Net Worth Ranker
What Was Anna Nicole Smith’s Net Worth?
At the time of her death in 2007, Anna Nicole Smith’s net worth was estimated to be around $1 million. This figure reflects her assets after a career in modeling, acting, and reality television, but also considers the substantial legal battles she was involved in, particularly concerning the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan on November 28, 1967, in Houston, Texas, Anna Nicole Smith’s early life was marked by humble beginnings. She attended Aldine High School and later Mexia High School but dropped out during her sophomore year. Before her rise to fame, Smith worked at Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia, Texas. It was here that she met Billy Wayne Smith, whom she married on April 4, 1985, at the age of seventeen. The couple had a son, Daniel Wayne Smith, in January 1986, before divorcing in 1993. These early experiences shaped her path toward seeking opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Modeling Career: From Playboy to Global Recognition
Anna Nicole Smith’s breakthrough came in the early 1990s when she appeared in “Playboy” magazine. Initially featured as Vickie Smith in March 1992, she quickly gained recognition and was named “Playboy” Playmate of the Month for the May 1992 issue. A year later, in 1993, she achieved the prestigious title of Playmate of the Year. This exposure led to a contract replacing Claudia Schiffer in a Guess jeans ad campaign, marking a significant step in her modeling career. Around this time, she adopted the name Anna Nicole Smith. She further expanded her reach by modeling for the Swedish company H&M, with her image displayed on large billboards in Sweden and Norway, as well as appearing on the cover of “Marie Claire” in Germany. Although specific financial details of these contracts are not publicly available, these ventures significantly contributed to her income and net worth during the mid-1990s. In August 1994, a photograph of Smith was used by “New York Magazine” in its issue titled “White Trash Nation.” In the photograph, she is squatting in a skirt with white cowboy boots while eating chips. Her lawyer initiated a $5 million lawsuit against “New York Magazine,” claiming that Smith did not authorize the use of her photo. This exposure significantly increased her visibility and earning potential. This era significantly boosted Anna Nicole Smith’s net worth.
Acting Ventures and Television Appearances
Transitioning from modeling, Anna Nicole Smith ventured into acting, though her success in this field was more limited. She debuted in the 1994 screwball comedy “The Hudsucker Proxy.” Later that year, she took on a larger role as Tanya Peters in “Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult,” which received favorable reviews and moderate box office success. Her filmography also includes roles in “To the Limit” (1995), where she played Colette Dubois, and “Skyscraper” (1996), a direct-to-film movie. While “Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult” had a budget of approximately $30 million and grossed over $51 million worldwide, Smith’s salary for this role is not publicly known. Her attempt to revitalize her movie career with a leading role in “Skyscraper” in 1996 was a low-budget direct-to-film movie offered no help. The financial specifics of these acting roles are not widely available, but they contributed incrementally to her overall income. In the late ’90s, she turned her eye toward television roles. She appeared in “Sin City Spectacular,” “Veronica’s Closet,” and in an episode of “Ally McBeal.” As a result of her rising popularity with tabloids, she was given her own reality show on the E! cable network. “The Anna Nicole Show” premiered on August 4, 2002. The show shot her to fame with a new audience, and it achieved the highest cable rating possible for a reality show. The show focused on the private life of Anna, her boyfriend and attorney Howard K. Stern, her son Daniel Wayne Smith, and her miniature poodle Sugar Pie. The show was canceled in June 2003. While the specific salary details of the show aren’t available, similar reality stars at the time were earning anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000 per episode. It is possible that Anna Nicole Smiths’ net worth increase during these years due to her show.
The J. Howard Marshall II Estate Battle
A significant portion of Anna Nicole Smith’s public life and legal battles revolved around her marriage to J. Howard Marshall II, a Texas billionaire. They married in June 1994, when he was 89 and she was 26. Marshall passed away in August 1995 at the age of 90. At the time of his death, Marshall’s net worth was estimated at $1.6 billion, primarily due to his 16% ownership stake in Koch Industries. Anna Nicole Smith was not included in Marshall’s will, leading to a protracted legal dispute with Marshall’s son, E. Pierce Marshall. Anna claimed that J. Howard had verbally promised her half of his estate. The legal battle spanned several years and involved multiple court decisions. In 1996, Anna declared bankruptcy in California. She continued appealing the Texas court’s ruling, and in 2000, the California bankruptcy court ruled against E. Pierce and entered a $475 million judgment in Anna’s favor. In 2001, Pierce appealed and was initially successful in reverting the previous judgment. In March 2002, a district court found in Anna’s favor that she was entitled to half of their community property, which would have been any appreciation of assets during the marriage. This court vacated the $475 million judgment and instead called for Anna to receive $88 million. Pierce appealed to Texas’ Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that he was, in fact, NOT one of Marshall’s heirs, vacating the $88 million judgment. The case eventually reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in Smith’s favor on May 1, 2006, allowing her to continue pursuing the case. However, in March 2010, after her death, the court ultimately ruled that Anna’s bankruptcy court claim was false, and she was not entitled to any of J. Howard Marshall’s estate. Although Anna Nicole Smith initially sought half of Marshall’s $1.6 billion estate, she ultimately did not receive any significant inheritance, despite the numerous legal proceedings. Had Anna actually been victorious, if she were still alive today, she would own 8% of Koch Industries and would be worth around $8 billion. Instead, today, E. Pierce Marshall’s widow, Elaine Marshall, is worth $17 billion and is one of the richest women in the world.
Personal Life and Tragic End
Anna Nicole Smith’s personal life was marked by several significant events. Her marriage to Billy Wayne Smith in 1985 resulted in the birth of her son, Daniel Wayne Smith, in 1986. After their divorce, she married J. Howard Marshall II in 1994. The last six months of her life were spent in the focus of the media regarding the accidental overdose death of her son, Daniel, and the paternity and custody battle over her newborn daughter, Dannielynn. On September 10, 2006, three days after Dannielynn was born, Anna’s 20-year-old son Daniel died from an overdose of drugs, including methadone and antidepressants. On September 28, 2006, Stern and Smith exchanged rings during an intimate yet informal commitment ceremony. The paternity of her daughter, Dannielynn, became a highly publicized issue, with Larry Birkhead eventually being confirmed as the father through DNA testing. On February 8, 2007, Anna Nicole Smith was found dead in her hotel room in Hollywood, Florida. A seven-week investigation found that Smith had died of a combined drug intoxication with the sleeping pill chloral hydrate listed as the “major component,” along with four benzodiazepines. She had also taken Benadryl. No illegal drugs were found in her system. It was later reported that eight of the 11 drugs found in her system were prescribed to Stern, not Smith. Her funeral took place on March 2, 2007. At the time of her death, her estate included $1.8 million in real estate with a $1.1 million mortgage. This financial snapshot indicates that while she had assets, she also had significant liabilities, impacting her overall net worth. Anna Nicole Smith’s will left all assets to her son, Daniel. Tragically, Daniel died six months earlier at the age of 20 from an accidental drug overdose. Smith’s estate at the time of her death included $1.8 million in real estate that had a $1.1 million mortgage. Her next of kin was a daughter named Danielynn, who was born three days before older brother Daniel’s death in 2006. Anna’s former attorney, Howard K. Stern, continued the legal fight on Danielynn’s behalf, appealing to the US Supreme Court for a second time. He initially claimed to be the girl’s father, but that was ultimately proven false. Larry Birkhead came forward as Danielynn’s father. In the end, after 15 years of legal battles, all of Anna’s claims and previous judgments were overturned in favor of the Marshall family.
