Dragons and Dollars! George R. R. Martin's Net Worth In 2024 From 'Game of Thrones' and More

Find out how rich he got from his bestselling fantasy series.

Author:
Jessica Sager
Updated:
Jan 3, 2024

George R. R. Martin's net worth is staggering thanks to the massive success of Game of Thrones.

The HBO juggernaut was a decade-long cultural moment that's continued with prequel series House of the Dragon, but Martin was a successful author long before the series went to screen—and he did it by embracing his own creativity instead of following a formula.

"You always try to do your own thing," he told New Jersey Monthly. "One of the things I wanted to do was to write a book that combines some of the best traits of contemporary fantasy with some of the traits of the historical novel. And I, of course, was a great fan of Tolkien, and Lord of the Rings and many other fantasy writers, Jack Vance and Fritz Leiber, Robert E Howard, but I always loved historical fiction."

Some of the fantasy novels he read, however, bored him to a degree, so he combined his loves to make A Song of Ice and Fire.

"It seemed to me that the historical fiction, particularly the historical fiction set during the middle ages, had an excitement to it and a grittiness and a realness to it that the fantasy novels lacked, even when they were supposedly set during a quasi-medieval period," he explained. "I wanted to combine the best of both worlds, to almost write a historical novel about history that never happened."

And in so doing, he actually made history.

How did George R. R. Martin become famous?

A native of Bayonne, New Jersey, Martin had humble beginnings.

"We didn’t have much money, my father was a longshoremen and my mother, when I was older, worked in a factory in Bayonne, the Maidenform factory," he recalled to New Jersey Monthly. "I had two younger sisters. We lived in federal housing projects down on First Street. I went to school on Fifth Street, and that was pretty much my world, from First Street to Fifth Street, except in my imagination, because I was a voracious reader of books and science fiction books and fantasy books, and all of that stuff."

He added, "We didn’t even own a car, so we never went anywhere. Maybe once a year we would go into New York City to see at show at Radio City Music Hall or something like that. But, mostly Bayonne was the only world I knew, except for the world of imagination."

He got his first taste of writing as a child selling monster stories to other kids for pennies. By high school, he became a comic book fan, especially of Stan Lee's work with Marvel, and had a fan letter printed in an issue of Fantastic Four and won a fan fiction contest.

He got his bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and in 1971 published his first professional sci-fi short story. In addition to writing, Martin worked at chess tournaments and as a professor at Clarke University to make ends meet.

The death of one of Martin's close friends, Tom Reamy, led him to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1979 to focus on writing full-time, with a focus on horror and sci-fi. His 1980 novella Nightflyers was his first project adapted for film, and he co-wrote the screenplay for the movie, which was released in 1987. He wasn't thrilled with the final result (the plot was changed somewhat for budgetary reasons), but has since credited the movie with saving his writing career.

After the commercial failure of his 1983 book The Armageddon Rag, Martin considered becoming a contributor to Haviland Tuf adventure books. Before he got the chance, however, he was offered a job writing for a Twilight Zone revival, followed by the series Max Headroom and Beauty and the Beast.

In the 1990s, Martin got back to writing novels, and in August 1996, his first Game of Thrones volume, A Song of Ice and Fire, was published.

What is George R. R. Martin's net worth in 2024?

George R. R. Martin's net worth in 2024 is estimated at $120 million.

How much money did George R. R. Martin make from Game of Thrones books?

Martin was estimated to make about $10 million per year from book sales alone when Game of Thrones was airing, though it's unclear exactly how much he made from his literary works before that time.

How many books has George R. R. Martin sold?

Martin has sold more than 90 million books in his career so far.

How much did George R. R. Martin make from the Game of Thrones TV show?

Martin reportedly made $15 million per season of Game of Thrones (there were eight of them)

How much did George R. R. Martin make per episode of Game of Thrones?

At his estimated $15 million per season, Martin made an average of a little over $1 million per episode of Game of Thrones, depending on the length of individual seasons.

How much money has George R. R. Martin made from Game of Thrones books?

Martin reportedly makes about $10 million annually from his book sales.

How many copies of A Song of Ice and Fire sold?

More than 90 million copies of A Song of Ice and Fire books have been sold since the original publication of A Game of Thrones in 1996.

How many copies did Game of Thrones sell before the show?

Even before HBO came calling, Martin well: His A Song of Ice and Fire books moved 12 million copies before the series premiered.

Will George R. R. Martin ever finish the books?

Eventually! He told Esquire that his long-awaited next installment, The Winds of Winter and its as-yet-untitled follow-up, are coming, he just doesn't know exactly when yet.

"I've given up making predictions, because people press me and press me: 'When is it going to be done?' And I make what I think is the best case estimate, and then stuff happens," he explained. "Then everybody gets mad that I 'lied.' I've never lied about these predictions. They're the best I can make, but I guess I overestimate my ability to get stuff done, and I underestimate the amount of interruptions and other projects, other demands that will distract me."

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