William Zabka Net Worth: How Did He Make His Money? Details

Find out “William Zabka Net Worth” There are several credible sources that estimate Zabka’s net worth at $3 million, mainly from the roles he has played in television and movies.

As much as it would be outrageous to claim the New York-born actor is the best of his kind, it would also be mischievous to suggest he hasn’t had a successful career. In 1985, Zabka was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama; this was for his first movie role as Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid.

William Zabka Net Worth: How Did He Make His Money? Details
William Zabka Net Worth: How Did He Make His Money? Details

Beyond acting, William Zabka has also produced movies and TV shows and has done well for himself therewith. It has become an additional source of income for the actor and his most popular projects in this capacity include Cobra Kai and Most, a 2003 Czech film he co-wrote and co-produced with Boddy Garabedian. The short film received multiple awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. All things being equal, William Zabka’s $3 million net worth is bound to increase in years to come as he remains active in the entertainment industry.

William Zabka Net Worth: How Did He Make His Money? Details

A professional actor, William Zabka has been pursuing his dream since the age of 18. He was born on October 20, 1965, and has been active in the film industry since 1983, when he appeared on ABC’s comedy-drama series The Greatest American Hero as Clarence Mortner Jr. He began his career with a small-screen project, but he first earned a significant amount of money from the big screen, having appeared in more movies than television shows.

It was in The Karate Kid that he broke into the competitive industry as Johnny Lawrence. From a budget of $8 million, the 1984 martial arts drama grossed $130.4 million and was met with enormous favorable reviews that eventually led to the Karate Kid franchise’s success. By doing so, he gained a massive amount of exposure that earned him more movie roles, which allowed him to accumulate his net worth of $3 million.

As of now, he has appeared in 32 films, including The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989), in which he reprised the character of Johnny Lawrence. The amounts involved are significant, no matter how hard it is to tell what he was paid for each of these movie roles. It has been a while since the actor played Kevin in The Man in the Silo; he has been busy with television projects instead of playing movie roles.

Highest-Grossing Movies of The Actor

  • The Karate Kid (1984)
    • Budget: $8 million
    • Box Office: $130.4 million
  • National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985)
    • Budget: $17 million
    • Box Office: $49.3 million
  • The Karate Kid Part II (1986)
    • Budget: $13 million
    • Box Office: $130 million
  • Back to School (1986)
    • Budget: $11 million
    • Box Office: $91.3 million
  • The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    • Budget: $12.5 million
    • Box Office: $39 million
  • Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
    • Budget: $36 million
    • Box Office: $64.6 million

William Zabka Pockets As Much As $100,000 Per Episode of Cobra Kia

Over the course of his career, The Karate Kid actor has been seen in multiple television productions. His first significant work here was between 1985 and 1989 when he played Scott McCall in nine episodes of the spy thriller series, The Equalizer. Before this, he had appeared in one episode each of Gimme a Break!, CBS Schoolbreak Special, and E/R. After the Scott McCall role, he featured in multiple television movies like To the Ends of Time (1996), Epoch (2000), Python (2000), and Python II (2002).

The following decade, Zabka voiced several characters in the adult animated comedy series, Robot Chicken, in 2013. Between that year and the following year, he guest-starred and held down a recurring role in the popular sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. His next television projects were in Psych (2014) and Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street (2015). A few years later, he landed his most significant and lucrative television gig thus far – Cobra Kia.

Cobra Kia is a Netflix series based on William Zabka’s first movie, The Karate Kid. The martial arts comedy-drama series started airing on YouTube Red in 2018. It has so far spewed 30 episodes across three seasons with its fourth in the pipeline. The series revolves around Zabka and Ralph Macchio who reprise their respective roles as Jonny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso from the 1984 martial arts drama film. Reports have it that the actors earned as much as $100,000 per episode of the series in the first two seasons. As each of the seasons have 10 episodes, it means that William earned $2 million from the first and second seasons of the show.

The Actor Has Also Made Good Money From Producing Small and Big Screen Projects

Disregarding acting, William Zabka has also been making money from working in other capacities in the movie industry. For instance, he worked in the editorial department of the 2014 drama documentary, Never a Neverland. He also co-wrote the 2003 short film, Most, but has thrived more as a producer. His first work as a producer was also Most.

Many years later, he co-produced the 2010 documentary film, Mzungu (n.) White-Wanderer. His next project in this capacity was Never a Neverland, wherein he is credited as an executive producer. Zabka’s most significant project as a producer is, however, in Cobra Kai. Since the series began, he has worked as a co-executive producer in all of its seasons. What he makes from being a producer has never been disclosed but there is no doubt it’s a meaningful amount that has contributed to his $3 million net worth.

William Zabka Doesn’t Live a Lavish Lifestyle

With William Zabka’s net worth and the steady flow of income from his career, he can certainly afford some level of luxury but the famous actor is not known to indulge in such a lifestyle. He has kept things private and moderate all along.

The man has never been seen in any fancy car neither is he known to own an extravagant mansion. We can only tell that his wife, Stacie Zabka, and the two kids they have, are living comfortably and happily together in New York.