Will Smith Revealed the High Annual Salary That Would Start to ‘Buy Misery’

As of 2025, Will Smith’s net worth is estimated to be between $350 million and $375 million. This impressive fortune has been amassed through a combination of acting, music, production, business investments, and social media ventures. While Will has incredible wealth that can easily sustain him and his family for the rest of their lives, he admitted that money doesn’t buy happiness. Here’s the annual salary he named that he believes can start to “buy misery.”

Will Smith said $1 million annually in America can lead to ‘more problems’

Will Smith is no stranger to attaining a high salary. However, rumors of money woes have plagued him in 2025 despite his high net worth. In June 2025, he spoke to the School of Hard Knocks about how he attained his incredible wealth — and he issued a serious warning about the “misery” that can come with money.

“There’s an amount of money that once you pass it, it buys misery,” Will warned. “Once you have a certain amount of money, you can change people’s lives. So, it’s really all people can think about. So, it’s difficult to make new friendships at certain financial points.”

He then noted that anyone in America earning over $1 million per year is at risk of having “more problems” from their wealth.

“In America, somewhere around $1 million a year, it starts going the other way, where it’s more problems beyond that,” he said. “And you start getting into, really, an attack zone.”

Will also talked about “clifftop vs. rock bottom,” where being on the clifftop can feel just as precarious as rock bottom.

“After you’ve had all the money you’ve wanted, and you’ve had all the sex you’ve wanted, and you’ve created all the things, and all the fame, there’s a corresponding abyss …,” he explained. “What you’re actually looking for is you.”

Will Smith says he’s in the ‘downsize phase’ of his life

In 2024, Will Smith spoke to Complex’s Speedy Mormon about his net worth and money. He admitted that he doesn’t know his actual net worth. And Will is now entering the “downsize phase” of his life.

“This is the downsize phase of my life,” he told the interviewer. “The first half of my life was gather, gather, gather. And the second half of my life is going to be, you know, give, give, give.”

“Once you’ve bought everything you want, and there’s literally nothing on Earth that you want to buy, I just wish that was a gift that everybody can have, because there’s nothing that material can do to satisfy you,” the Bad Boys actor continued. “When you realize that no relationship, that no money, that no kids — there’s literally nothing that can make you happy.”

“You got to make happy in here,” he said, pointing to his head.

Jada Pinkett Smith opened up about feeling guilty for not lending money to her loved ones

In December 2020, Jada Pinkett Smith opened up on Red Table Talk about lending money to her family members who asked.

“For people like us, who came from backgrounds where we didn’t have much, don’t feel guilty,” Jada said. “I spent so many years feeling guilty, and my guilt made me feel like I owed everybody, and I wasn’t allowed to say, ‘no.’ And that’s just not true, right?”

She then explained how she doesn’t “lend” money. Instead, she gifts money — but only under specific circumstances.

“I don’t lend money,” Jada clarified. “I only give money that I’m willing to give as a gift; I do not lend money because that turns into a lot of problems, just as far as the expectation of people paying back, and what have you. So, I tend to not give where I can’t just say, ‘Here’s a gift to you,’ specifically people who are really close to me, because I’m not trying to have fallouts with money.”

For more news and exclusive interviews, follow Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram.