T yler Perry is a self-made American billionaire who has built a massive media and entertainment empire through his work as a writer, actor, producer, and director. He rose from a difficult and impoverished childhood in New Orleans to become a successful playwright on the "Chitlin' Circuit" of theaters catering to African American audiences. He is most famous for creating and portraying the character of Madea, a tough, elderly, and comedic African American woman, who became the centerpiece of a long-running and highly profitable series of stage plays and films.

The key to Perry's immense financial success is that he has maintained full ownership and creative control over his vast and prolific body of work. He has written, directed, and produced a huge number of successful, though often critically panned, movies and television shows that resonate strongly with an African American audience that was often underserved by mainstream Hollywood. He also owns one of the largest film production studios in the United States, Tyler Perry Studios, which he built on a former army base in Atlanta, Georgia. This complete ownership model has allowed him to retain the vast majority of the profits from his creations.