The King Richard star Will Smith has had a rollercoaster of a career before he reached the pinnacle of it in the last couple of years. However, there was a time when the star was too stressed about having secured his historic achievements. His extensive rap career bought him a huge fortune, although it was once short-lived for a scandal Will Smith did not realize coming. 

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Smith’s net rate of $10 million came from his work in the music itself. Following the same, the Star also won a Grammy for his remarkable contribution to the music industry. However, his life went south as he refused to pay income taxes or the USA Government, as reported by Insider. 

Adding to it were some abhorrent lifestyles like trading drugs for money that cost the juvenile star. Speaking of the same in his biography, named Will Smith, the star revealed how they ended up accessing a $2.8 million tax debt against him. As things spiraled up quite ugly, Will Smith found himself to be completely broke and bankrupt. As a result, the IRS got hold of 70% of his paycheck from his projects and collaborations.

How did Will Smith climb back up?

However, that is where his profession as a star helped him. In the late 80s, broke and in debt, Will Smith signed his first project for his life-changing sitcom. It is his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that saved him from getting further trapped in the quagmire of bankruptcy. The show reached immense success, generating more than enough for Smith to clear off his debts. 

Not only the Fresh Prince but his next consecutive big hits like the Bad Boys Franchise, Men In Black, and Enemy of the State took Smith from being a mere rapper-turned-actor to a legit giant in Hollywood. The above-listed movies by the star roughly came up with a whopping total revenue of $838 million.

From then on, there was no going back. Having cleared the tag of being broke and bankrupt, Smith climbed heights of success up until having named 4 Grammys, 1 BAFTA, and 1 Oscar award under his name. 

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