Greta Thunberg’s net worth is $1 million, although some conservative estimates have placed her fortune to be closer to $100k.
Greta Thunberg is a Swedish-born activist who is passionate about sounding the alarm on and inspiring action to mitigate climate change. Her work has made her a renowned figure all over the globe, but Thunberg is neither interested in fame nor fortune. Even when she wins prestigious awards and prize monies for her activism, she donates it to charity.
How Much is Greta Thunberg’s Net Worth?
As earlier pointed out, Greta Thunberg’s net worth is not certain. Some reports have it that she is worth a million dollars, while others say that it is much lesser at $100k. It is also possible that Greta Thunberg is not even worth up to $100,000.
The 21-year-old is still in school, and most of her spare time is dedicated to non-profit activism. She has, therefore, not had much of a chance to acquire assets such as stocks, bonds, cars, and houses that can count towards her net worth.
Is Greta Thunberg’s Net Worth Up To $46 Million?
Greta Thunberg does not have a $46 million. The claim is just the handiwork of mischief makers on the internet. Back in late 2019, one magazine purportedly declared Thunberg the highest-paid activist in the world and claimed that she made $46 million in a one-year period spanning from 2018 to 2019.
These claims were refuted by Thunberg’s foundation. Further investigations also revealed that the magazine cover emanated from a satirical news site which meant that it should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Greta Thunberg Does Not Intend To Profit from Her Activism
Greta Thunberg has made it clear that she does not want to profit financially from her activism or earn any income from it. As such, all the money she makes that is connected to her activism work is donated to her foundation or other organizations all over the world that are doing inspiring work in various areas of interest and not only climate change awareness.
Even the proceeds of the books that she has authored or co-authored on the issue of climate change do not go to her but rather to the foundation which she has established for her activism work.
The Greta Thunberg Foundation was established in 2019 to support projects or groups that are working to promote ecological, climate, and social sustainability. The foundation also works in the area of mental health. It was created primarily as a vehicle through which Thunberg can disburse all the prize monies and donations, and royalty funds that she has received over the years.
Thunberg established her foundation with a $106,062 cheque that she received for winning the Right Livelihood Award in December 2019. The award was given to her for amplifying the demand for urgent climate action based on scientific facts.
Thunberg is also careful not to associate with people that want to profit from her fame. Back in 2018, a climate-focused social media platform known as We Don’t Have Time engaged her as an advisor.
It was an unpaid role, but it later emerged that the company was using Greta’s image to sell shares in their profit-making venture by claiming in their prospectus that they were the ones that first discovered her. She immediately ceased her association with the company.
Thunberg Gives Away All Her Prize Monies
Greta Thunberg has captured the attention of the world with her school strikes as well as other actions to get the world to be serious about climate change. The young Swedish activist has won many awards for her work, and some of these awards come with prize monies. She, however, gives the prize monies away.
Back in 2019, Greta Thunberg won the inaugural Freedom Prize or Prix Liberté from the Normandy Region of France. The prize honors individuals fighting for peace and freedom, and Thunberg received a prize money of €25,000, the equivalent of $27,000.
She later donated the money to four different nonprofit organizations, namely CARE (which is focused on helping women and girls in the global south to cope with the effects of a changing climate), The Adaptation Fund (that helps vulnerable communities in developing countries adapt and build resilience to climate change) as well as 350.org and Greenpeace International (two organizations who both fight for climate justice).
On the 22nd of April 2022, Greta Thunberg received the Human Act Award in recognition of her tireless efforts towards mobilizing the world to take action on climate change. They gave her a prize money of $100,000, which she promptly donated to UNICEF to support their work to help children amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
Very honoured to receive Human Act Award. The prize money – USD 100’000 – will be donated to @unicef . Human Act will match this donation with an additional USD 100,000.
Today we’re launching a funding campaign to support UNICEF in the corona crisis. https://t.co/UuvPxsq9O6 pic.twitter.com/SsztkZIfbC— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) April 30, 2020
In May 2022, Greta Thunberg received €30,000 for winning the Maailmanmuuttaja Award instituted by the Finnish moving services firm, Niemi Services Ltd. She donated the amount to the Finnish Sámi Youth (SSN) organization, an organization dedicated to strengthening the identity of young Sámi people and increasing their awareness of Sámi culture. The Sami people is an indigenous tribe that can be found in the Scandinavian countries as well as parts of Russia.
The biggest prize money that Greta Thunberg has received to date came in July 2020 when she received €1 million, or about $1.15 million, for winning The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. The prize recognizes people or organizations whose contributions to “mitigation and adaptation to climate change stand out for its novelty, innovation and impact.” Thunberg also gave the money away to several non-profits, including Stop Ecocide Foundation and SOS Amazonia.
Greta Thunberg has also turned down some awards and prize monies. In October 2019, the Nordic Council wanted to bestow on her an Environmental Award, which came with prize money of £40,000 or €46,000. She turned it down, stating that the climate movement had enough awards and that leaders should get to work using the best available science.
The Proceeds of Greta Thunberg’s Books Also Go To Charity
Greta Thunberg has also authored and co-authored multiple books over the years. One of the first is 2018’s Scenes From The Heart. It is a joint effort with her parents and sister and offers an insight into their family life. Other works by Greta Thunberg are No One’s Too Small to Make a Difference (2019) and The Climate Book (2022).
The proceeds from these two books on the issue of climate change go to charity through Thunberg’s foundation. She has revealed that she makes no money from them and that the only way she could earn money is perhaps if she was asked to translate the book into a language different from the one in which it was written. In such a situation, she would earn income for her translation work.
Greta Thunberg Does Not Charge a Dime For Public Speaking
Public speaking is a lucrative way for well-known personalities to make good money. The likes of Donald Trump have earned $1.5 million for giving one single speech that did not last more than an hour.
Greta Thunberg can also make good money from public speaking, but she does not accept any fee for the speaking engagements or other public events that she attends. The Swede has spoken at various universities all around the world as well as various international events such as the 2022 edition of Glastonbury Festival.
She has also spoken at other prestigious events, such as the United Nations Climate Conference in Spain in December 2019, United Nations Climate Action Summit in September 2019, the Austrian World Summit in May 2019, The World Economic Forum in January 2019, and the TEDxStockholm 2018.
She Receives Student Grant in Sweden
Greta Thunberg has revealed that her only source of income, i.e., income that she can keep back and utilize for herself, is the student grants that she receives for attending university. These student grants are meant to assist a student pay for food, housing, and study materials and are not repayable.
The exact amount that Greta Thunberg receives as a student grant is not known but based on past reports, the amount runs into hundreds of dollars per month. This is the only income that Greta Thunberg makes and keeps back for herself presently.
Greta Thunberg Parents’ Net Worth
Greta Thunberg’s parents are well-to-do, but it is hard to estimate their exact net worth. The couple were highly respected entertainers in Sweden before their daughter’s activism launched them into global acclaim. They, therefore, earned an above-average living. They now help to manage their daughter’s activities. They continue to also focus on their pursuits which have earned them income over the years.
Greta Thunberg’s Father is an Actor Named Svante Thunberg
Greta Thunberg’s father is a Swedish actor named Svante Thunberg. Svante is the son of two thespians, and so he naturally fell in love with acting while growing up. He studied drama in school and began his career by appearing in several stage productions. TV roles later followed, and he earned enough money from his career to afford a Porsche.
Svante later scaled back his acting career to take care of his kids. These days, he accompanies his daughter to some of her events. He also helped manage his wife’s career back in the day.
Her Mother is Malena Ernman, a Popular Swedish Opera Singer
Greta Thunberg’s mother, Malena Ernman, is most likely richer than her father, but her exact net worth remains unknown. Malena is one of the most famous opera singers that Sweden has produced.
Trained professionally at institutions such as the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and the Music Conservatory in Orleans, France, Malena has sang at renowned venues all over Sweden and in cities such as Brussels, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Berlin. She has also performed at Paris Opera, Vienna Festival, Oper Frankfurt, and Finnish National Opera.
She also won the 2009 edition of the Melodifestivalen Contest in her motherland and earned the right to represent Sweden at that year’s Eurovision, where she placed a respectable 2nd.
Malena has released over a dozen albums and DVDs and received many awards. She had a lucrative career in every sense of the word but was forced to scale it back due to the flying required.
Flying translates into harmful environmental impact, and Malena quit her international career to make her daughter happy. Greta has been questioned on the issue, but she maintains that she did not make her mom give up her career, and her mom choose to do so.
What Car Does Greta Thunberg Drive?
Greta Thunberg does not drive a car. Cars, especially the fossil fuel-powered ones, produce emissions that are harmful to the environment, and as such, the Swede activist is not keen on them. Greta Thunberg rather uses a bicycle to get around to wherever she needs to go, be it going to school or to a neighbor’s house, or to the store, perhaps.
Thunberg’s habit has inspired some other people. In late 2019, she got a chance to meet up with legendary Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and they later embarked on a bike ride in Santa Monica, California. The actor shared pictures of them riding together and stated that he was happy to introduce his daughter to Greta.
In keeping with her commitment to reducing her carbon footprint, Greta Thunberg limits her air travel. She once famously sailed to America on a zero-carbon yacht that used hydro, wind, and solar power. This was back in August 2019, and the journey took about two weeks as against the hours that it would have taken if it was via air. Thunberg did this as a way to protect the environment.
The young activist now travels via air sometimes, but once she lands, she makes use of trains or electric vehicles to get to her destination. Greta Thunberg’s disdain for cars and flying has put her at odds with some personalities.
yes, please do enlighten me. email me at [email protected] https://t.co/V8geeVvEvg
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2022
Back in December 2019, controversial British American social media personality and former kickboxer Andrew Tate aimed a tweet at Thunberg boasting about his car collection as well as the significant amount of carbon emission that each one produces.
He then asked her to furnish her email address so that he could send her his complete list of cars as well as their various emissions. Thunberg quoted the tweet and replied “yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalld–[email protected],”
The only thing that Tate could come back with was, “how dare you”. Many praised Thunberg and dubbed her response one of the greatest tweets of all time. For good measure, the tweet has 3.9 million likes and is one of the most-liked tweets of all time.
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