Highlights
- Danny Trejo's net worth has fluctuated from multi-millionaire to $500,000 due to lawsuits and tax issues over the years.
- Despite having over 430 acting credits, Danny's film roles have shifted from leading man to supporting roles in independent films.
- With successful restaurant ventures likely becoming his primary income, Danny's legacy in Hollywood remains uncertain amidst financial challenges.
Danny Trejo's life reads like a script from Hollywood. As a young kid, he got into trouble with the police, which led him to be in and out of maximum security prisons through his teens and twenties. All of Danny's issues with the law stemmed back to his drug use, leading Danny to complete a 12-step program in prison. Danny exited prison, became an in-demand actor in his early thirties, and made good money. But lawsuits would plague the actor and because of this, Danny Trejo's net worth is a mystery after his tax scandal and diminished movie career over the years.
At one point, Danny was a multi-millionaire thanks to the hundreds of acting credits he had to his name. Danny even became an entrepreneur opening restaurants that further added to his net worth. But as celebrities like Dean McDermott and his diminished net worth thanks to being slammed with lawsuits can attest to, the money can disappear in a blink of an eye. Unfortunately, these days, this is something Danny knows all too well.
We will explore what Danny's net worth likely is today. Then Danny's money owed to the IRS will be discussed, finally followed by why Danny's film roles have gone from that of leading man to supporting roles.
Why Danny Trejo's Net Worth Is A Mystery
As of 2023, Danny had a net worth that was estimated to be between $10 million and $17 million, based on multiple estimations. Today, that estimation is much lower, with a net worth of $500,000. Given the huge disparity in Danny's fortune, it is worth looking at the modes with which Danny earned his money, which may be able to cast some light on what Danny's real net worth is.
Danny Trejo's Acting Career
Danny has over 430 acting credits to his name. It is because of these roles and the 24 more that are in different stages of development that Danny built a huge net worth that as a kid he could never have been able to dream of achieving.
This fortune began in 1983, when Danny landed a role as an extra in the film, Runaway Train. Danny did not know it at the time, but this was the beginning of what would become a lucrative movie career.
Danny earned $120 per day by the time he landed the role, Penitentiary III, according to Market Realist, and by 1989 Danny was bringing in $700 per month just with extra jobs.
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While it has not been disclosed what Danny made on any of his larger projects, the fact that he has as many acting credits to his name proves what a bankable star Danny is. As such, the bulk of Danny's fortune comes from his acting career.
Danny Trejo's Tattoo Type-Casting
Danny could have very easily been typecast as a result of his chest tattoo and other tattoos that he received while he was in prison. The truth about Danny's tattoo on his chest of a Mexican woman was done in prison by a tattoo artist who would eventually follow Danny to three prisons to finish his work. The tattoo may not be as detailed as the others on Danny's body, but the tattoo serves to ground Danny by reminding him where he came from.
While the tattoos did help to land him the tough guy and inmate roles in the past, eventually, the tattoos became an extension of Danny. They contributed to his being cast in larger and larger roles until he was able to star in his own projects. As such, the tattoos did not hinder but helped his career.
Danny Trejo's Restaurants
In 2016, Danny opened Trejo's Tacos in Los Angeles. The flagship location became such a success that other locations in Santa Monica and Hollywood followed a year later. But Danny was not done as he opened Trejo's Coffee & Donuts and even has a Farmers Market that the Trejo's organization puts on. In total, Danny owns eight restaurants, with the most recent one being opened up in London.
In the years after opening up the restaurants, according to Forbes, Danny and his investors, Jeff Georgino and Ash Shah, were looking at ways to bring in more investors. According to Jeff, this was because they wanted to grow their business to be a $100 million enterprise.
"We’ll also look to bring on investors because for the next stage of growth it will take a much larger chunk of money and we want to build a $100 million-plus business."
With the restaurants, the goal is to have them generating $10-plus million per year. This will allow the continued expansion throughout the US and more cities overseas as well.
Whether Danny's legacy will follow the direction of others like Journey's legacy who took a hit when they were plagued with lawsuits, remains to be seen. This is because even with all of this information, positive and negative, it is hard to determine just what Danny's net worth is.
Danny Trejo Owed Millions To The IRS
Danny spent years deducting items from his taxes that should not have been deducted. As a result of doing this, the IRS caught up with Danny and continued to shrink his net worth by finding Danny owed millions. The agency found that Danny owed $2.4 million to the IRS and another $650,000 to the California Franchise Tax Board.
The incorrect payments to the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board date back to 2014 and 2016, respectively.
Due to how much Danny owed, he filed for bankruptcy in 2023. This would either mean that the bulk of Danny's fortune was tied up in investments or that he truly had far less money than was estimated over the years.
Danny was able to work out an agreement with the IRS to pay back the agency $200,000 four times per year until 2028. This was something that was feasible to do before the SAG/AFTRA strike in which Danny claimed severely hindered his ability to make money, making it hard to make his $800,000 per year.
A judge agreed in November 2023 that Danny could sell off his houses to make the payments. This allowed for some grace period for Danny to pay, being given the time to get the houses on the market to sell.
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The houses that Danny owns, according to Celebrity Net Worth include:
Pico Rivera Home | Purchase Date: 1999 | Purchase Price: $130,000 | Sale Date: Still owns | Sale Price: N/A |
Mission Hills Home | Purchase Date: 2012 | Purchase Price: $550,000 | Sale Date: Still owns | Sale Price: N/A |
Pacoima Home | Purchase Date: Inherited | Purchase Price: N/A | Sale Date: Still owns | Sale Price: N/A |
The Mission Hills home has an estimated value of $1.2 million today and the IRS would like Danny to sell this home to give them a large amount of the money they are owed in one chunk. The Pacoima home was inherited by Danny when his step-mother passed away. That home is estimated to be worth $750,000. Whether Danny will have to sell off these properties to make his payments remains to be seen.
Danny Trejo's TV And Film Credits Are Massive But The Roles Have Diminished
With Danny having more acting credits than most actors in Hollywood, it would make sense if his net worth was astronomical. However, while Danny has 437 acting credits with 24 more in productions in various stages of production, his roles in the last several years have been guest-starring or supporting. But this was done purposefully because Danny enjoys doing independent films, finding that big-budget films have a lot of downtime. This downtime reminds Danny of his time in prison, having to sit in campers a majority of the day.
The most memorable roles that Danny has played over the years, according to IMDb include:
Machete Kills (Movie) | 2013 | Machete (lead) |
Bad Ass (Movie) | 2012 | Frank (lead) |
Machete (Movie) | 2010 | Machete (lead) |
xXx (Movie) | 2002 | El Jefe (supporting) |
Spy Kids (Movie) | 2001 | Machete (supporting) |
Con-Air (Movie) | 1997 | Johnny-23 (supporting) |
From Dusk Till Dawn (Movie) | 1996 | Razor Charlie (supporting) |
Heat (Movie) | 1995 | Trejo (supporting) |
Desperado (Movie) | 1995 | Navajas (supporting) |
In the years since 2013, Danny has been taking more supporting and guest-starring roles. This means that his payday for the films is less than a leading role. But, Danny continues to take over 20 roles per year. As such, his quantity has not changed but the size of roles certainly has.
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The smaller roles allow Danny to be in the indie films that he so enjoys but it also allows him to split his time between the restaurants and Hollywood. This means that at nearly 80 years old, Danny is not slowing down. But it could mean that this income from the film industry may become his secondary income with the restaurants being the primary source.
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