Sunday, June 28, 2015

Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James now worth £37m

Books, film and merchandising tie-ins help to boost fortune

EL James
EL James with her latest novel, Grey. Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP
Sex sells, so they say. And the accounts of EL James, author of the Fifty Shades of Grey bondage trilogy, prove it. James’s company, Fifty Shades Ltd, raked in almost £20m last year, with a profit of £9.8m.

The accounts show that James, 52, took a dividend of £2.6m from the company last year, compared with £3.2m in 2013. Almost £1m was given to charity. While last year’s profits pale against the £25m made the previous year, the accounts confirm that James’s fortune continues to grow. Last year she was sitting on cash and shares in her company worth more than £37m, up from just under £30m in 2013.

The accounts cover the period before she earned royalties from Grey, her new take on the Fifty Shades trilogy. Nor do they include any share of her royalties from the first Fifty Shades film, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, which broke box-office records with sales of more than $569m (£360m)
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