Elisabeth Shue Net Worth: How the Karate Kid Star Built a $20 Million Fortune
Elisabeth Shue has a net worth of about $20 million in 2026. That figure covers the combined wealth of Shue and her husband of more than 30 years, documentary director Davis Guggenheim. Counting her acting income on its own, the number lands closer to $12 million.
Either way, it is money earned the long way: more than 40 years of steady work in film and television, from The Karate Kid in 1984 to the final season of The Boys in 2026. Here is where it all came from.
What is Elisabeth Shue’s net worth in 2026?
The most widely used estimate puts Elisabeth Shue’s net worth at $20 million. It is a household figure, because she and Davis Guggenheim have been married since 1994 and their finances are tracked together. Estimates that focus on her earnings alone sit in the $12 million to $12.5 million range.
Net worth figures for actors are always estimates. Salaries for most film and TV roles are private, so the numbers are built from known deals, real estate records, and typical pay rates for comparable work. The honest answer for Shue is a range: roughly $12 million on her own, and around $20 million as a couple.
Key takeaway: Elisabeth Shue is worth about $20 million with her husband, or roughly $12 million counting only her own career earnings.
How did Elisabeth Shue make her money?
Almost all of it comes from acting. Shue, born on October 6, 1963, in Wilmington, Delaware, started earning as a teenager in TV commercials for Burger King, DeBeers, and Hellmann’s mayonnaise. Then came the role that changed everything: Ali Mills, Daniel LaRusso’s girlfriend in The Karate Kid (1984), her first feature film.
The late 1980s made her a bankable young lead. She carried the teen comedy Adventures in Babysitting (1987), played opposite Tom Cruise in Cocktail (1988), and took over the role of Jennifer Parker in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990). Franchise films like these keep paying long after release, since actors collect residuals every time the movies air, stream, or sell.
Her biggest career moment came in 1995 with Leaving Las Vegas. The role earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, along with BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations. Indie films pay little up front, but that nomination raised her price for years. It led straight to bigger-budget studio work: The Saint (1997) opposite Val Kilmer and Hollow Man (2000) with Kevin Bacon.
The 2000s and 2010s brought a steady mix of film roles, including Piranha 3D (2010), Battle of the Sexes (2017), Death Wish (2018) with Bruce Willis, and Greyhound (2020) opposite Tom Hanks. Her full list of credits runs past 60 screen roles, which you can browse on her IMDb filmography.
The roles that built her net worth
| Year | Project | Why it mattered for her wealth |
| 1984 | The Karate Kid | First film role; the start of decades of residuals from a beloved franchise |
| 1988–1990 | Cocktail, Back to the Future II & III | Big studio paydays and franchise residuals that still pay today |
| 1995 | Leaving Las Vegas | Oscar nomination that raised her asking price for years |
| 2012–2015 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Series-regular salary on a hit network show, her steadiest income run |
| 2019–2026 | The Boys | A lead role on one of Amazon’s biggest series, in the streaming pay era |
| 2020–2021 | Cobra Kai | High-profile return as Ali Mills on a top Netflix show |
The television years: her steadiest paychecks
Film made Shue famous, but television likely gave her the most reliable income of her career. In late 2011 she was cast as Julie Finlay on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, replacing Marg Helgenberger as a lead, and she stayed on the CBS hit from 2012 to 2015. Series regulars on long-running network procedurals earn a fee for every episode, and CSI produced over 20 episodes a season, so three-plus years on the show adds up to serious money.
Streaming kept the checks coming. In 2019 she joined The Boys as Madelyn Stillwell, the Vought executive who manages the Seven, a lead role on what became one of Amazon’s flagship series. She returned to the role in the animated spin-off Diabolical (2022), in Gen V (2023), and again in the show’s fifth and final season, which premiered on Prime Video in April 2026.
In between, she reprised Ali Mills on Cobra Kai (2020–2021), led the Netflix series On the Verge (2021), and played Bonnie Kalanick in Showtime’s Super Pumped (2022). For a working actor, that kind of run, four notable series in four years, is the difference between a comfortable net worth and a shrinking one.
How much does Davis Guggenheim add?
A meaningful share of the household’s $20 million comes from Shue’s husband. Davis Guggenheim is one of the most successful documentary directors alive. He directed An Inconvenient Truth (2006), the Al Gore climate film that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, plus Waiting for “Superman” (2010), He Named Me Malala (2015), and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023).
Documentaries rarely make anyone rich on their own, but Guggenheim works at the top of the field, where streamer deals pay well. Apple, Netflix, and Participant have all backed his projects. The couple also collaborate: Guggenheim directed Gracie (2007), a soccer drama Shue produced with her brothers and starred in, based loosely on her own years playing on boys’ teams.
Real estate
Shue and Guggenheim have kept their property moves modest by Hollywood standards. For years they lived in a Spanish-style home just off the Sunset Strip, a nearly 2,000-square-foot house built in 1926 with three bedrooms and a pool. They sold it in 2004 for $1.3 million and moved the family elsewhere in Los Angeles, where they raised their three children: Miles (born 1997), Stella (born 2001), and Agnes (born 2006).
Is her brother Andrew Shue richer?
Yes, by a wide margin. Andrew Shue, best known as Billy Campbell on Melrose Place, has an estimated net worth of about $100 million, roughly five times his sister’s household figure. The gap has nothing to do with acting. Andrew co-founded the parenting website CafeMom, which grew into a major online media company, and the tech money dwarfs anything a steady acting career produces.
It makes the Shues an unusual Hollywood family: one sibling built wealth through 40 years of screen work, the other through a single well-timed internet venture.
What is Elisabeth Shue working on in 2026?
At 62, Shue is busier than many actors half her age, which means the net worth number still has room to grow. Her Madelyn Stillwell returned in the final season of The Boys, appearing in the third episode as a vision that pushes Homelander toward his endgame.
On the film side, she is currently shooting Greyhound 2 for Apple, reuniting with Tom Hanks after the first film became one of Apple TV+’s biggest early hits. She also has the survival thriller Whalefall in post-production, due out in 2026. Steady lead and supporting work across two streamers and a studio film slate suggests her earning years are far from over.
Frequently asked questions
What is Elisabeth Shue’s net worth in 2026?
About $20 million, a combined figure with her husband, director Davis Guggenheim. Estimates that count only her own acting income put her closer to $12 million. Both numbers reflect over 40 years of film and television work.
What is Elisabeth Shue best known for?
Playing Ali Mills in The Karate Kid (1984), her Oscar-nominated lead role in Leaving Las Vegas (1995), and Madelyn Stillwell in The Boys. She also starred in Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail, and the Back to the Future sequels.
Is Elisabeth Shue still acting?
Yes. In 2026 she appeared in the final season of The Boys, is filming Greyhound 2 with Tom Hanks for Apple, and has the thriller Whalefall in post-production.
Who is richer, Elisabeth Shue or Andrew Shue?
Her brother Andrew is far richer, with an estimated $100 million. Most of it comes not from Melrose Place but from co-founding the parenting website CafeMom, which became a major online media business.
Who is Elisabeth Shue married to?
Documentary director Davis Guggenheim, since 1994. He won an Academy Award for An Inconvenient Truth and directed Waiting for “Superman” and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. They have three children together.
Conclusion
Elisabeth Shue is worth about $20 million in 2026, counted together with her husband Davis Guggenheim, or roughly $12 million on her own. The money reflects a rare kind of Hollywood career: no single giant payday, just four decades of franchise residuals, an Oscar-nomination boost, a network procedural salary, and a strong streaming run that is still going. With The Boys, Greyhound 2, and Whalefall all landing in 2026, the number is more likely to rise than fall.
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