Who is Jami Gertz, the unknown actress who is the richest woman in Hollywood?

For the first time in history, Forbes’ most recent annual list recorded that the number of billionaires in the world had surpassed 3,000. Leading the ranking is Elon Musk, who regained his position after three years thanks to a fortune that amounts to $342 billion, according to the publication. He is followed by other well-known figures from the tech world, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, and other wealthy individuals (although not as wealthy as them) such as Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, and Taylor Swift.

But it also includes names unknown to many, such as entrepreneur Antony Ressler, whom the magazine estimates has a fortune of $11 billion accrued through the companies he manages. He is not alone in his economic empire. Next to him is his wife, actress Jami Gertz, who is best-known for her roles in The Lost Boys (1987) and Twister (1996).

Despite having been away from the screen for years — her last major project, The Neighbors, ended in 2014 — Gertz, 59, has been making headlines again in recent weeks. The reason? Celebrity Net Worth, a website specializing in reporting on the fortunes of celebrities, estimates her net worth at $12 billion. A figure that has surprised many considering it has placed her as the richest actor in Hollywood, above stars like Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and George Clooney.

But did she amass that fortune, or is it directly linked to her husband’s? She herself answered that question in 2018 in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the only one the couple had given together at the time: “Everyone thinks I married a rich guy. But I made more money — way more money — than Tony when I met him. I paid for our first house. I paid for our first vacation. I married him because I fell in love with him.”

However, the aforementioned website clarifies that although she has had a successful career in her own right, her current fortune is thanks to her fruitful marriage and business dealings with Antony Ressler.

Her acting career began in 1981 with On the Right Track, although it was a minor role that received little attention. During the 1980s and 1990s, her appearances in films and television series became much more frequent. It was in 1986, at the height of her popularity, when she met the man who would become her husband three years later. Gertz’s publicist introduced her to Ressler during a dinner party at her home in Los Angeles.

“All I knew was that she was a working actress. I didn’t know [her movie and TV credits],” the businessman explained in The Hollywood Reporter interview.

At the time, he was working for Drexel Burnham Lambert, a bank that would go bankrupt years later.

“He was a nice guy with a job, which is what any Jewish girl from Glenview would want. It would have been nice if it was a doctor or a lawyer, but a banker was OK, too,” noted Gertz, who had recurring roles on popular shows like Seinfeld and Ally McBeal — for the latter, she was nominated for an Emmy in 2001 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

They married in 1989, at which point they decided to move to Los Angeles: she would be closer to Hollywood, and he, after the bankruptcy of Drexel, understood it was a city where he could prosper in business. And he wasn’t wrong. In 1990, he co-founded the private equity firm Apollo Global and seven years later launched Ares Management.

“We’re a $125-ish billion asset manager,” he said in the interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I guess the right quote would be, ‘We’re the most amazing investment firm in the history of the universe.’” In other words, he acquires companies in financial difficulties at bargain prices to turn their fortunes around.

But let’s return to Gertz’s story. When roles began to dry up, starting in 2010, the actress realized it was time to step back and, leveraging her industry knowledge, she founded her own production company, Lime Orchard Productions.

“You reach an age, and you slow down, and the jobs are a little hard to come by. So I decided to put money into a project of my own,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. But it wasn’t as successful as she expected: she invested millions of dollars of her own money and lost everything. In fact, over the next five years, Lime Orchard produced just one successful film: A Better Life (2011), which earned Demián Bichir an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

This is, in fact, the only business that hasn’t prospered for the couple, who share three children together, in addition to a great passion for basketball. The sport has always been a part of their lives, so much so that as the projects became successful, they began to think about having their own team. “Wouldn’t it be cool? Wouldn’t that be fun? At some point, it became a reality,” the actress recalled.

In June 2015, Ressler and NBA legend Grant Hill joined forces to bid for ownership of the Atlanta Hawks, after racist messages from the then-owner were made public. Since then, they have built a sports medicine center and remodeled the arena thanks to their multimillion-dollar investments. Gertz is the one who appears publicly as a representative of the ownership and is the visible face at games and official team events.

“Jami steps in when it comes to so many parts of the business that I did not appreciate or have any experience in,” said the businessman. Thus, she became the ambassador of the Atlanta Hawks, a decision unpopular with NBA executives, who preferred that position to be filled by a team legend.

Dedicated to team management, acting is no longer a priority for her: “It just seemed like a natural moment for me to take a break from acting. It’s hard to even say it out loud because I love what I do. It’s given me so many beautiful things in my life, taught me so many things about myself and the world around me.” The couple also owns a minority stake in the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team.

The billionaire couple has also made time for charity. Together, in 2004, they founded Camp Painted Turtle, a free organization for children with serious medical conditions that allows them to be free in a unique environment. Gertz also serves on the Board of Directors of the Melanoma Research Alliance, the largest nonprofit organization focused on skin cancer research worldwide. In 2012, they were the celebrity couple who donated the most money, approximately $10 million, through the Ressler-Gertz Foundation.

The actress’s story is far from a typical Hollywood movie. While few may recall her past involvement in high-profile projects, she has carved her own path as a thoughtful woman who avoids seeking media attention

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