Danielle Steel | Novelist | $385 Million

Even from a young age, Danielle Steel had always been writing. She was only 19 years old when she wrote her first manuscript, shortly after she married her former husband, Claude-Eric Lazard. After a while, she gave birth to their daughter when she worked as a copywriter for an advertising firm– a job that must have helped a lot so she could avoid personal loans.

Since then, Danielle Steel went on to sell millions of books worldwide. Her novels Remembrance and Passion’s Promise are among her most critically-acclaimed works. She also holds the distinction for having one of the longest consecutive NYT Bestsellers—totaling 381 weeks! She, too, is the only best-selling fiction author of all time alive, with over 800 million copies sold. All in all, she has written 180 books, 146 of which are novels her fans can enjoy reading. Her books were translated to 43 languages, and 22 of which were adapted into TV series and amassed acclaims and nominations.