In Twilight, the Cullens are insanely rich, owning many luxury cars and homes, but exactly how much money does the fiction vampire family have?
In the hit book and film series, Twilight, the Cullen family is obviously wealthy, but how did the Cullens get so rich? Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli) is the founding member of the wealthy Cullen family and Olympic coven. Other vampires in the coven include Carlisle’s wife, Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), and their adopted “children”: Rosalie (Nikki Reed), Emmett (Kellan Lutz), Edward (Robert Pattinson), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), and Alice (Ashley Greene). Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), the point-of-view character for the Twilight series, becomes a vampire and joins the Cullen family, partially inheriting their immense wealth. Bella joins the coven in Breaking Dawn along with her and Edward’s daughter, Renesmee, after meeting and falling in love with Edward and marrying into the old money of the Cullen family.
When Bella first meets the Cullens in Twilight, they are living in a sleek mansion in a secluded forest in Washington. The actual filming location for the contemporary Cullen mansion is located just outside Portland, Oregon. The Cullen home, originally built by a Nike executive for his family, has become iconic for its wood-paneled exterior and large glass windows. In later Twilight films, the Cullens are seen in different homes, one of which was valued at around $3.3 million shortly after the release of Twilight: New Moon, a visual sign of their status. The Cullens also own more than a dozen luxury vehicles and wear designer brands, using their extreme wealth.
There are a number of reasons why Twilight’s Cullen family is so rich. When one has enough time to kill (or not kill, in the vegetarian vampires’ case), there are plenty of opportunities to figure out how to amass wealth. After all, most of the Cullen family is hundreds of years old, with Emmett and Rosalie being the youngest as they were born in 1915. Carlisle Cullen’s and the rest of the Twilight family’s biggest monetary strategy has to do with using their talents to become wealthy — and to stay that way. So, without further ado, here’s how the Cullens got so rich in the Twilight series.
How The Cullens Got So Rich
The secret to how the Cullens got so rich is long-term planning. Carlisle Cullen earned his wealth in Twilight through compound interest and several shrewd long-term investments with significant help from Alice Cullen, whose precognitive gifts allowed the family to predict changes in the stock market and invest accordingly. One of the perks of being immortal is having literally all the time in the world to keep making money, but even Carlisle Cullen might have made a bad investment and lost a fortune. Luckily, his adopted daughter Alice can prevent that from happening. Alice’s ability allows her to see the outcomes of particular actions, which would come in handy when making investments — while avoiding insider trading.
In Twilight, several other Cullen family members have their own fortunes, like Edward with his family inheritance, but the Cullens are a very tight-knit family and Carlisle supports his children with his vast bank account. The Cullen family’s wealth is emphasized throughout the Twilight series and only adds to their unattainable status along with their superhuman beauty, strength, and skill. Many people in the town of Forks question the vampire clan’s mass wealth, as Carlisle tends to take his medicinal abilities to small towns, and then leaves once his kids have graduated high school for the umpteenth time. While it doesn’t do wonders when it comes to taking attention away from themselves, the Cullen family seems to enjoy their riches in the form of beautiful homes, fancy cars, and the occasional lavish vacation.
Carlisle Cullen Is The Wealthiest Fictional Character
Carlisle Cullen has a dark backstory in Twilight and is the oldest member of the family. In Twilight, Carlisle has been amassing wealth for an exceptionally long time. According to Consumerist, Carlisle Cullen’s estimated real-life net worth is believed to be $34.1 billion. Twilight’s Carlisle topped Forbes’ Fictional 15 list (an annual published list of the wealthiest fictional characters that ran from 2002 to 2013), where the Twilight character beats out other famous fictional billionaires like Tony Stark ($8.8 billion), Bruce Wayne ($6.5 billion) , and Scrooge McDuck ($33.5 billion). $34.1 billion is a vast amount of money for the Twilight family and, usually, that kind of money is only made by forming some kind of corporation. But in the Twilight series, Carlisle is a doctor (and has been for hundreds of years) working in mostly small towns and rural areas.
