James Robert Davis was born on the 28th July 1945, in Marion, Indiana USA, and is a cartoonist who is widely known as the creator of the internationally famous lazy, lasagna-eating cat and eponymous comic strip series – Garfield.
Have you ever wondered how much wealth this creative mind has accumulated so far? How rich Jim Davis is? According to sources, it is estimated that the total size of Jim Davis’ wealth, as of early 2016, is $800 million, and it includes ownership of Paws, Inc. – comic book studio and production company that he founded in 1981. The huge amount of Jim’s net worth has been gathered during his cartoon-making career, now spanning almost 47 years.
Jim Davis Net Worth $800 Million
Jim was raised by his parents Anna Catherine and James William “Jim” Davis, on a small farm in Fairmount, Indiana alongside his younger brother and 25 cats. After graduating from Ball State University, majoring in art and business, he became an assistant of Tom Ryan, creator of the Tumbleweeds cartoon, and under his tutoring Jim learned all the necessary skills to develop into a successful cartoonist. Subsequently, he created his first comic strip in 1969, Gnorm Gnat, cartoon series about a bug doing funny things, but the newspapers didn’t consider it as a good idea, and Jim was forced to change his approach. He noticed that there are countless comics about dogs, but neither one about cats, and – Garfield was born. This innovative idea in the world of comic strips has brought millions to Jim Davis’ net worth.
The inspiration for the Garfield plot came from Jim’s childhood – the main protagonist, the fat, lazy and cynical, orange cat that adores lasagna, is a synthesis of all the cats from his farm. Garfield’s owner, Jon Arbuckle is actually a parallel to Jim himself – they share a birth date, both grew up on farms with their brothers, and obviously both own a cat(s). Garfield debuted in 1978 in Chicago Sun-Times and, to this day, has been published in more than 2500 newspapers and is read by almost 300 million people daily. It has also won numerous prizes, including National Cartoonist Society’s Best Humor Strip in 1981 and 1985, the Elzie Segar Award in 1990, as well as an honor by the Guinness World Records as The Most Widely Syndicated Comic Strip in the World. It is certain that this venture is the main source of Jim Davis’ impressive overall net worth.
The popularity of Garfield has overgrown the comic strip, and over the years there have been several movies, TV shows and various merchandise based on the character. Apart from those mentioned, in his illustrious career so far, Jim Davis has also created some other comics, including US Acres (or Orson’s Farm as it is often referred to) and Mr. Potato Head. These engagements have certainly made a positive impact on Jim Davis’ wealth in total.
When it comes to his personal life, Jim Davis has married twice. With his first wife Carolyn, he has a son and with his current wife Jill, to whom he has been married since 2000, he has two more children, a daughter and another son.
Beside his cartoonist career, Jim Davis is also a philanthropist who is directing his efforts towards education and the environment for which he has been rewarded with National Arbor Day Foundation’s Good Steward and Special Projects Award, and the Indiana Wildlife Federations’ Conservationist of the Year Award. Jim’s The Professor Garfield Foundation collaborates with Ball State University to support children’s literacy through its website www.professorgarfield.org. Jim has also built the world’s first commercial, all natural, wastewater plant.
Jim Davis currently resides in Albany, Indiana with his family, where he enjoys golfing, gardening and fishing in his leisure time, and still actively works on Garfield.
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