J.K. Rowling is an English author, film producer, television producer, and philanthropist. She’s well known for her being the creator of the “Harry Potter” franchise which has sold for over 500 million copies worldwide.
Her books have won multiple awards over the years and has also been adapted into a popular film series.
She got the idea of writing the first volume of Harry Potter when in 1990, her train from Manchester to London. During this time, Rowling was currently struggling with her life when her mother died and she had a divorce with her husband which left her to be the only one to raise her daughter.
Her life made a huge turn after she published “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and it’s sequels. The book became so successful that the sales turned Rowling into the world’s first billionaire author.
The author’s life is a great example of someone who went from rags to riches. If you want to know more about her then keep reading as we’ll show you more about her personal life, career, and net worth.
Personal Details
Celebrity Name: J.K. Rowling
Real Name:.Joanne Rowling
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Birthday: July 31, 1965
Birthplace: Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Age: 54
Nationality: British
Status: Married
Height: 5’4”
Weight:54 kg
Profession: Author, Producer, Philanthropist
Net Worth: $1 billion
Early Life and Education
Joane Rowling was born on the 31st of July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. She also has a younger sister named Dianne who arrived two years after she was born. Though her family was intact, Rowling stated that she had a rough teenage life due to her mother suffering from multiple sclerosis and the strained relationship she has with her father.
She went to St. Michael’s Primary school and then proceeded to Wyedean School and College for secondary school. By 1982, Rowling proceeded to the University of Exeter to pursue a degree in French and Classic.
After graduating in 1986, she proceeded to move to London and found work in Amnesty International where she had a job as a researcher and bilingual secretary.
Personal Life
Rowling was married to a Portuguese journalist named Jorge Arantes back in 1992, though they didn’t last long as they filed for divorce just after a year. Several reports have also shown the author was suffering from domestic abuse by Arantes They were able to have a baby together named Jessica Isabel.
She was then able to remarry with an anesthetist named Neil Michael Murray. They currently have two children, a son named David Gordon Rowling Murray, and a daughter named Jean Rowling Murray. She and her entire family are currently staying at Killiechassie, Scotland.
Career as an Author
While the author was on a trip from Manchester to London, an idea came into her mind about a young boy with spectacles attending a school for wizardry. Rowling then transferred to Portugal where she worked as an English teacher during the night while also writing chapters on the book in the day.
By 1993, she underwent a crisis and had no job. This led her to devote herself to finishing her book and by 1995, the manuscript for “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” Was finished.
After being rejected by multiple publishers, she was finally able to get greenlit from Bloomsbury’s Barry Cunningham. Thousands of copies of the book were published and it was able to gain massive popularity.
By 1998, the second part of the series “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” was published and it became an instant hit. The third book of the series didn’t take that long as the following year, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” was released.
In 2000, the books had already become a hit sensation and has sold over 35 million copies in different languages. During the same year, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was also released.
Rowling then continued on to release the rest of the books such as “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. And by 2007, she released the final part of the series “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, which became the fastest-selling book of all time. With the success of the Harry Potter franchise, an eight-part film adaptation was made which also became a huge box office success.
Rowling still continues to write books these days and she mostly works on children’s novels or novels that cater to adults.
Philanthropic Works
With the massive amount of wealth Rowling has gained with the Harry Potter franchise, she used a huge chunk of the amount for her charity works. She’s donated millions of dollars annually to combat poverty through her Volant Charitable Trust. Rowling has also donated money for research regarding multiple sclerosis.
In 2008, she and 12 other writers were asked to create a short story in an A5 card that would be auctioned for charities like Dyslexia and English PEN. The story that she created talked about a prequel regarding Harry Potter’s father James, and his godfather Sirius Black.
Awards and Achievements
The success of rowling through her books has earned her a lot of awards and honors in different degrees. She’s received honors from different universities like the University of Exeter, University of Aberdeen, and Harvard University.
The French president, Nicolas Sarzosky, has even made her an official Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur back in 2009. In 2010, she also became an inaugural award winner for the “Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award”.
Her books have also received several awards like the “Nestle Smarties Book Prize”, the “Hugo Award” for “Best Novel”, the “Locus Award”, and also “British Book of the Year”.
Total Net Worth
J.K. Rowling’s estimated net worth is about $1 billion.
She mostly gets her income through the sales that her books have made and also from the Harry Potter films. Though she’s mostly donated most of her money to charity, she’s still one of the richest authors of all time.
