Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series has been a massive hit ever since it came out in 1986. When the series was first released, it received immense appreciation from the viewers, featuring our beloved protagonist, a young Son-Goku, going on new adventures and making new friends. During its dominating run, the series expanded by showcasing new adventures and introducing intriguing characters to expand the franchise’s lifespan.
Naturally, Toriyama became one of the most influential mangaka creators, and his Dragon Ball series became exceptionally popular and even dominated the newest anime hits. With an estimated sale of 300 million, the artist’s shonen anime remains evergreen, whilst it made him the 3rd richest mangaka artist in the anime and mangaka industry. Sadly, the artist died at the age of 68 from an acute subdural hematoma.
Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Franchise Made Him The 3rd Richest Mangaka Artist
Initially released in 1984, it would be an understatement to say that Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball is a massive franchise. But the original manga is appropriately one of the best-selling manga of all time. The original series featured 42 volumes and had an estimated sales of 300 million copies around the world. The series became the second best-selling manga of all time, the first being Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece.
As per Celebrity Net Worth, it is estimated that the artist had a net worth of $50 million before he died at the age of 68 from an acute subdural hematoma on March 1, 2024, as per the official account of the franchise on X. The amount feels disappointingly low considering the colossal popularity of the franchise. Moreover, Akira Toriyama was also responsible for designing the characters for the Dragon Quest video game series.
Needless to say, the Dr. Slump artist was indeed the most influential managaka artist, as he presented Dragon Ball Z, and introduced the influential art form in the western hemisphere. Hence, the artist laid the founding stones for the popularity of manga and anime, which we all love to watch today. With Dragon Ball DAIMA on the horizon, the franchise looks livelier than ever.
Who Are The Other 2 Artists That Surpassed Akira Toriyama in Terms of Net Worth
Toriyama was surpassed by Rumiko Takahashi, who has an estimated net worth of $70 million. Takahashi is one of the most influential women mangaka artists who is popular not for one but for two iconic mangas, which made her a household name. Ranma ½ and Inuyasha soon became popular among manga readers as both series sold 55 million and 50 million copies, respectively.
Furthermore, her works had received multiple spin-offs explaining why Takahashi’s net worth hovers a little over Toriyama’s. In addition to her net worth, she has won several prestigious awards for her work, including the Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême.
The first place is not much of a surprise as it is held by none other than Eiichiro Oda for his magnum opus, the greatest-selling manga of all time, One Piece. The manga was released in 1997, and it’s still going strong for 27 years. Over the period, it has been estimated that the manga has sold over 500 million copies worldwide.
With its long-standing popularity that only seems to increase with each passing day, the series has become an absolute juggernaut of a franchise. Eiichiro Oda’s net worth lies somewhere around $200 million, which makes him the richest working mangaka artist to date but also in history.
Dragon Ball can be streamed on Hulu.
