Post by SCI-FIHow much money has the Tolkien estate
made off Hobbit/Lord of the Rings (Books and movies) ?
On the movies, nothing. Tolkien sold the movie rights entire in his own
lifetime. Only from the books (and other merchandise not directly tied to
the movies) does the Estate get royalties.
The question in the title and the question in the message are different.
Once you _have_ millions of dollars you can invest in other people's
businesses and let them make money for you. The answer to the first question
about total worth of the Estate can only be given by the trustees of the
Estate and possibly a few financial managers in their employ. The answer to
the second about royalty payments is probably known to Houghton Mifflin
since they have been the sole publisher from day one, but I don't think they
are likely to share. A good guess would be tens of millions for the
second -- LotR has sold close to 100 million copies to date and Tolkien
arranged a good deal for himself on the percentage shared. With decent
managament the answer to the first question about the total worth of the
Estate could well be hundreds of millions by now. Money over time has
tremendous power.