JAMES PATTERSON – EST. $850 MILLION

James is among the richest authors in the world, with credit to his incredible prowess when it comes to creating memorable stories and characters. Throughout his career, he has managed to sell over 300 million books and is recognized for being the first author to sell over a million e-books. Of course, he isn’t without his critics. It was Stephen King who once chided Patterson, saying that he’s “a terrible writer, but he’s very successful.”

Patterson has written 95 novels since 1976 and has become a best-selling novel in The New York Times for 19 consecutive seasons. He holds the record of a single best-selling hardcover novel in the New York Times, with a total of 76 works, which is also a Guinness World Record. In 2019, through the James Patterson Pledge, he donated $1.25 million to help save classroom libraries. This is the fifth installment in the partnership between him and Scholastic Book Clubs.