Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III was born on 2 March 1917, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. He was a musican, actor, director, writer and producer best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo in the hit television sitcom “I Love Lucy”. He was also well known for being the leader of the Latin music band Desi Arnaz Orchestra. The various efforts he was engaged in during his life solidified his net worth before his passing on 2 December 1986.
How rich was Desi Arnaz? As of early-2016, sources estimate that his net worth was at $20 million, mostly earned through a successful career in both television and music. He was born into a rich family but had to move to the United States because of political turmoil. He wrote an autobiography and also owned a production company that helped increase his wealth.
Desi Arnaz Net Worth $20 Million
After their family fled to Miami, Desi attended St. Patrick Catholic High School and Saint Leo Prep, steadily working on his English. After school, he then looked to show business to support himself and found his first opportunity in the Broadway musical “Too Many Girls”. His appearance here earned him the opportunity into the show’s movie version and there he met his eventual wife Lucille Ball. Later on he would appear in movies like “Bataan”, and was drafted for the war, but was classified for limited service only. In 1951, Arnaz co-starred with his wife in the television show “I Love Lucy”, in which he played a fictitious version of himself. Producers initially thought that the married couple portrayal would earn resistance from American viewers, but the show eventually overcame all of that. Later on, they toured around the country, and soon after Desi would also pursue business.
Together with Ball, Desi founded Desilu Productions and focused on broadcasting live television programs. Eventually, they were given the idea of a multiple-camera setup production style in front of a live audience that would later become the standard of all sitcoms. Arnaz had become the executive producer of “I Love Lucy” with his wife, and they also started to work on other television programs. In the late 1950s, he helped produce the series “The Texan” that would run for two seasons. After Arnaz and Ball’s divorce, Desilu still continued productions, and worked on “The Andy Griffith Show”, “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek”. Eventually Arnaz would separate from Desilu to create Desi Arnaz Productions, and the original company would become Paramount Television.
Later in life, Arnaz would make only a few appearances, mainly in shows and television specials. He would also write his autobiography entitled “The Book”. His net worth was still maintained.
For his personal life, Arnaz and Lucille Ball’s marriage from 1940 was well known and documented but it was also turbulent. They had two children, and eventually under the strain of their jobs they decided to divorce in 1960. Arnaz married again, to Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963, and would then reduce his show business work. Despite this, Arnaz and Ball still remained good friends and they were even seen together before his death. Desi was a smoker and smoked cigars until his 60s. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and died several months later due from the desease.
