What Was Tony Scott's Net Worth and Salary?
Tony Scott was an English film director and producer who had a net worth of $200 million at the time of his death in 2012. The brother of fellow director/producer Sir Ridley Scott, Tony earned his net worth by directing many successful Hollywood blockbuster films, such as "Top Gun" (1986), "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987), "Days of Thunder" (1990), "Crimson Tide" (1995), "Enemy of the State" (1998), and "Déjà Vu (2006), and he directed and produced "Man on Fire" (2004), "Domino" (2005), "The Taking of Pelham 123" (2009), and "Unstoppable" (2010).
Tony also served as an executive producer on the television series "Numb3rs" (2005–2010) and "The Good Wife" (2009–2012) and the miniseries "The Company" (2007), "The Andromeda Strain" (2008), "The Pillars of the Earth" (2010), "Coma" (2012), and "World Without End" (2012).
Scott had 30 directing credits and more than 50 production credits to his name, and he won Primetime Emmys for his work as a producer on the 2002 TV movie "The Gathering Storm" and the 2011 History channel documentary "Gettysburg."
Tony and Ridley Scott co-founded RSA Films, which has been "renowned for creative excellence and production expertise" for more than five decades. Sadly, Scott died by suicide in August 2012 at the age of 68.
Early Life
Tony Scott was born Anthony David Leighton Scott on June 21, 1944, in Tynemouth, Northumberland, North East England. He was the son of Elizabeth and Colonel Francis Percy Scott, and his father served in the Corps of Royal Engineers. Tony's grand-uncle, Dixon Scott, opened several movie theaters in Tyneside. Scott had two older brothers, Ridley and Frank. Ridley is an Academy Award-nominated director and producer known for films such as "Alien," "Thelma & Louise," "Gladiator," "Black Hawk Down," and "American Gangster," and Frank, a former member of the Merchant Navy, died of skin cancer in 1980. Tony attended Rosebank School and West Hartlepool College of Art, and he earned a fine arts degree from Sunderland Art School. When he was 16, Scott appeared in Ridley's directorial debut, the short film "Boy and Bicycle," which was filmed in 1962 and released in 1965.
In 1969, Tony made the short film "One of the Missing," which was based on the Ambrose Bierce story of the same name, and he cast Ridley in the project. Scott studied with Raymond Durgnat at the Royal College of Art, where he starred in the student film "Don't Walk." In 2012, Tony spoke to "The Hollywood Reporter" about that time in his life, stating, "I was finishing eight years at art school, and Ridley had opened Ridley Scott Associates and said, 'Come and make commercials and make some money' — because I owed money left and right and center.' My goal was to make films; but I got sidetracked into commercials and then I took off — I had 15 years [making them], and it was a blast. We were very prolific, and that was our training ground: You'd shoot 100 days in a year, then we gravitated from that to film."
Career
Tony directed numerous commercials for Ridley Scott Associates and said that he "cornered the market in sexy, rock'n'roll stuff." In 1975, he directed a TV adaptation of the Henry James short story "The Author of Beltraffio," and the first feature film he directed was 1983's "The Hunger," which starred Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. Next, Scott helmed the hit Tom Cruise action film "Top Gun," which grossed $357.3 million (including re-releases in 2013 and 2021) against a $15 million budget and was the year's highest-grossing movie. "Top Gun" was preserved in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2015 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." His next film, 1987's "Beverly Hills Cop II," starred Eddie Murphy and brought in $276.5 million at the box office, then he directed Kevin Costner in "Revenge" (1990), Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in "Days of Thunder" (1990), and Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans in "The Last Boy Scout" (1991). "Days of Thunder" and "The Last Boy Scout" both grossed more than $100 million. Tony directed Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette in 1993's "True Romance," which was written by Quentin Tarantino, then he worked with Denzel Washington, who would become a frequent collaborator, in 1995's "Crimson Tide." Washington went on to star in four more films directed by Scott – 2004's "Man on Fire," 2006's "Déjà Vu," 2009's "The Taking of Pelham 123," and 2010's "Unstoppable" – which all grossed at least $130 million.
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Tony directed Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes in the 1996 psychological thriller "The Fan," and his next film was 1998's "Enemy of the State," which starred Will Smith and Gene Hackman and grossed $250.8 million at the box office. Scott then directed Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in 2001's "Spy Game" and Keira Knightley in 2005's "Domino." In 2007, he directed the "Trust Metric" episode of "Numb3rs," and his final film was 2010's "The A-Team," which was based on the popular '80s show of the same name. Tony also directed the short films "Beat the Devil" (2002) and "Agent Orange" (2004) and two episodes of the horror anthology series "The Hunger" (1997; 1999). He directed Kenny Loggins' 1986 "Danger Zone" music video and George Michael's 1988 "One More Try" music video as well as the love scene in Michael's 1987 "Father Figure" music video.
Personal Life
Tony married production designer Gerry Boldy in 1967, and after they divorced in 1974, he wed advertising executive Glynis Sanders in 1986. Scott and Sanders divorced in 1987 due to his affair with actress/model Brigitte Nielsen; Brigitte and her then-husband Sylvester Stallone also divorced that year. Tony married actress Donna Wilson on November 24, 1994, and they welcomed twin sons Max and Frank in 2000. Donna remained married to Tony until his death in 2012.
Death
On August 19, 2012, Scott took his own life by jumping off L.A.'s Vincent Thomas Bridge at the age of 68. Police officers found a note in his car and a note that he had left for his family at his office. In October 2012, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office announced that Tony had died of "multiple blunt force injuries" and that the sleep aid eszopiclone and the antidepressant mirtazapine were found in his system. In November 2014, Ridley told "Variety" that Tony had been battling cancer and that the family had decided to keep the diagnosis private during his treatments and just after his death. He stated:
"Tony had been very unwell, actually, and that's the moment I realized I had to get very close to him again, though we were always close….I miss a friend. I'd go to him even when he was doing his recovery, and I'd say, 'F— the chemo, have a vodka martini,' and he and I would go out."
Scott was cremated, his ashes interred on August 24th at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. His family established a scholarship fund in his honor at the American Film Institute, and they asked that "that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the fund to help encourage and engage future generations of filmmakers." Tony left his estate to the Tony Scott Family Trust, and the beneficiaries were his widow, Donna, and their twins, Frank and Max, who were 12 years old at the time of their father's death. Ridley dedicated the films "Exodus: Gods and Kings" and "The Counselor" to Tony, and the season four premiere of "The Good Wife" and the miniseries "Coma" were also dedicated to Scott. Tony had been working on "Top Gun: Maverick" before his death, and when it was finally released in 2022, it was dedicated to his memory.
Awards and Nominations
Scott was nominated for seven Primetime Emmys, winning Outstanding Made for Television Movie for "The Gathering Storm" in 2002 and Outstanding Nonfiction Special for "Gettysburg" in 2011. His other nominations were for Outstanding Made for Television Movie for "RKO 281" (2000), Outstanding Miniseries for "The Andromeda Strain" (2008), Outstanding Drama Series for "The Good Wife" (2010 and 2011), and Outstanding Miniseries or Movie for "The Pillars of the Earth" (2011). At the 1971 Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival, Tony won a Medalla Sitges en Plata de Ley for Best Short Film for "One of the Missing," and in 2011, "The Pillars of the Earth" was named Best Dramatic Mini-Series or TV Movie at the Gemini Awards. In 2005, Tony and Ridley received the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the BAFTA Awards, and in 2011, they were honored with a BAFTA Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment.
In 1995, Scott earned an International Fantasy Film Award nomination for Best Film for "True Romance" at the Fantasporto festival, and the following year, "The Fan" was nominated for a Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. In 2003, "Beat the Devil" received a DVD Exclusive Award nomination for Best Internet Video Premiere, and in 2011, "Unstoppable" earned him an AARP Movies for Grownups Award nomination for Best Director and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nomination for Best Action Movie. In 2014, Tony received a CinEuphoria Award nomination for Best Film – International Competition for "Stoker." He also earned two PGA Award nominations: Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television for "The Gathering Storm" (2003) and Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama for "The Good Wife" (2012).
Real Estate
Tony and Donna put together a mini real estate empire during their marriage. Donna has owned an $8 million mansion in a gated community in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles as well as two mansions in the gated Malibu Colony community, where homes regularly sell for $50+ million. In 2015, Donna put the couple's 6,976 square foot Beverly Hills estate, Bella Vista, on the market for $26.9 million, then she dropped the asking price to $15 million in 2017. In total, we estimate that the Scott family has owned at least $130 million worth of real estate.
