How Stephen Hawking Achieved an Estimated Net Worth of $20 Million

If you decided to take a month off to talk about Stephen Hawking's amazing life and the incredible contributions he made in the field of science, you would run out of days and still be nowhere close to finishing the conversation. Stephen Hawking was one of the brightest minds this world has ever seen. He was a true visionary, an intellectual way ahead of his time, a brilliant mathematician, an excellent physician, and the pop culture icon we never we needed. Hawking was an inspiration to millions of people and will continue to inspire countless others for years to come. Stephen Hawking's net worth is proof that if you focus on the work and do it brilliantly, the work will take care of you.

Despite the inconveniences of his life, Hawking never stopped relishing the joy of living and the absolute wonder it was to exist in the world. He was deeply curious about the universe and forever changed our understanding of it with his fantastical theories about space, time, dark matter, and black holes, amongst other subjects. Let's take a look at Stephen Hawking's net worth and how the genius managed to amass such a vast fortune.
How Stephen Hawking Achieved a Net Worth of $20 Million

The world-famous scientist accumulated considerable wealth over the course of his career. At the time of his passing in 2018, Stephen Hawking's net worth was estimated to be about $20 million. He made a large chunk of his money through award prizes, book sales, and royalties.

Hawking's bestselling book A Brief History of Time was published in 1998 and has since sold over 10 million copies. It has also been translated into over 40 different languages. It has been estimated that the legendary physicist earned more than $6 million for that book alone. He also reeled in large sums of money from the sales of his other books, including My Brief History, The Universe in a Nutshell, Black Holes and Baby Universes, and a series of children's books he authored with his daughter Lucy.
For most of his life, Hawking worked as a professor, sharing his wealth of knowledge with his students. He was employed as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, where he took home around $120,000 annually as salary.
Fame was never far away from Hawking and his success kept open doors and other avenues for income for him. He made regular appearances on television including in series like The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek, and The Simpsons. He also cashed in from touring the world to give talks and lectures, as well as from product endorsement deals with various brands.

In 2013, Stephen Hawking's net worth was given a boost when he received the $3 million prize money that came with the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the biggest prize in the world of science, which was set up by Yuri Milner, the famous Russian billionaire. He also won dozens of other prizes over the course of his career.

Did He Have Children to Inherit His Wealth?

Some portion of Stephen Hawking's net worth will probably go to his three children: Robert, Lucy, and Timothy, all of whom he had with his first wife, Jane Wilde. His children seem to be doing well enough for themselves, but inheriting a few millions will certainly help better their lives even more. Hawking also had three grandchildren who probably stand to inherit from his enormous wealth.

How Much is Hawking's Wheelchair Worth?

Following his departure from this earthly plane, Stephen Hawking's special motorized wheelchair was put up for auction to raise money for charity. It was expected to sell for about £15,000, but ended up going for £296,750. The proceeds from the sale was split between the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the Stephen Hawking Foundation. Even his doctoral thesis which he submitted while studying at Cambridge University in 1965 sold for a whopping £584,750 in an online auction. Some of his other memorabilia raised over 300,000 pounds.

What Did He Spend His Money On While He Was Alive?

Hawking never cared much for material possessions beyond the necessary role that money played in his life such as paying his expensive medical bills, helping to fund his research, and helping to advance the search for knowledge. He spent his money on these things as well as other important basics of life like a house, his children's education and upbringing, and paying the round-the-clock personnel that had to take care of him. He also donated large sums of money to charitable organizations.