Summary
- Money was a driving force for most of the main characters in Breaking Bad, influencing their decisions and actions, even when it didn't pay off in the end.
- Walter White's net worth increased significantly throughout Breaking Bad, as he transitioned from making money for his family to building an empire and becoming one of the most respected drug lords.
- The characters in Breaking Bad were willing to take risks and make sacrifices in their pursuit of wealth, with some characters accumulating significant amounts of money while others lost everything.
Breaking Bad is all about absolute power corrupting one man who won't stop dealing drugs despite making tens of millions of dollars, but what was the real Breaking Bad characters' net worth? Walter "Walt" White, a.k.a. Heisenberg, once told Jesse when he saw him getting excited over a"'mere" $5 million, "I'm not in the meth business, I am in the empire business." What started out as a race against time to make enough money for his family in case he succumbed to cancer ended up becoming an obsession for Walt. When Walt in season 1 thought a wad of cash was jaw-dropping, a storage unit with a mountain of hundred-dollar bills in season 5 wasn't enough.
However, Walter no longer just wanted money, his ego got the best of him and he wanted to be known as one of the most respected drug lords of all time. Nevertheless, the flow of money was still a bonus. Money drove most of the decisions made by not only Walt, but most of the main characters in the AMC series, including Mike Ehrmantraut, Saul Goodman, and even Skyler got a taste for it midway through season 5. For some characters, it paid off. For others, it didn't, but the characters never stopped trying no matter how hard they fell.
15 Hank Schrader
According to the Bureau Of Labor Statistics (BLS), law enforcement officers working for federal government agencies earn a median salary of around $65,000 per year. Since Hank was not just a normal DEA field agent but a special agent in charge of other officers, he ought to have been making at least $100,000 annually. This income was mostly enough for Hank and his family to live comfortably but there were problems. Mainly, after the Breaking Bad shooting incident with The Cousins, he was unable to fully pay for his hospital bills, hence Slyker had to force Walt to pay for his brother-in-law.
14 Skyler White
Skyler was very hardworking, and Ted Beneke mentioned that his company had suffered without her. It can be presumed that she was a 90th-percentile bookkeeper while working for Beneke Fabricators. According to Payscale, 90th-percentile bookkeepers in the US earn around $111,000 annually. While this is a decent sum, Skyler didn't keep the job for long. At the start of the series, she quit her job and was only surviving by selling items on eBay. Skyler later worked at the Breaking Bad A1A Car Wash, and by the end of the series, Skyler had lost her assets and was moved into a small apartment with her children while working as a taxi dispatcher.
13 Jesse Pinkman
If it wasn't for the former chemistry teacher, Jesse would still be a small-time dealer. By the end of Breaking Bad season 1, he had earned $117,000, more than he had made in his criminal career so far. In Season 4, he had his biggest payout when he got $5 million from the sale of his methylamine stash. However, Saul Goodman took his cut for all the services he provided. Jesse also bought his parents' house for $400,000, though this was still part of his net worth. In Season 5, Jesse decided to be Santa Claus by throwing away bundles of cash in the streets. In El Camino, he didn't have $250,000 when he needed it to pay Ed Galbraith a.k.a. The Disappearer.
12 Nacho Varga
While Nacho rubbed shoulders with several gangsters higher-up who were making thousands of dollars per day, Nacho was on a fairly low rung of the cartel ladder in Better Call Saul. It's obvious based on his fancy clothing and watches that Nacho certainly made a decent paycheck, but he didn't have much else to show for it. However, Nacho did have sizable sums of petty cash lying around, as he even offered Daniel $20,000 just for empty capsules that looked like Hector Salamanca's medicine. Nacho also infrequently worked at his father's garage, but that seemed like more of a favor to his father than a way to make money.
11 Kim Wexler
It's hard to tell exactly how much Kim Wexler's net worth is, as she had a great job, but she also seemed speechless when Jimmy presented $100,000 in front of her. Nevertheless, Kim had a job at one of the most prestigious law firms in Albuquerque, and she then went on to work directly for Mesa Verde. Given that Kim was billing Mesa Verde an hourly rate of $250, and that she was likely working 60-hour weeks, she could have been earning up to $15,000 per week, making an annual salary of over $700,000. However, just like with Jimmy, Kim likely had very little of that money left by the end of Better Call Saul.
10 Mike Ehrmantraut
As Gus Fring's most trusted henchman, it would make sense for Mike to be close to the top of his payroll list. Performing dangerous tasks for a wealthy drug kingpin would mean he got paid at least $100,000 per month. It's important to remember that Mike also made $5 million in Breaking Bad from the sale of his portion of methylamine after the death of his boss. To add to that, he also did private investigative work for Saul, though his earnings for this specific gig were never disclosed. On the lower side, Mike made about $7 million during his time on Breaking Bad alone, and any of the money that the DEA didn't retrieve went to his granddaughter.
9 Saul Goodman
One of the first questions Saul asked Walt was, "Have you seen my hourly rate?" This implied that he charged his clients a lot. He requested $4650 just to take on the Badger case. Saul's office was full at all times, meaning that he was likely the most in-demand lawyer in Albuquerque. Before he met Walt and Jesse, Saul had dealt with many other drug lords. In Better Call Saul, Saul charged Lalo $100,000 just to pick up a stack of cash. Saul's net worth could easily sum up to tens of millions, especially given his mansion seen in season 6 of the spinoff. However, he ultimately ended up with nothing after being slapped with an 86-year prison sentence in Better Call Saul.
8 Uncle Jack
Uncle Jack started out as the leader of a white supremacist gang. His earnings mostly came from conducting hits. Since he had built a big enough reputation for people like Walt to hire him, it could be assumed that he pulled off many successful hits per year. Jack even conducted the prison assassinations that had to all happen within 60 seconds, for which Walter undoubtedly paid thousands. In Breaking Bad season 5, he made about $70 million, thanks to forcefully taking Walt's seven barrels of cash. Jack was clearly living comfortably given his enormous compound, but not even $70 million was enough given that he had Jesse continue making meth.
7 Walter White
Walter continuously made and lost millions of dollars, with his biggest payday being when he was an employee of Gustavo Fring's, making $2 million for three months of work. However, simply being an employee wasn't enough for Heisenberg. In Breaking Bad season 5, White builds an empire and makes $80 million for himself. While most of that money was stolen by Jack, Jack was still thoughtful enough to leave Walt $10 million. Even at his lowest, Walt still had plenty of money. In the period when he was in hiding, Walt spent some money on supplies, but when he returned to Albuquerque he left $9 million in the hands of Gretchen to give to his family.
6 Tuco Salamanca
Tuco was in charge of the Juarez Cartel's operations in Albuquerque, a position that qualifies him as a top earner. According to a 2018 report by Reuters, a top-tier Mexican cartel rakes in about $20 billion a year in gross revenue. Assuming operational costs are about $5 billion, the profit comes to $15 billion. In Breaking Bad, the Juarez Cartel was one of the major organizations in Mexico. Since Tuco was heading a whole region that was crucial to the cartel's income, his cut shouldn't have been anywhere less than $500 million a year. And even though he died in Season 2, he had been in the game for a handful of years, hence he must have accumulated plenty of cash.
5 Howard Hamlin
Howard Hamlin is a named partner of one of the biggest law firms in Albuquerque, and his sharp suits and country club memberships don't come at a low cost. It's easy to figure out how much Howard's net worth is almost down to the dollar. Howard revealed that he was paying off Chuck with his own money, and the total amount he had to pay Chuck was $8 million. When Howard made the first of three payments, which was for $3 million, the lawyer commented that he was broke because of the payments. However, Howard still had his equity share in the law firm, which was likely worth millions.
4 Lydia Rodarte-Quayle
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle was the Head of Logistics at Madrigal Electromotive GmbH. Holding such a high position at a global firm worth billions of dollars would translate to a lucrative income as well. Lydia revealed that the company had 114,000 employees, and had invested in over 100 businesses. Alongside Peter Schuler, Lydia was one of Gus Fring's major partners in his meth operation. So, apart from her lucrative salary, she got a huge cut annually from drug sales. Unlike most other Breaking Bad characters, who repeatedly make money only to lose it all, Lydia seemed extremely successful and professional, and she had likely banked millions of dollars before she was introduced in season 5.
3 Lalo Salamanca
Lalo is the most mysterious Better Call Saul character, and as a result, it's impossible to say how much the character is worth. However, there are indicators that point to him having a seamlessly endless well of cash. Lalo oversees the cartel's illegal activity in Mexico, and his compound is even bigger and more lavish than even Don Eladios. Lalo can also get millions of dollars in cash on extremely short notice, such as when he requested $7 million like it was pocket money. While the money Lalo uses might be his family's, he certainly has access to a lot of it.
2 Don Eladio
It isn't obvious what exactly it is that Don Eladio does, but he's essentially like the CEO of any organization. As he built the empire, he gets a huge cut of anything any member of the cartel is involved in. Eladio has a huge mansion, and a massive number of servants, and lives an unimaginably decadent life. Not only does he have an unthinkable amount of wealth given that he's at the very top of the food chain, but he has so much respect that he is even given gifts from anyone who meets with him, including sports cars. Heisenberg's $80 million could be a drop in the ocean compared to Eladio's net worth.
1 Gus Fring
Walt and Jesse cooked meth worth $96 million for Gus Fring in just three months. Walt's product had 99% purity, which meant it had more value. Assuming his previous product (which was less pure) netted him about $70 million every three months, he'd still be making $280 million a year even before working with Walt, though a large portion of his earnings would have gone back into the business to build the laboratory. Note that meth wasn't Fring's only source of income. Though he mostly used Los Pollos Hermanos to launder money, Gus still made some money from the restaurant chain. This easily makes Gus the wealthiest character in Breaking Bad.