Judy Sheindlin aka Judge Judy may never have really left our TV screens, thanks to continual reruns of her beloved courtroom program and its spin-off, but now she's taking a true crime spin.
The TV legend, 82, has just released a new version of her courtroom universe in the form of Justice on Trial, all of which is now available to stream.
How much is the beloved TV judge worth? And what's the secret to her (as you'll soon see, eye-watering) wealth? We break it down for you below…
© Getty ImagesJudge Judy's net worth
Per Forbes, Judy is worth a staggering $580 million in 2025. And for a more conservative estimate, per celebritynetworth.com, she's still worth an incredible $440 million.
The majority of Judy's wealth can be attributed to her work on television for nearly three decades, as well as her work as a producer behind-the-scenes, plus a pretty plump real estate portfolio.
Judge Judy's salary
While you wouldn't think at first glance that a courtroom arbitration drama could be worth as much, keep in mind that the syndicated show was not only top of Nielsen's ratings for decades, but it did run from 1996 to 2021 uninterrupted.
Up until 2005, her peak salary was $15 million a year, a sky-high amount on its own, thanks to the show's immense popularity. However, she then sought to renegotiate the terms of her contract, and from 2012-2021, she was earning $47 million a year from the show.
In her negotiations with CBS, though, she also made the prescient move of demanding the rights to her back catalog of episodes, which now total 6280 until the show's conclusion, so as to earn from its reruns.
While the network thought nothing of it at the time, reruns proved to be so popular that by 2018, they ended up buying back the rights from her with a $100 million paycheck.
Her other assets
© Getty ImagesJudy also earns a significant amount of revenue as the producer of the show Hot Bench, a panel-based court show that has been running consistently since 2014. In 2021, she launched her streaming spin-off Judy Justice, which is still popular as well.
Apart from her decades-long work as an actual judge at New York's Family Court, Judy and her husband Jerry Sheindlin also have a sizable property portfolio that goes upwards of $100 million, including two mansions in Naples, Florida, one in Greenwich, Connecticut, one in Newport, Rhode Island, and luxurious apartments in Beverly Hills and Manhattan.
Justice on Trial
Judge Judy's newest venture, Justice on Trial on Prime Video, explores controversial real-life crimes and courtroom escapades through a combination of reenactments and a bit of murder board-making.
© Getty ImagesA logline for the show reads: "Judge Judy Sheindlin is back to put the justice system on trial in a true-crime, high-stakes courtroom drama. The series explores eight landmark cases whose verdicts impact the daily lives of 340 million Americans, as she and her expert legal team re-create the trials from notorious cases where the letter of the law dictates that 'justice' doesn't always feel 'just.'"
All eight episodes of season one were released on the streaming platform on July 21.
