Matt Stone’s net worth is $1.4 billion as of September 17, 2026, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list. This figure builds on the confirmed $1.2 billion valuation Forbes assigned him on July 25, 2025, when he and creative partner Trey Parker officially joined the billionaire club following a new streaming deal for South Park. Stone earned his fortune primarily through South Park, The Book of Mormon, and a handful of savvy business decisions made decades ago that are still paying off today.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Net worth | $1.4 billion (as of September 17, 2026) |
| Source of figure | Forbes Real-Time Billionaires |
| Profession | Animator, writer, producer, actor |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | May 26, 1971, in Houston, Texas |
| Education | University of Colorado Boulder (double major in mathematics and film) |
| Parents | Sheila Lois Stone (née Belasco) and Gerald Whitney Stone Jr. |
| Spouse | Angela Howard (married 2008) |
| Children | 2 |
| Known for | Co-creator of South Park and The Book of Mormon |
| Main wealth sources | South Park digital revenue share, Paramount+ streaming deal, Book of Mormon royalties, Casa Bonita restaurant |
| Business partner | Trey Parker |
How Much Is Matt Stone Worth?
As of September 17, 2026, Forbes places Matt Stone’s net worth at $1.4 billion, ranking him #2,769 on its real-time global billionaires list. That number moves daily along with market conditions and deal activity, so treat it as a snapshot rather than a fixed figure.
The more significant milestone came on July 25, 2025. That day, Forbes confirmed that Stone and Trey Parker had each become billionaires, worth an estimated $1.2 billion apiece, after signing a five-year, $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount+. Before that point, Forbes had not listed either man as a billionaire, which makes the 2025 confirmation a genuine turning point rather than a routine update.
You’ll find other numbers floating around online, ranging from $300 million to $1.05 billion, mostly from sites like Celebrity Net Worth and various content aggregators. Most of these estimates predate the 2025 Paramount+ deal or don’t disclose how they calculate their figures. Forbes remains the most transparent and consistently updated source for Stone’s wealth, since it publishes both the date of its estimate and the deal activity behind it. For that reason, this article treats the Forbes figures as the primary reference point and flags any other numbers as unverified estimates.
How Matt Stone Made His Money
Stone’s fortune didn’t come from a single lucky break. It grew out of one contract clause negotiated nearly three decades ago, followed by a string of deals that compounded its value as television moved from cable to streaming.
The Contract Clause That Started It All
In 1997, when South Park premiered on Comedy Central, digital media barely existed. Streaming, downloads, and online advertising weren’t meaningful revenue categories yet. Even so, Stone and Parker’s early contract included a clause granting them a share of any revenue generated outside traditional television broadcasts. At the time, it looked like boilerplate language with no real value.
That changed in 2007. As YouTube took off and Netflix launched its streaming service, Stone and Parker renegotiated with Comedy Central and formalized a 50/50 split of all digital revenue from South Park, in a deal reportedly worth $75 million. This single clause became the financial engine behind almost everything that followed, giving the pair a direct stake in every streaming deal the show would eventually sign.
Streaming Deals That Multiplied the Payout
Once the digital revenue split was locked in, each new streaming agreement effectively doubled as a personal payday for Stone and Parker. The numbers tell the story of how quickly that value grew:
| Year | Deal | Reported Value |
| 2014 | Hulu streaming rights | $87.5 million (later renewed for $110 million) |
| 2020 | HBO Max exclusive streaming (2020 to 2024) | $550 million |
| 2021 | Paramount Global deal for new seasons and films | $900 million |
| 2025 | Paramount+ exclusive streaming deal (five years) | $1.5 billion |
The 2025 Paramount+ agreement is worth pausing on, because it’s often misreported. The $1.5 billion figure is the total value of the five-year contract between Paramount and South Park, covering production costs, licensing, and the digital revenue split, not a personal payout to Stone alone. The deal pays at least $250 million per year and guarantees ten new episodes annually through 2030. Stone and Parker’s personal earnings come from their 50 percent share of that digital revenue, layered on top of production fees, which is a meaningful distinction between deal value and take-home income.
The Book of Mormon
Stone’s wealth isn’t tied to South Park alone. In 2011, he co-created the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon with Trey Parker and Robert Lopez, the composer behind Avenue Q. The show won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Its original cast recording became the highest-charting Broadway cast album in more than four decades.
The financial results matched the critical reception. A 2013 Forbes report found the show was bringing in roughly $19 million per month at the peak of its Broadway run, and it has since toured internationally and grossed more than $1 billion combined across ticket sales, merchandise, and licensing over its run. That gross figure reflects total show revenue over more than a decade, not Stone’s personal earnings, but it illustrates the scale of a second major income stream running alongside South Park.
Casa Bonita and Other Ventures
Not every part of Stone’s portfolio involves entertainment royalties. In 2021, he and Parker purchased Casa Bonita, a Colorado “eatertainment” restaurant that was a childhood favorite of both men and had previously appeared in a South Park episode. The restaurant had gone bankrupt, and the pair bought it to save it from closing for good.
They didn’t stop at a simple rescue. Stone and Parker spent more than $40 million renovating the property before it reopened in 2023, bringing in chef Dana Rodriguez to redesign the menu. They also restructured how staff get paid, eliminating tipping in favor of a flat $30 hourly wage, well above Colorado’s minimum wage at the time.
The investment hasn’t been without friction. In October 2025, performers at Casa Bonita went on strike for several days, alleging unfair wages and unsafe working conditions, a dispute that drew criticism from Actors’ Equity Association president Brooke Shields. It’s a reminder that Stone’s net worth isn’t just a number tied to streaming contracts. It also reflects an active, hands-on business he and Parker run and are still working through operational challenges with.
Beyond the restaurant, Stone has also co-founded Park County (the production company formerly known as Important Studios) and Deep Voodoo, an artificial intelligence and deepfake technology studio the pair used for projects including the web series Sassy Justice and Kendrick Lamar’s music video for “The Heart Part 5.”
Matt Stone vs. Trey Parker: Who’s Richer?
One of the most common questions people ask about Stone’s wealth is how it compares to his longtime creative partner. The answer, based on Forbes reporting, is that the two are valued almost identically.
| Matt Stone | Trey Parker | |
| Net worth (as of Sept 2026) | $1.4 billion | Comparable figure per Forbes |
| Billionaire status confirmed | July 25, 2025 | July 25, 2025 |
| Initial billionaire valuation | $1.2 billion | $1.2 billion |
| Main wealth sources | South Park, Book of Mormon, Casa Bonita | Same |
Forbes lists Trey Parker as Stone’s official “business partner” on its profile page, and the two have shared equal ownership in nearly every major project since they met in college. Their finances have moved in lockstep for almost thirty years, which is unusual for a creative partnership of this scale and longevity.
Early Life and Education
Matthew Richard Stone was born on May 26, 1971, in Houston, Texas, to Sheila Lois Stone (née Belasco) and Gerald Whitney Stone Jr., an economist. He is of Irish-American heritage on his father’s side and Jewish heritage on his mother’s side. South Park fans may recognize the names: the characters Gerald and Sheila Broflovski were named after his parents.
Stone and his younger sister Rachel grew up in Littleton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, where he attended Heritage High School and played drums, citing Rush and The Police as early musical influences. He went on to study at the University of Colorado Boulder, where his father, worried he’d “become a musician and a bum,” pushed him toward something more practical. Stone graduated in 1993 with a double major in mathematics and film.
It was at CU Boulder that Stone met Trey Parker. The two bonded over Monty Python and a shared anti-authoritarian sense of humor, a partnership that would define both of their careers and, eventually, their fortunes.
Career Timeline
- 1992 to 1993: Stone, Parker, and classmates found production company Avenging Conscience and make Cannibal! The Musical, an independent film that later became a cult classic.
- 1997: South Park premieres on Comedy Central and quickly becomes one of the network’s most-watched shows.
- 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is released in theaters; its song “Blame Canada” earns an Academy Award nomination.
- 2004: Team America: World Police, a satirical puppet film, is released.
- 2007: Stone and Parker secure the 50/50 digital revenue clause with Comedy Central, the deal that underpins much of their later wealth.
- 2011: The Book of Mormon opens on Broadway and wins nine Tony Awards plus a Grammy.
- 2013: The pair launch their own production company, Important Studios (later renamed Park County).
- 2014: South Park: The Stick of Truth video game is released, with Stone and Parker taking full creative control.
- 2021: Stone and Parker sign a $900 million deal with Paramount Global and purchase Casa Bonita out of bankruptcy.
- 2023: Casa Bonita reopens after a renovation costing more than $40 million.
- July 2025: Stone and Parker sign a $1.5 billion, five-year streaming deal with Paramount+; Forbes confirms both men as billionaires.
- 2026: Stone is inducted into the Television Hall of Fame alongside Parker.
Along the way, Stone has collected five Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award for South Park, plus three Tony Awards and a Grammy Award for The Book of Mormon.
Conclusion
Matt Stone’s $1.4 billion net worth, as tracked by Forbes as of September 17, 2026, is the product of one unusually forward-thinking contract clause from 1997, patiently compounded through nearly three decades of streaming deals, Broadway royalties, and business ventures like Casa Bonita. His path to billionaire status wasn’t sudden. It was built on a 50/50 digital revenue split that looked worthless when it was signed and became the foundation of a media empire once streaming reshaped how people watch television. Stone’s story is also a reminder that headline deal values, like the $1.5 billion Paramount+ agreement, describe contract size rather than personal net worth, a distinction worth keeping in mind whenever new figures make headlines.
FAQs
Stone became a billionaire primarily through a 50/50 digital revenue split he and Trey Parker negotiated with Comedy Central in 2007. That clause entitled them to half of all non-broadcast South Park revenue, which grew enormously as streaming deals with Hulu, HBO Max, and eventually Paramount+ climbed into the hundreds of millions and then billions of dollars. Forbes confirmed his billionaire status on July 25, 2025.
No. Forbes values both men at essentially the same net worth, each confirmed at $1.2 billion in July 2025 and tracked around $1.4 billion as of September 2026. The two have shared equal ownership in South Park, The Book of Mormon, and Casa Bonita since they met in college.
The $1.5 billion figure refers to the total five-year contract value between Paramount+ and South Park, not a personal payout. Stone and Parker’s actual earnings come from their 50 percent share of the show’s digital revenue under that deal, plus production fees, which Forbes factored into its billionaire valuation rather than the full headline number.
Yes. Stone and Parker retain a 50 percent share of South Park’s digital and streaming revenue under the terms negotiated since 2007, an arrangement that continues under the current Paramount+ deal through at least 2030.
Beyond South Park and The Book of Mormon, Stone co-owns Casa Bonita, a Colorado restaurant he and Parker purchased and renovated starting in 2021, along with Park County, their production company, and Deep Voodoo, an AI and deepfake technology studio.
Sources & Methodology
This article relies on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires profile for Matt Stone as the primary source for net worth figures, supplemented by Forbes’ original July 25, 2025 reporting confirming his billionaire status. Biographical details are sourced from Wikipedia’s citations to The Guardian, The New York Times, and other outlets. Business and deal figures reference reporting from Variety, the Los Angeles Times, and Bloomberg. Where estimates from secondary sources conflicted with Forbes data, they were noted as unverified rather than presented as fact. Figures described as “confirmed” come directly from Forbes reporting with a clear date; figures described as “reported” come from other reputable news outlets covering specific deals or transactions. This article does not include personal real estate holdings or charitable giving details, since no reliably documented, sourced information on either was available at the time of writing.
Net worth figures change over time based on market conditions, business performance, and new deals. This article reflects data available as of September 17, 2026.
Tanzeela is a writer and researcher at WorthIcons, covering celebrity net worth, business, careers, wealth, and biographical stories. She researches publicly available information from reputable sources and aims to present financial estimates clearly and responsibly.