The 10 Most Famous Music Video Directors, Ranked By Net Worth

Highlights

• Music video directors create short films to enhance songs, capturing audiences' attention and emotions effectively.
• High-budget videos don't always outshine lower-budget ones, it's all about making viewers feel something.
• Several successful movie directors started with music videos, showing the importance and impact of this art form.

Movie and TV directors are the talk of the town in Hollywood when they hit it big. However, fewer people talk about music video directors. Music video directors take a song and turn it into a video that captures people's attention. Instead of directing a full-length movie, they create a short film that relates to the music. Artists have worked with and continue to work with music video directors to create videos for their songs that help increase the sales of both their singles and albums.

The best music videos are not necessarily the high-budget ones. Sometimes it is the lower-budget videos that garner the most attention. It all comes down to making audiences feel something when they watch the video.

Some directors have started out directing music videos before they moved on to larger projects, with a few of them even having massive success with movies. However, these directors wouldn't be where they are now without music videos.

Here are 10 of the most famous (and richest) music video directors in Hollywood, ranked by their current net worth.

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Updated April 2024: The order of the list has remained virtually unchanged over the last several years. The one exception is Antoine Fuqua, who increased his net worth from $25 million to $60 million. This is not surprising given Fuqua's body of work, including the most recent films, "The Equalizer 3" and "Emancipation".

10 Tarsem Singh

Net Worth: $10 Million

Tarsem Singh has directed a lot of different projects, but he started his career with music videos.

“Singh directed ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M. which won Best Video of the Year at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards,” according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Singh went on to direct the psychological thriller, The Cell, which was the first movie he directed.

Singh continues to direct music videos today, including Lady Gaga's "911".

Some other projects of note that Singh has directed, according to IMDb include:

Singh has a net worth of $10 million.

9 Michel Gondry

Net Worth: $12 Million

Michel Gondry is in ninth place with only about $2 million more than Tarsem Singh. It’s not clear what exactly his net worth is, but it’s estimated to be around $12 million, which he earned from directing popular music videos until he began directing movies.

"The French visionary’s knack for harmlessly bizarre direction traces back to his earlier music videos, such as Bjork’s oddball ‘Human Behaviour,’ which offsets its dark nature through cuddly, man-sized teddy bears with Coraline-esque, sewed-on eyeballs. That same quirkiness pervades Gondry’s other clips, namely Daft Punk’s demented circus in ‘Around The World,’” according to Complex.

Gondry also directed the hit movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , after he directed music videos.

Some of the more recent projects that Gondry has directed, according to IMDb include:

Gondry has two upcoming projects in various stages of production with no known release date.

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8 F. Gary Gray

Net Worth: $12 Million

F. Gary Gray is in eighth place with a net worth of $12 million. He’s earned his net worth from directing popular hip-hop videos.

According to Complex, “F. Gary Gray’s contributions to hip-hop’s music video history is cemented, no doubt, but there’s one video in particular that will keep his name among the Hype Williams’ of the game forever and ever—Ice Cube’s classic ‘It Was A Good Day.’”

Some of the more recent projects that Gray directed, according to IMDb include:

Gray has two projects he is set to direct in early stages of production. When the films will be released has not been announced.

7 Spike Jonze

Net Worth: $50 Million

Spike Jonze is in seventh place with a net worth of $50 million.

He’s only directed a few movies, but Jonze, whose real name is Adam Spiegel, directed many music videos that became hits.

According to Complex, “Whether he’s working with hip-hop acts or indie rock luminaries, Jonze has always separated his videos from the rest of MTV’s pack with sheer inventiveness: supplanting Weezer into a Happy Days episode for ‘Buddy Holly’; giving the impression that The Pharcyde are walking the streets in backwards motion for ‘Drop’; filming Christopher Walken’s mesmerizing one-man dance-off for Fatboy Slim’s ‘Weapon Of Choice,’ Jonze knows nothing about ‘conventional.’”

Some of the most recent projects that Jonze has directed, according to IMDb, include:

Jonze does not have any projects in production at the moment.

6 McG (AKA Joseph McGinty Nichol)

Net Worth: $60 Million

McG is in sixth place with a net worth of $60 million and worked with a few famous artists before he moved on to direct movies.

“He is known for working with some of the biggest recording artists, such as Smashmouth, and won Billboard's Pop Video of the Year in 1997 for their video, ‘Walking In The Sun.’ He has also worked with the popular band Sugar Ray, where he won Pop Video of the Year from the Music Video Production Association for Sugar Ray's ‘Fly’ video, a song he also had a hand in co-writing,” according to Celebrity Net Worth.

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After McG, whose real name is Joseph McGinty Nichol, had huge success with directing music videos, he directed the 2000 version of Charlie’s Angels along with We Are Marshall, This Means War, and The Babysitter.

Some of the more recent projects that McG has directed, according to IMDb, include:

McG has one project in production but a released date has not been given to date.

5 Antoine Fuqua

Net Worth: $60 Million

Antoine Fuqua has a net worth of $60 million. This figure has jumped drastically in the past several years as Fuqua is an in-demand director.

“Fuqua's directing career began in the music industry directing music videos for artists such as Toni Braxton and Prince,” according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Fuqua went on to direct movies such as Training Day, Shooter, and Olympus Has Fallen.

Some of Fuqua's more recent projects that he has directed, according to IMDb include:

Fuqua has three projects in various stages of production that he is directing. This includes a film starring Denzel Washington, reuniting the actor and director for the first time since Training Day.

4 Brett Ratner

Net Worth: $85 Million

Brett Ratner is in fourth place with a net worth of $85 million and has worked with even more famous artists.

“Brett Ratner started his career by directing various music videos. He quickly gained a reputation for making some of the rap industry's most notable videos, working with figures such as Public Enemy, Redman, LL Cool J, and the Wu-Tang Clan. After establishing himself as a talented music video director, he went on to work with artists like Mariah Carey, Madonna, and Miley Cyrus,” according to Celebrity Net Worth.

He directed hits like Rush Hour and The Family Man after he directed music videos for well-known celebrities.

However, as a result of the #MeToo movement, several women spoke out against Ratner, accusing him of sexual harassment. While Ratner denied the allegations, major studios cut ties with him, essentially ending Ratner's career. As such, Ratner moved to Isreal in hopes of reviving his career overseas.

Some of the more recent projects that Ratner has directed, according to IMDb, include:

Ratner is not currently attached to any film projects.

3 David Fincher

Net Worth: $100 Million

With a net worth of $100 million, David Fincher is one of the most famous music video directors in Hollywood.

“After directing a number of commercials, documentaries, and music videos, David co-founded the production company Propaganda Films. However, Fincher hated directing commercials, and he began to focus more heavily on music videos instead. During this period, he worked with artists such as Paula Abdul, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, and Billy Idol. In particular, David gained notoriety for directing some of Madonna's most iconic music videos,” according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Fincher began working on films while he was still directing music videos in the 1990s, but switched to films full time in the 2000s and directed movies such as Fight Club, Zodiac, and The Social Network.

Some of the more recent projects that Fincher has directed, according to IMDb, include:

2 Gore Verbinski

Net Worth: $130 Million

Gore Verbinski may not be the most wealthy on the list, but with a net worth of $130 million he has accumulated a huge fortune over the course of his career.

Like many others on this list, Gore started out directing music videos, but he has had more success with movies.

According to Complex, “Clearly, Hollywood is where Gore Verbinski belongs, not in the depths of MTV or VH1. Thanks to Johnny Depp and the immensely profitable Pirates Of The Caribbean, of which Verbinski directed the first three, the man born Gregor has established himself as one of the film industry’s most formidable summer blockbuster creators, a tag that actually distracts pundits from acknowledging his ability to direct super-creepy horror (The Ring) and magnificently strange kiddie fare (Rango).”

Some of the more recent projects that Verbinski has directed, according to IMDb, include:

Verbinski is currently attached to a project that is in pre-production. When the film will be released has not been disclosed.

1 Michael Bay

Net Worth: $450 Million

Michael Bay tops the list with a huge net worth of $450 million. Bay's another director who had more success with movies, but music videos helped his career take off.

Bay directed the music videos for “I Touch Myself” by Divinyls and “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meatloaf.

“Michael's music videos caught the attention of Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who hired him to direct a film they were producing, 1995's Bad Boys. The movie grossed $141.4 million against a budget of $19 million, and Bay followed it with the even more successful The Rock (1996), which brought in $335.1 million at the box office. Michael then founded his own production company, Bay Films,” according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Bay's career became even more successful after that when he directed the popular film franchise, Transformers.

Some of the more recent projects that Bay has directed, according to IMDb, include:

Bay has one project that is currently in production. However, the big news is that Bay is partnering up with Post Malone and Vault Comics to create a "demonic horror" IP Universe where "the only thing standing in the way of the horde of demons infesting the continent is a mysterious armored 18-wheeler seemingly sent back from the heavens."

A graphic novel will be released in 2025 with a film being released shortly thereafter.

Source: IMDb, Complex, Celebrity Net Worth

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