Famous Women Who Retired With Millions

Net Worth: $100 million*
Year of Retirement: 2004
Where Are They Now:: Fashion designing

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were more famous than most of us will ever be before they even graduated from elementary school. Fondly known as “The Olsen Twins”, these young stars have existed as media enigmas since retiring from acting when they were just 18-years-old. Since then, they’ve largely avoided the limelight but have been the topic of public scrutiny surrounding their health.

Ashley Olsen © Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com

After making $100 million, there was nothing stopping the twins from retiring from the spotlight for good. However, they’ve instead chosen to pursue careers in the fashion industry, starting their brand The Row in 2006, choosing not to reference themselves in the brand name so that the clothes can speak for themselves.

Net Worth: $250 million*
Year of Retirement: 2000
Where Are They Now: Living in Switzerland and writing

Tina Turner is a name that everyone recognizes, as she’s one of the most famed people in the music industry. Not many people today remember that Turner was also an actress, although she hasn’t played a role since 1993. Turner officially announced her retirement during a tour in 2000 but since then, has spent her time on other projects.

Tina Turner @brownsugar1954 / Pinterest.com

As well as assisting in the production of her biopic, Tina, Turner briefly came out of retirement in 2020 to collaborate with Kygo on a remix of What’s Love Got To Do With It. She now lives in Sweden with her husband Erwin Bach and has published three books, two of which are memoirs.

Net Worth: $5 million*
Year of Retirement: 1994
Where Are They Now: Owner of Blue Tree boutique

Phoebe Cates starred in numerous blockbusters during her career, including Gremlins and Drop Dead Fred. Starting off her career as a model, Cates has expressed the struggles her career has brought her throughout her life, especially when she was a teenager. 

Phoebe Cates ©Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com

She married fellow actor Kevin Kline in 1989, with whom she has two children. They appeared together in her last acting role in the 1994 comedy-drama Princess Caraboo. After that, she took time away to focus on raising her family. In 2005 she founded Blue Tree, a boutique on the Upper East Side of New York City, stating that she’s always wanted to run her own store.

Net Worth: $20 million*
Year of Retirement: 2018
Where Are They Now: Philanthropy and becoming a business owner

Most well-known for her role in Arrested Development and being married to Ellen DeGeneres, Portia De Rossi has managed to stay mostly out of the public eye while having a very successful career. In 2018, she announced on her wife’s talk show that she would be retiring from acting, except for future seasons of Arrested Development. 

Portia De Rossi ©Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Since then, De Rossi has been focusing on her philanthropy, namely supporting organizations working to end the AIDS crisis in Africa and a foundation that cares for stray animals in California. She has expressed interest in starting her own business in the future, details of which are yet to be released.

Net Worth: $16 million*
Year of Retirement: Unknown
Where Are They Now: Unknown

Lisa Bonet is a multi-talented celebrity, known for both her music and acting abilities. Having worked for the majority of her life, Bonet seems to have taken a step back from the industry in recent years and hasn’t appeared in any roles since 2016, when she played Marisol, a recurring character in Ray Donovan.

Lisa Bonet ©Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

Her most recent work was in 2019 when she collaborated with artists Dororthy and Angel Haze on the track Freedom (TROY NōKA Remix). While Bonet tends to stay off social media, she has appeared on the Instagram of her daughter, Zoë Kravitz, many times and occasionally appears in reality TV work involving her husband, Jason Momoa.

Net Worth: $45 million*
Year of Retirement: 2018
Where Are They Now: Directing

Meg Ryan was known as the “queen of rom-coms” in her heyday and worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood throughout her career. In 2018, she announced that she no longer aspires to be an actor, having taken on fewer and fewer roles throughout the years. Despite this, Ryan is still highly involved in the movie business.

Meg Ryan ©Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

Her son with actor Dennis Quaid, Jack Quaid, has been supported by Ryan as he too has pursued a career in acting. With a net worth of $45 million, Ryan is now focusing on directing and producing her own movies, making her directorial debut in 2016 with the war drama Ithaca.

Net Worth: $20 million*
Year of Retirement: Year Announced Retirement
Where Are They Now: Returned to acting

Sarah Michelle Gellar and her husband, fellow actor Freddie Prinze Jr., have been “semi-retired” for several years, both taking a step back from the limelight to focus on raising their family. Known for her iconic role as Buffy Summers in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, long-time fans of the show are always excited to see what she’ll do next.

Sarah Michelle Gellar ©DFree / Shutterstock.com

After taking a hiatus from acting, Gellar released a cookbook and line of organic baking kits and mixes, which are now sold in Starbucks. In 2019, she announced a return to acting after being cast in the series Sometimes I Lie. Since then, she has also been cast in series’ for Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Net Worth: $5 million*
Year of Retirement: 2017
Where Are They Now: Member of the British Royal Family

Although Meghan Markle has retired from acting, she has by means left the public eye. In 2018, she married Prince Harry, which made her the Duchess of Sussex and provided her with as much exposure as her acting career ever did. However, she’s been vocal about the fact that this wasn’t a good thing.

Meghan Markle ©Alan Fraser Images / Shutterstock.com

In 2021, both she and Prince Harry conducted a “reveal all” interview with their close friend Oprah Winfrey, in which Markle expressed how her life as a royal has been borderline unbearable. She was frank about the lack of support from The Firm regarding negative media attention. Since then, she and her husband have welcomed their second child and seem to be busy focusing on their life in the States.

Net Worth: $4 million*
Year of Retirement: 2010
Where Are They Now: Unknown

Amanda Bynes was one of the most recognized actors when it came to teen comedy back in the 2000s. However, in the last few years, she’s become less known for her acting and more for her very public scandals, as a result of poor mental health and substance abuse issues. Her last project was the 2010 hit teen comedy Easy A, which propelled Emma Stone into the spotlight.

Amanda Bynes ©s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

She announced her official hiatus from acting in 2010 and although she has since expressed an interest in returning to acting, this has yet to come to fruition as the former child-star continues to struggle with poor mental health. For now, she is inactive on social media but is reportedly working on herself and her sobriety.

Net Worth: $30 million*
Year of Retirement: Unknown
Where Are They Now: Returned to acting and philanthropy

Most of us remember Geena Davis for her roles in Thelma & Louise and A League of Their Own, but the actor has said since she turned 40, decent acting roles have been harder to come by. In fact, the only movie she made during her 40s was Stuart Little, as nothing she was being offered came close to as interesting as any of her previous roles.

Geena Davis ©Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com

Davis went on to star in her own sitcom, The Geena Davis Show, but it was canceled after the first season, which Davis said was heartbreaking. Since then, she has taken on some small television roles and is passionate about philanthropy, even starting the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which aims to reduce female stereotyping in children’s television.

Net Worth: $50 million*
Year of Retirement: Unknown
Where Are They Now: Fashion designing

Elizabeth Hurley made a name for herself after starring as Vanessa Kensington in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Since then, her career highlights have been a partnership with Estée Lauder, as well as her role as Queen Helena in The Royals.

Elizabeth Hurley ©Markus Wissmann / Shutterstock.com

In recent years, Hurley has taken a step back from acting in favor of other pursuits. Hurley entered the modeling world at 29 years old, which is rare in an industry that favors those in their early 20s. Despite this, Hurley is renowned for her skills as a model and has kept up an interest in fashion, launching her own line of swimwear, Elizabeth Hurley Beach, which launched in Harrods in 2005.

Net Worth: $200 million*
Year of Retirement: 1975
Where Are They Now: Deceased

We all know Doris Day from the much-loved 1953 movie Calamity Jane and although Day was an acclaimed actress, she didn’t have the easiest of lives. Day was married 4 times and was left completely broke after her third husband, leaving her to discover that he and his business partner had spent all of her savings from her acting days.

Doris Day @malcolmjamesgirvan / Pinterest.com

On top of that, her only son, Terry Melcher, was known to have connections to Charles Manson, which destroyed his reputation. However, Day was passionate about animal welfare and dedicated most of his time post-retirement to caring for stray and abandoned animals. She even opened one of the first pet-friendly hotels in the United States.

Net Worth: $200 million*
Year of Retirement: 2008
Where Are They Now: Returned to acting and founder of The Honest Company

Jessica Alba spent most of the 2000s being one of the most beautiful actors on movie screens, taking on roles in romantic comedies, action, and sci-fi. Alba has said she always struggled to get out of being typecast as “the hot one” and her priorities were truly reorganized once she became a parent in 2008.

Jessica Alba ©Nicole Glass Photography / Shutterstock.com

In her words, she wanted to “do something bigger” and acting no longer felt authentic to her. That’s why in 2012 she started The Honest Company, a brand dedicated to providing non-toxic health and lifestyle products to women and their children. She still acts occasionally, but her brand and her family are the biggest things in her life right now.

Net Worth: $140 million*
Year of Retirement: 2014
Where Are They Now: CEO of organic wine brand Avaline

Once one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood, everyone was very surprised when Cameron Diaz announced she’d be retiring from the acting world at just 42-years-old. After a few years of bad reviews and movies that didn’t cut in the box office, Diaz cited that she decided to leave acting because the traveling required for filming was simply too exhausting.

Cameron Diaz ©Andrey Bayda / Shutterstock.com

Diaz retired with a net value of $140 million and decided to invest in her own brand of organic wine. She founded Avaline with her business partner Katherine Power in 2020 and often posts about it on her social media accounts.