Big bucks in The Big Bang Theory and beyond
American sitcom The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) spanned 12 epic seasons between 2007 and 2019. Thanks to the show’s success, the lead actors’ combined salaries topped $130 million (£102m) by the time the show drew to a close, making them rich as well as famous the world over.
Since the show ended, its stars have gone on to other lucrative projects, from starring in spin-offs to hosting the game show Jeopardy!
But which of them has come out on top financially? Read on to discover which star of The Big Bang Theory took home the biggest paycheque and who’s made the most money since. All dollar values in US dollars.
Unaired pilot to primetime viewing
The Big Bang Theory didn’t start out as a massive success; the first pilot episode, which featured only Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper) and Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter) from the final cast, never aired on TV.
Writers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady reworked the concept and freshened up the cast, and The Big Bang Theory as we know it today burst onto screens on CBS in America in 2007.
The show’s 2019 finale drew in almost 18 million viewers, a significant increase on the 8.31 million who regularly tuned in during season one.
Melissa Rauch aka Bernadette Rostenkowski: worth $20 million (£15.7m)
Melissa Rauch was the second female to join the core cast, taking on the role of Penny’s Cheesecake Factory colleague and microbiologist Bernadette, who eventually became Howard’s love interest.
The science-based sitcom was Rauch’s big break. Before The Big Bang Theory, the 4’11″ actor had a couple of minor TV roles and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part in the rom-com I Love You, Man.
Having joined the cast later than the core five actors, Melissa Rauch reportedly earned $175,000 (£137k) per episode, considerably less than her co-stars.
In later seasons of TBBT, Rauch made $200,000 (£157k) per episode. Then in 2018, the original five actors – Jim Parsons, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Johnny Galecki, and Kaley Cuoco – took a pay cut from an estimated $1 million (£784k) per episode to $900,000 (£706k) to help even out Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik’s salaries.
As a result, Rauch is believed to have earned around $425,000 (£333k) per episode by the show’s final season, which boasted 24 episodes in total.
During her time on TBBT, Rauch co-wrote the 2015 film The Bronze and voiced characters in Ice Age: Collision Course and Batman and Harley Quinn. As the show was wrapping, she also released a free children’s book called The Tales of Tofu in an attempt to make healthy eating fun and accessible.
Rauch is currently starring in the sitcom Night Court, a revival of the original 80s series, and is also an executive producer on the project.
With many TV and movie credits to her name, it’s no surprise the starlet has amassed a reported fortune of around $20 million (£15.7m).
Mayim Bialik aka Amy Farrah Fowler: worth $25 million (£19.6m)
Mayim Bialik (pictured second from left) made her first Big Bang Theory appearance as Sheldon’s love interest, Amy Farrah Fowler, in the season three finale in 2010.
Before making her debut on the show, Bialik was already an established actor, having played the main character in NBC’s Blossom for four years in the early 1990s.
That show didn’t come with the same riches as TBBT, with Bialik confirming on Jaleel White’s Ever Actor podcast that she “did not have the kind of financial success that would’ve set [her] up for the rest of [her] life”. Luckily, playing the role of Amy Farrah Fowler was considerably more lucrative…
Like Melissa Rauch, Bialik reportedly earned $175,000 (£137k) per episode of The Big Bang Theory, which rose in the show’s later seasons to $200,000 (£157k) per episode.
Bialik also benefited from a big pay increase in the show’s final season when her co-stars negotiated their own salary cuts. For season 12, she received $425,000 (£333k) per 20-minute episode.
Bialik has more in common with her character than you might expect. She has a PhD in neuroscience and has been known to tweak the show’s often technical script if writers didn’t nail the science. The long-time vegan also became the co-owner of the plant-based restaurant Bodhi Bowl in Los Angeles when it opened in 2017, and has penned a vegan recipe book in collaboration with the restaurant’s chef, Ali Cruddas.
In addition to her cookbook, Bialik has written a parenting guide, two children’s books, and a collection of facts about superhero The Flash, who’s adored by her on-screen partner, Sheldon. The brainy star has also hosted the long-running quiz show Jeopardy!
Bialik, who will reprise her role as Amy Farrah in the final episode of TBBT spin-off Young Sheldon in May, has an estimated total fortune of $25 million (£19.6m).
Kunal Nayyar aka Rajesh ‘Raj’ Koothrappali: worth $45 million (£35.3m)
Kunal Nayyar shot to fame playing hopeless romantic astrophysicist Rajesh ‘Raj’ Koothrappali on The Big Bang Theory in 2007.
Before landing the breakout role, Nayyar first hit the big screen as a pizza delivery driver in the rom-com movie S.C.I.E.N.C.E in 2004.
The actor is said to have made a mere $45,000 (£35.3k) per episode in the first season of the show, which was hiked to $150,000 (£118k) for seasons two to four, and increased by a further $100,000 (£78.4k) for seasons five to seven. Nayyar was reportedly paid around $600,000 (£470k) per episode in later seasons.
After The Big Bang Theory, Nayyar scored a vocal role in the smash-hit Trolls film series. He’s also tackled more dramatic roles, including TV shows Criminal: UK and Apple TV+ thriller Suspicion (which he’s pictured filming here).
Most recently, he appeared in the science fiction movie Spaceman (2024) alongside Adam Sandler.
Having been catapulted to fame by TBBT, Kunal Nayyar is now worth around $45 million (£35.3m).
Simon Helberg aka Howard Wolowitz: worth $55 million (£43.1m)
Simon Helberg was already an established actor before landing the role of Howard Wolowitz in The Big Bang Theory.
His previous credits include the Hilary Duff movie A Cinderella Story (2004) and the 2005 George Clooney blockbuster Good Night, and Good Luck.
Taking up a similar supporting role in the show to Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg’s salary saw the same incremental increases from $45,000 (£35.3k) in season one to a high point of $1 million (£784k) per episode in later seasons.
With similar paycheques, it’s no surprise Nayyar and Helberg shared third place in the list of the highest-paid TV actors in the world during the show’s final season in 2018.
Alongside filming for The Big Bang Theory, Helberg featured in a Kung Fu Panda TV series between 2011 and 2016 and starred alongside Meryl Streep in 2016’s Florence Foster Jenkins (pictured).
To the delight of fans, Helberg reprised the character of Howard Wolowitz as a voice role in the TBBT spin-off Young Sheldon in 2021. More recently, he’s appeared in TV projects such as Poker Face and Space Oddity.
The actor is believed to have a net worth of $55 million (£43.1m) today.
Johnny Galecki aka Leonard Hofstadter: worth $100 million (£78.4m)
Johnny Galecki secured his first paid acting role aged just 12 when he featured in Murder Ordained in 1987.
He went on to rack up roles in big-name movies and TV shows, including National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Roseanne, and Blossom, alongside future TBBT co-star Mayim Bialik.
Landing the role of Leonard Hofstadter eventually led to Galecki being named the second-highest-paid TV actor in the world in 2018.
Johnny Galecki is believed to have started out on a $60,000 (£47k)-per-episode deal when The Big Bang Theory first aired in 2007, and as the show grew in popularity, his salary skyrocketed.
Galecki earned a million dollars (£784k) per episode in later seasons before agreeing to take a $100,000 (£78.4k) pay cut for the final season.
Post-Big Bang, Galecki hasn’t been in the limelight as much as his former co-stars, though he did appear in the 2019 family flick A Dog’s Journey and sitcom The Conners.
The star can certainly afford to take a break, though, as he’s built up quite the fortune. His estimated net worth today is $100 million (£78.4m).
Kaley Cuoco aka Penny Teller: worth $110 million (£86.2m)
Kaley Cuoco was already an established actor before landing the role of Penny Teller in The Big Bang Theory.
The starlet had a leading role in the comedy series 8 Simple Rules, which ran between 2002 and 2005. But it was TBBT that shot her to fame, and by 2017 she was the world’s second-highest-paid female TV actor.
Cuoco described her Big Bang salary as “life-changing”, as it rocketed from $60,000 (£47k) per episode in season one to an astonishing $1 million (£784k) in later seasons.
During later seasons of The Big Bang Theory, Cuoco, along with Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, negotiated a deal that would land each of them 1% of the show’s backend equity.
It may not sound like much, but given Warner Bros was believed to be generating $1 billion (£784m) every year at the show’s peak, it meant the trio received an additional $10 million (£7.8m).
As the show was part of the Screen Actors Guild, the cast was also entitled to 80% of their paycheques during the show’s first year of re-runs. They’ll continue to profit while the show remains on streaming sites and is aired on TV networks worldwide.
In an interview on British chat show The One Show, Cuoco revealed she’d been anxious about finding another role after the huge success of TBBT.
She needn’t have worried, as she went on to land the leading role in HBO’s hugely popular comedy-drama The Flight Attendant (pictured), which she starred in between 2020 and 2022.
Cuoco, who most recently starred in the 2024 comedy flick Role Play, has an estimated total fortune of $110 million (£86.2m).
Jim Parsons aka Sheldon Cooper: worth $160 million (£125m)
Undoubtedly the face of The Big Bang Theory, leading man Jim Parsons brought the quirky Sheldon Cooper to life.
Forbes named Parsons the world’s highest-paid TV actor in 2018 thanks to his starring role in the hit series.
Before The Big Bang Theory really hit its stride, Jim Parsons was on the same salary as Johnny Galecki – $60,000 (£47k) per episode. His salary followed the same upward trajectory as Galecki’s, and he accepted the same pay cut to $900,000 (£706k) for the final season of the show.
Parsons comes out on top as the highest-earning cast member thanks to additional endorsement deals, including a seven-figure agreement with Intel. He also boasts a plethora of film and TV credits, including the starring role in the 2015 animated film Home and a cameo in The Simpsons.
Sheldon Cooper was such a popular character that he got his own spin-off in 2017 called Young Sheldon. Although Young Sheldon features Iain Armitage (pictured left) as Cooper’s childhood self, Jim Parsons narrates the show.
However, Parsons will reprise his role as Sheldon Cooper in the final episode of the spin-off series, which airs in May.
It’s estimated that the star has a net worth of $160 million (£124.4m).
