Jerry Seinfeld Knew He Was Sparking A Feud With His Massive Salary On Seinfeld

Summary

• Seinfeld began with a modest $20,000 per episode salary, but eventually negotiated an impressive $1 million per episode in the final season.
• The salary gap between Seinfeld and the rest of the cast caused a rift, leading to tensions over ownership rights and earnings differences.
• Seinfeld's 15% ownership of the show led to him amassing a huge fortune, while the rest of the cast received only standard residuals post-Seinfeld.

When Seinfeld first aired, there was no telling if the show was going to be a success or not. Because of this, all the main actors, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Jason Alexander all started with $20,000 per episode salaries.

By Season Three, it was clear that Seinfeld was a success. The show was the most watched sitcom across the board, and the longer the show went on, the more viewers tuned in. Seinfeld was able to renegotiate for substantial increases in his salary season after season, something that the remainder of the cast understood, given that not only was Seinfeld starring in the show, but he created it with the help of Larry David, and helped to write the episodes as well.

However, when he renegotiated ownership rights to Seinfeld, a rift began to form between Seinfeld, Richard, Louis-Dreyfus, and Alexander, which Alexander confirmed publicly. Jerry Seinfeld's earnings gap with the rest of the cast became so massive that their feud was understandable. While they eventually resolved matters, things got worse between the quartet before they got better.

Jerry Seinfeld Earned Significantly More Than The Rest Of The Seinfeld Cast

Jerry Seinfeld made $1 million per episode in the last season of Seinfeld and negotiated for 15% ownership of the show

Seinfeld was the brainchild of Seinfeld and David. The two created and helped to write the show to turn it into the massive hit Seinfeld was when it was on for its nine seasons and continues to be today.

However, when the series first started, no one could predict that the "show about nothing" would turn into a phenomenon. Seinfeld was not paid a huge amount for his participation in the show. It took some time and some statistics to show that Seinfeld was truly as popular as it appeared to be. Once that started happening, Seinfeld was able to renegotiate his salary multiple times over the nine seasons the show aired.

Jerry Seinfeld's salary changes on Seinfeld

For the final season alone, Seinfeld made $24 million. Had this been all that Seinfeld negotiated for, the cast likely would not have been upset. However, it was the addition of the 15% ownership in the show that would give Seinfeld millions when it came to syndication that was a problem. It is also what caused such a huge difference in pay between Seinfeld and his co-stars.

What Each Cast Member Earned While On Seinfeld

Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards made "nominal amounts of money" while working on Seinfeld

When Seinfeld started, the playing field was even when it came to salary. Seinfeld, Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus, and Richards all made the same money. As the seasons went on, as Seinfeld's salary went up, so did the rest of the cast's, but not as exponentially.

Given that Seinfeld was working both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, it made sense for him to make more. Therefore, based on salaries alone, there was no issue with what Seinfeld made.

Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander, and Richards' salaries

It has not been reported what Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander or Richards received during Seasons Two through Four of Seinfeld. Given that Seinfeld was not making but $40,000 per episode in Seasons Two and Three, it would make sense that the trio would have remained at their original salaries during this time. However, the only thing that has ever been reported is that the three were paid a "nominal amount of money for their work on the show."

While the jump from $150,000 per episode to $600,000 per episode was large for the co-stars, Alexander, Richards, and Louis-Dreyfus really wanted part of the backend credits for the show. After all, this is where the real money would come from when Seinfeld went into syndication.

It would not have been so bad to be denied the buy-in for the show had it not already been made public knowledge that Seinfeld and David had a 15% share. A share that caused an enormous earnings gap among the Seinfeld cast.

Jerry Seinfeld's Enormous Earnings Gap Caused A Feud Among The Seinfeld Cast

Jerry Seinfeld not only out-earned the rest of the Seinfeld cast on a per-episode basis, but he owned 15% of the sitcom as well

As a result of being able to negotiate for a 15% ownership of Seinfeld, Seinfeld set himself up to make a serious profit — a profit so monumental that with every syndication cycle, Seinfeld makes $400 million. Each time a new network or platform buys the rights to air Seinfeld for a contract term, hundreds of millions go to Seinfeld. This allowed Jerry to amass a net worth of $1 billion.

Given these figures, not only is it clear who is the richest of the cast members from Seinfeld, but it makes sense that the rest of the cast was upset that they were denied not only an opportunity for ownership in the show, but also were denied the $1 million per episode salary they tried to negotiate for, for Season Nine. Alexander tried to talk to Seinfeld about the salary issue, but at the end of the day, made no difference when it came to negotiations.

"The day will come when you regret this decision, only because it's going to put us in a position eventually of seemingly tainting the wonderful impression of what this was for the four of us," Alexander related he said to Seinfeld.

"You have created a rift between you and the three of us, and while we are in no way, shape or form looking for parity with you, you have created a chasm that is also inappropriate."

In the years after Seinfeld aired, Alexander explained just how much it was that he, Louis-Dreyfus, and Richards made in residuals from the sitcom. It turns out that it is very little indeed.

"Julia, Michael and I, during our big renegotiation for the final year, asked for something that I will go to my grave saying we should have had, and that is back-end participation in the profits for the show," Alexander explained to The Globe and Mail.

"It was categorically denied to us, which forced us to then ask for ungodly salaries. We make very little, standard Screen Actors Guild residuals for the reruns."

The exact amount that the trio have made from syndication has never been disclosed. However, it is estimated that Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus, and Richards have made $125,000 each since Seinfeld ended.

Seinfeld walked away at the end of the day, a billionaire and Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus, and Richards, while they do not have to worry about money, are worth far less.

In the years since this feud, the four have been able to come back as friends. This has a lot to do with Seinfeld helping Richards, Louis-Dreyfus, and Alexander negotiate profits from the DVD series release of Seinfeld.

While it is not as profitable as ownership of Seinfeld would have been, it was something — something that showed Seinfeld was finally in their corner and allowed the quartet to become close again. Of course, it didn't help that the cast was asked to create unpaid bonus material for the DVD, but it seems all is water under the bridge at this point.