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Judge Judy's show is ending after 25 years. Here's how one of the highest-paid personalities in TV history makes and spends her $440 million fortune.

Mar 4, 2020, 23:36 IST

On Monday, Judge Judy Sheindlin announced on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that the upcoming season of "Judge Judy" will be her last. The show will have run for 25 years by the time it concludes.

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She probably won't ever leave your TV screen, though - CBS bought her entire series catalog for $100 million in 2017, and her reruns may very well run in perpetuity. She also has plans for a new television show - "Judy Justice" - once "Judge Judy" wraps, though specific details about the upcoming project have yet to be revealed.

Sheindlin is famously one of the highest-paid women in daytime television - she pulled in $47 million every year for just 52 days of filming. Forbes estimated her net worth to be $440 million in June 2019, naming her one of the richest self-made women in America.

She lives primarily in Naples, Florida, with her husband and spends her fortune on real estate and memberships at the Ritz-Carlton, according to the New York Times.

A representative for Sheindlin didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on her net worth or personal life from Business Insider.

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Keep reading for a look inside Judge Judy's life.

"Judge Judy," the beloved courtroom reality show helmed by Judy Sheindlin, is coming to an end.

Source: CNN

Sheindlin went on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Monday to announce the show's upcoming 25th season would be the final one.

Source: USA Today

The 77-year-old is famously one of the highest-paid hosts in daytime television, pulling in $47 million a year for just 52 days of filming. That's equal to just over $900,000 per working day.

She fought for the salary she wanted every three years by bringing along an envelope with demands to dinner with John Nogawski, the former president of CBS TV Distribution. Once, he also brought his own envelope, which Sheindlin reportedly refused to open. "Well, John, if I look at your envelope, it's a negotiation," she told him according to The Hollywood Reporter. "This isn't a negotiation."

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times Magazine, Parade

That kind of payday is a long way from her days in family court. In 1993, she was making $113,000 a year.

Source: Dujour

Forbes estimated her net worth to be $440 million in June 2019. She built her wealth primarily as a TV personality.

In 2007, Forbes reported that Sheindlin had signed a four-year contract for $100 million in 2004 and estimated her net worth to be $95 million.

Source: Forbes

She sold the rights to her show's 25-year library to CBS for an estimated $100 million in 2017, meaning she made $147 million that year alone.

Thanks to that windfall, Forbes named Sheindlin the world's highest-paid TV host in 2018.

Source: CNN, Business Insider

Sheindlin's production company, Queen Bee Productions, also co-produces "Hot Bench," a separate successful syndicated legal TV show she created in 2014.

Source: The New York Times Magazine

Her wealth seems to be predominantly tied up in real estate. She and her husband, Jerry Sheindlin, spend most of their time in an $8.6 million mansion in Naples, Florida ...

Source: The New York Times Magazine, Curbed

... but also have multimillion-dollar homes in Greenwich, Connecticut, Beverly Hills, California, and Newport, Rhode Island, according to E! News.

Source: E! News

According to The New York Times Magazine, Sheindlin has also spent her money on a membership at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, where she works out most days ...

Source: The New York Times Magazine

... as well as on the Bentley she drives to the Ritz and on a motorcycle she gifted her husband for his 85th birthday.

Source: The New York Times Magazine

Sheindlin also reportedly hasn't flown commercial since 9/11, opting instead to fly private. She travels every couple of weeks to Los Angeles in her own private jet to film "Judge Judy."

Source: Dujour, Daily Mail

Even though her eponymous show is coming to an end, she also announced a new show called "Judy Justice" is on the horizon.

Details about the upcoming series (including what channel or streaming service it will air on and when it will premiere) have yet to be released, per Forbes.

Source: CNN

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