J.K. Rowling, the author of “Harry Potter,” owns a fortune estimated at 1 billion USD. According to Forbes, she was the highest-earning author in the world in 2019.
J.K. Rowling, born Joanne Rowling in 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, Scotland, had parents who first met on a train departing from King’s Cross Station, London, in 1964. This station later became a frequent setting in the Harry Potter series, serving as the gateway between the Muggle world and the world of magic. It’s also where Harry Potter meets Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger.
J.K. Rowling currently owns an estimated fortune of 1 billion USD (Photo: Getty).
At the age of four, young Jo and her family moved to Winterbourne, England. She attended St. Michael’s Primary School, where the headmaster, Alfred Dunn, was the inspiration for Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Harry Potter.
From a young age, Jo demonstrated a passion and talent for writing. She often wrote fairy tales, and her English teacher, Steve Eddy, remarked that “Rowling wasn’t a particularly bright student, but she was good with English.” Her love for writing continued to grow.
During a clash with a schoolmate, Jo was defended by a red-haired boy who later became her closest friend, Sean Harris, and the inspiration for the character Ron Weasley in Harry Potter. Rowling recalled that she and Sean didn’t talk much; they often sat together in Sean’s old Ford Anglia, smoking silently for hours.
Rowling’s teenage years were not happy. She recalled, “My teenage years weren’t very happy. My mother was seriously ill. I was estranged from my father to the extent that we didn’t speak.”
In 1982, Rowling graduated from high school and applied to prestigious Oxford University but was rejected, which was a significant early setback in her life. Reflecting on this later in interviews, Rowling remembered her mother saying, “Oxford is blind, they don’t know what they’re missing, not accepting you with your grades.”
Her father advised her to pursue a different career path rather than literature. Eventually, Rowling studied French and Classical Literature at the University of Exeter. “I had hoped to go to Oxford to mix with like-minded people. But at Exeter, meeting people similar to me, I found life more interesting,” Rowling recalled.
J.K. Rowling once fell into poverty, unemployment, and relied on social welfare before becoming famous (Photo: Facebook).
During her university years, Rowling spent much of her time daydreaming, listening to music, and reading literature.
In 1990, during a four-hour delay on a train journey, Rowling suddenly imagined a skinny boy with dark hair and green eyes wandering around a train station with a wand, trunk, and owl, trying to find Platform Nine and Three-Quarters to catch the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That boy became the famous character Harry Potter.
“I was on my way back to London alone when the idea of Harry Potter occurred to me. The image of the boy who didn’t know he was a wizard became clearer and clearer. I started writing that night. But in the end, the first few pages didn’t resemble the book later,” Rowling recalled.
In 1990, Rowling’s mother passed away after a decade-long battle with illness. This was another significant shock in the writer’s life. Rowling then moved to Portugal for work. She maintained her job teaching English during the day and wrote in her spare time. Harry Potter was gradually taking shape.
In Portugal, she met Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese television journalist. They started dating due to their shared love of literature. Their relationship wasn’t perfect; Rowling discovered Jorge’s infidelity. Despite wanting to break up, Jorge’s apologies, promises, and marriage proposals swayed her. They married in 1992.
A year later, they welcomed their first child, Jessica Rowling Milford Arantes. Rowling’s marriage was troubled; she suffered a miscarriage, Jorge was unemployed, and their relationship was marked by gambling, alcohol, and domestic violence. They separated in 1993 after 13 months together. Rowling took her daughter back to Scotland, but Jorge continued to harass her. They finalized their divorce in 1994.
J.K. Rowling’s life transformed thanks to the success of the “Harry Potter” series (Photo: News).
Rowling faced continuous challenges in life. Seven years after graduating from university with high hopes and dreams of becoming a writer, she became a single mother, haunted by memories of abuse from her ex-husband. She lived in poverty, unemployed, relying on social welfare. During this time, she battled severe depression and contemplated suicide on several occasions.
However, the support of her daughter and encouragement from her sister helped her through those difficult years. Rowling applied for teaching positions in Scotland and was hired. She pursued a Master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh after completing her first book.
A year later, Bloomsbury accepted Rowling’s manuscript because the 9-year-old daughter of the publishing director loved the book. However, no one believed Rowling would become a famous author or that Harry Potter would become a global bestseller. Her agent advised her to find another job and not to dream of writing.
In 1997, Bloomsbury published 1,000 copies of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” Five months later, the book won the first prize – The Nestle Smarties Book Prize. In February 1998, the book won The Book of the Year award.
In early 1998, an auction for the publishing rights to Harry Potter took place in the United States, and the book sold for $105,000. After receiving the money, Rowling bought her daughter a teddy bear, a gift Jessica had long dreamed of.
Author J.K. Rowling and the cast of “Harry Potter” (Photo: Getty).
In July 1998, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” was published. This book earned Rowling her second Smarties Prize. In December 1999, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” was released and earned Rowling her third consecutive Smarties Prize.
The fourth installment of Harry Potter, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” was released simultaneously in the UK and the US in 2000 and set numerous sales records. In 2003, the fifth Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” was published. Two years later, the sixth book, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” was released and sold 9 million copies within 24 hours. In 2007, the final book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was released and sold 11 million copies on its first day.
From a book rejected by 12 publishers, Harry Potter became a global phenomenon and an estimated $15 billion franchise. The series has been translated into 84 languages, including Vietnamese, and adapted into films. The series completely changed the life of a single mother who had experienced depression and boredom.
J.K. Rowling and her current husband, Neil Murray (Photo: Getty).
In 2004, Forbes first included Rowling on its billionaires list. Despite her wealth, Rowling often remains silent about her assets. “I have plenty of money, more money than I ever dreamed of, but I’m not a billionaire,” Rowling said in 2005. Apart from writing Harry Potter, Rowling also earned a huge income from the immensely popular franchise.
According to Headspacegroup, the author ranks seventh on the list of the ten wealthiest entrepreneurs in the UK, with an estimated fortune of $1 billion USD. The Daily Mail reported that Rowling owns a luxurious six-bedroom house valued at $5.6 million USD on a prestigious street in Kensington, London, where she lives with her current husband, Neil Murray. They married in 2001.
In 2015, Rowling spent $29 million USD to purchase a luxurious yacht formerly owned by actor Johnny Depp. The author of Harry Potter has also been actively involved in charitable activities for many years, donating over $150 million USD.
In addition to Harry Potter, Rowling released a novel for adults called “The Casual Vacancy” in 2012, which sold 2 million copies and was adapted into a television series. In 2013, Rowling fulfilled her dream of writing a detective novel with the book “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.
