a star... and a very, very rich teenager.

Keeping it in the Family

When Winter landed the role of Claire and Phil Dunphy's nerdy but brilliant middle child, she probably had no idea just how popular the show would become. No one did. CBS and NBC had already rejected it offhand, leaving it to ABC to finally agree to give it a chance. 10 seasons down the line, they were probably feeling pretty pleased they'd taken the risk. From the start, "Modern Family" was a ratings winner, drawing major critical acclaim, huge audiences, and mammoth paychecks for its cast. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Winter, like the rest of the child stars, initially earned $70,000 per episode. By 2017, that had increased to $125,000. With 22 episodes per season, that meant she was earning a grand total of $2.75 million per year during the last few seasons of the show. Professionally, things couldn't have been going any better for Winter, Personally, it was a different story. In 2012, her sister, Shanelle Workman, filed to become her guardian, claiming that their mother had been physically and mentally abusive. The court sided with Shanelle, and placed Winter into her care. 3 years later, Winter declared via Twitter that she'd been legally emancipated from her mother.

Continued Success

Winter spent 11 years as Alex Dunphy, starring in every single episode of the hit sitcom's 11 season run. Considering she was still at school for most of it and was earning the equivalent of what most families earn in an entire year in just one episode, you'd have thought she'd have taken a break between seasons. She didn't. Instead, she capitalized on her growing success by landing the role (or rather, the voice) of Sofia on Disney's "Sofia the First." The role, which took her from 2012 to 2018, opened the window to other voiceover work in the likes of "Milo Murphy's Law" and "Elena of Avalor." She also branched into video games, lending her vocal talents to "Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep," "Final Fantasy XIII-2," "Guild Wars 2," "Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix," and "Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory," among other things. If that wasn't enough, she's also made appearances in numerous movies, including "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," "Speed Racer," "Duress," "Opposite Day," and "The Chaperone," the last of which earned her a nomination for "Best Actress in a Motion Picture" at the Young Artist Awards 2012.

Social Media Inflencer

Since "Modern Family" came to an end in 2020, Winter hasn't been on our screens much. She has, however, been an almost permanent fixture on social media. According to lifeandstylemag.com, she has 4 million followers on Instagram alone, with the result that fashion and beauty brands have been queuing round the block to get her endorsement. In 2017, for example, she partnered with H&M on the brand's Coachella-themed collection. She's also worked with them on the Moschino x H&M line. In 2019, meanwhile, she teamed up with Ulta Beauty to extoll the virtues of their blowout services.

Real Estate Mogul

While most kids struggle to make rent, let alone save up enough to consider buying their own place, Winter has been in the property game since she was 18. Her 'starter' home was a $1.5 million home in the exclusive Southern California neighborhood of Sherman Oaks. Boasting a wine cellar, contemporary architecture, and acres of manicured lawns, it would have been a dream property for most of us. Not so Winter, however, who upgraded to a 5,000-square-foot, $2.7 million property in Studio City, California within less than a year. She ended up selling her Sherman Oaks home for a cool $1.65 million, netting her a neat profit of $100,000. Three years later, she was on the move again, this time to a $3.5 million mansion in Studio City. Her old Studio City property hit the listings for $2.8 million.

Summing Up

At the grand old age of 23 years old, Ariel Winter is worth the monster sum of $12 million. If it seems a fortune, it's because it is. If it seems absurd that anyone that young should already have that kind of wealth to play with, it's worth checking the facts. Winter started working at the age of 4. At the age of 11, she was commanding salaries that most of us couldn't even dream of. At the age of 17, she was officially emancipated from her mother. Basically, she's already lived more and done more than most of us ever will. Considering all that, that 8 figure fortune doesn't seem so absurd after all.