Reports Of Robin Williams Financial Worries Greatly Exaggerated, Analysis Shows

According to press accounts over the past two days since Robin Williams suicide, the beloved comedian had been undergoing serious financial troubles in the final years of his life. Now, we are told those reports are far from accurate. In fact, Williams remained a wealthy man to the end of his life. That assertion comes from both a publicist for Robin Williams and a look at his assets by a leading financial publication.

“Reports suggesting Robin may have had financial issues are simply false,” said publicist Mara Buxbaum Wednesday. “I understand people’s desire to try to understand this, but we would encourage your focus be on working to help others and understand depression.”

Buxbaum was Williams’ personal publicist and is acting as spokesperson for his family in the aftermath of the Good Will Hunting star’s heartbreaking death.

Robin Williams Himself Set Off Rumors Of Financial Distress

The speculation about Robin Williams’ financial troubles were sparked in large part by the actor himself, who spoke candidly of what he said were his money worries in a Parade Magazine interview last year.

“There are bills to pay. My life has downsized, in a good way,” he told Parade. “I’m selling the ranch up in Napa. I just can’t afford it anymore.”

Various gossip publications also quoted self-described “friends” of Robin Williams making allegations of his financial woes.

“There was also frustration that Robin expressed at having to take television and movie roles he didn’t want to take, but had to for the paycheck,” said one “friend” on a popular online gossip site, saying that Williams had recently confided his fears for the long-term financial security of his family.

Other Reports Contradict Allegations Of Money Worries

But another online outlet, Gossip Cop — which devotes itself to debunking tabloid rumors — says that it spoke to an actual friend of the deceased comic, who was adamant that reports of Williams’ financial fears are baloney, calling the reporting “inaccurate” and “not fair.”

In fact, the friend told the site, Robin Williams remained extremely wealthy by anyone’s standards.

According to a Forbes Magazine analysis, Williams net worth had recently dipped from about $130 million to $50 million, due to the two divorce settlements about which he publicly joked, and perhaps his vast generosity to others.

But $50 million would not exactly make Williams a pauper, and the magazine’s analysis said, “Public records about Williams’ real estate show that they have significant value.”

Williams Estate Will Carry Significant Value, Analysis Shows

His Napa Valley ranch is listed for sale at almost $30 million, while his home in Tiburon, California — the home in which he passed away — is valued at about $6 million.

Forbes also notes that estimates of Williams’ financial legacy have not included any possible death benefits to his heirs, and that — unlike the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who refused to set up a trust for his children — Williams employed “sophisticated estate planning to protect his loved ones.”

Future “royalties, earnings from new deals over his image and likeness, and future releases of his comedy material” should also earn “significant value” for his family, the Forbes analysis said.

Future Earnings From Film And TV Will Add To Williams’ Estate

The films of Robin Williams — most of which featured Williams as the star and therefore highest-paid cast member — have grossed more than $6 billion. Though it has been reported that he felt despondent about returning to a TV sitcom just for a paycheck, his paycheck for the now-cancelled CBS series The Crazy Ones was substantial.

Williams was paid $165,000 per episode, meaning that the actor grossed over $3.6 million for the show in salary alone. Residual payments from reruns, foreign and online distribution or any other deals that may have been made for the series would bring in additional revenue.

While it is impossible to know what was going through the thoughts haunting Robin Williams in the days and weeks leading up to his suicide, the reality of his financial situation appears far from the dire circumstances portrayed in press accounts this week and earlier by Williams himself.