Unveiling the Truth: Do ‘Friends’ Stars Truly Earn $20 Million Annually from Residuals?

This week, Lisa Kudrow engaged in an interview with The Times of London to discuss the eagerly anticipated third season of her acclaimed series, “The Comeback.” For those unfamiliar, “The Comeback” is a must-watch. The show spans three seasons, with an entire decade between each, offering a unique and humorous exploration of Hollywood’s evolution through the lens of Valerie Cherish, a once-famous sitcom star.

In the interview, Kudrow faced an intriguing first question:

“Despite ending in 2004, the US sitcom Friends is more popular than ever, particularly in the UK, where it’s one of the most-watched series. The five remaining cast members — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc (following the passing of Matthew Perry, aka Chandler, in 2023) — continue to earn $20 million (£15 million) annually from reruns. Why do you think that is?”

Kudrow humorously responded:

“Because Phoebe Buffay was so great?”

She then transitioned into a poignant reflection on the late Matthew Perry, sharing how his passing prompted her to revisit the series with renewed perspective.

In my opinion, that was a polite, slightly cheeky deflection of a question built on a very questionable premise.

Unfortunately, that’s not how much of the media interpreted it. Within hours of the interview being published, a flood of headlines and social posts popped up declaring some version of:

“Lisa Kudrow Reveals Shocking Amount of Money ‘Friends’ Cast Still Makes Every Year”

I get it. It’s a great headline. Who wouldn’t want to click a link so the shocking amount is finally revealed?

There’s just one problem. It’s not true.

Via Getty Images

Where The $20 Million Myth Actually Started

The idea that each cast member of Friends earns $20 million per year has been floating around the internet for more than a decade. It largely traces back to a 2015 article published by USA Today with the headline:

“You’ll never believe how much money the ‘Friends’ cast STILL earns today.”

In that article, the author recounts taking a Warner Bros. studio tour and being told by a guide that Friends generates $1 billion per year in syndication revenue. The guide then claimed that each of the six stars earns 2% of that total.

Do the math, and you land right at $20 million per person, per year.

It’s a clean, simple, highly clickable number. It’s also completely wrong.

How Much Does The Cast of Friends ACTUALLY Make From Residuals?

“Friends” was first sold into syndication in 1998. Warner Bros. sold the rerun rights to local broadcast stations (like Fox or CW affiliates) for roughly $4 million per episode. Across 236 episodes, that initial run generated nearly $1 billion.

Unfortunately, at that point, the cast did NOT have a cut of the backend. When their contracts were up in 2000, they famously banded together to demand a share of the show’s future profits. It worked, and they each were given a 2% stake.

It is not true that “Friends” generates $1 billion per year in syndication revenue. The real number for lifetime total gross earnings is $5.55 billion. And unfortunately, as we just pointed out, the Friends cast members did not participate in that first $1 billion sale.

Gross Vs. Net

Another major flaw in the $20 million per year claim comes down to a simple but crucial distinction: gross revenue vs. net profits. The cast members don’t receive 2% of gross revenue. They receive 2% of net profits.

And just as importantly, they didn’t even start participating in those profits until 2000. That means the roughly $1 billion generated from the initial 1998 broadcast syndication deal does not factor into their backend earnings.

So instead of starting with the full $5.55 billion lifetime total, we need to subtract that first $1 billion. That leaves approximately:

• $4.55 billion in gross revenue eligible for the cast’s participation

From there, Warner Bros. deducts a wide range of costs, including distribution fees, marketing, residuals paid to writers and crew, legal expenses, and general overhead. A conservative estimate would be around 30%. After those deductions, the remaining profit pool comes out to roughly $3.185 billion in net profits. A 2% cut of that total equals:

$63.7 million

That’s $63.7 million in total earnings per main cast member from syndication since 2000. When you spread that $63.7 million across the 20+ years the show has been off the air, it averages out to roughly $2.5 to $3 million per year. But again, they don’t get paid annually. They get paid when a sale happens, and sales happen in cycles every few years when a deal expires.

Each cast member also made around $90 million just from acting salaries, thanks in no small part to the $1 million per episode fee they each received for seasons 9 and 10, which worked out to $24 million for season 9 and $18 million for season 10.

So, between salary and their 2% cut of the backend, each of the six Friends cast members has made around $153 million off the series.

How Much Have the Creators Made?

Friends was created by Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. They own a collective 23% of the show, broken down roughly as:

• Kevin Bright: 3%
• Marta Kauffman: 10%
• David Crane: 10%

Kevin, Marta, and David have owned their stakes from the beginning, including that first $1 billion sale in 1998. Removing 30% from the total gross number of $5.55 billion, and you get $3.885 billion net profits. That equates to:

• Kevin Bright: $116 million
• Marta Kauffman: $385 million
• David Crane: $385 million