In 2017, she topped the Forbes list of the world’s highest-earning authors, pocketing around $95 million in royalties from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the most recent addition to the seven-part series that was turned into a London theatrical production, and the Harry Potter e-books she sells through her Pottermore website. Rowling herself has made a fortune writing about the boy with the lightning-shaped scar. Rowling posing with her book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” The total gross revenue from book sales is estimated at $7.7 billion. And the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is one of the fastest selling books in the history of fiction, with 8.3 million copies sold within 24 hours of its release in 2007. The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, published in 1997 by Bloomsbury, remains one of the all-time bestsellers. Now, as the franchise is turning 20, it’s time to look back at some interesting facts and figures and see how it’s been doing financially (spoiler alert: very well).Īccording to Scholastic, the exclusive publisher of the series in the United States, over 500 million books have been sold worldwide, in 80 different languages. Many more multinational companies hold their own pieces of the Potter intellectual property, which have also brought them substantial revenues – Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Fossil, and Electronic Arts, to name a few. “Characters from the Lego Harry Potter: Years 5–7 video game”

Two other industry giants, Mattel and Hasbro, together made over $7 billion on Potter plush toys, action figures, special editions of board games like Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit, trading cards, and even candy (yes, you can get a real-life version of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans from your local convenience shop). In 2010, the Danish toymaker reported “phenomenal sales,” with its pre-tax profits soaring to around $2.4 billion – thanks in no small part to the launch of their Potter-themed products.

Harry Potter merchandise includes such notable offerings as Lego Harry Potter that have become superpopular in their own right. On top of that, it quickly grew into a hypersuccessful franchise comprising movies and spin-offs, audio books, video games, makeup brushes, cooking accessories, and oh so much more!

It also broke all sales records, bringing its creator J. The original Harry Potter book series spawned millions of fans across the globe.

Harry potter book series