Olsen twins command billion-dollar empire
FIVE years ago, Mary-Kate and Ashley olsen were ending their run on the hit sitcom Full House, but today, the 14-year-old twins are Hollywood's hottest mini-moguls, with business ventures worth up to $100 million. Estimates place the tyke-coons' combined personal fortune at anywhere from $17 million to over $24 million.
"They have earned more than Macaulay Culkin and Shirley Temple combined, and they have saved more," says the girls' manager and lawyer, Robert Thorne, about the moppets who broke into show business in 1987 at 9 months old, sharing the part of precocious Michelle on Full House.
"We are a billion-dollar franchise that really comes down to some normal little girls."
While "billion" may be an exaggeration, the girls can bank on their successes:
♦ In 1990, Parachute Books sold 70,000 copies of a book based upon the character Michelle at $4 a piece. The publisher has since churned out 100 titles on Olsen themes and scheduled two new titles a month through 2001. Total sales have been estimated at $30 million.
♦ The girls' first music CD, Brother For Sale, sold over 300,000 copies.
♦ The modest box-office success of their feature film It Takes Two was affset with video sales of 3.5 million, grossing $80 million.
♦ Our First Video sold over 400,000, inspiring about 30 more videos, including Our Lips Are Sealed and Passport To Paris. Total sales have been estimated at over $400 million.
♦ Barbie-like Mattel dolls that go for $30 a pair.
♦ Game cartridges for Nintendo and Gameboy.
♦ They walked away winners from the quickly canceled sitcom Two Of A Kind because their contract guaranteed them $1 millioin win or lose. And they have a new sitcom primed to hit the small screen.
♦ A string of successful made-for-TV movies.
♦ The megahit Web site, mary-kateandashley.com.
♦ Their own magazine called Mary-Kate And Ashley.
♦ A line of clothes under their brand name has hit Wal-Mart.
A half dozen years before Full House was canceled in 1995, the lawyer helped the twins form Dualstar Entertainment Group, a production company targeting girls under 12. Mary-Kate and Ashley were named executive producers at 6 years old!
Now, the pair have pulled a Martha Stewart and become a brand name in themselves. Focusing on the direct-to-video market, CD's, books and fashions, the twins are the most recognized celebrities among American boys and girls between ages 6 and 11.
"They feel like they're close to us because they've seen us growing up," says Mary-Kate of their fans, which are continually re-generated by Full House reruns.
These days, movers-and-shakers ask them for advice on products for the so-called tween market aimed at 8-13-year-olds.
"We're old enough now to understand everything and know what should be going on," says Ashley.
Examiner, January 23, 2001
