Ken Follett is well known as one of the most experienced and well-loved authors in the world.
But the story behind his success all started with a broken-down car. So, how did Follett become an author and what is his net worth now?
Who is Ken Follett?
Ken Follett was born on June 5 1949 in Cardiff Wales.
Growing up in a strict religious household that followed the teachings of the Plymouth Brethren church, Follett was barred from watching films or TV when growing up. It led to him instead looking for entertainment in books.
Follett went on to study philosophy at University College London in 1967, before beginning a career in journalism. In 1970 he started working as a trainee reporter on the South Wales Echo in Cardiff.
The Welshman spent three years working at the paper before he returned to London as a general-assignment reporter for the Evening News. It wasn’t long until he decided he was bored with journalism and chose to switch his career to focus on his love of books.
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He joined a small London publisher called Everest Books working as the deputy managing director and started to write fiction in his spare time.
Follett admits that his early work was “pulpy hack books done for money”, using the funds to help repair his car.
“The spur was a financial crisis. My car broke down, and I couldn’t afford to get it fixed,” he explained in an interview in 2010.
“Another journalist at the newspaper had written a thriller and the advance he got from the publisher was £200, which was pretty much exactly the amount of money I needed to get my car fixed.
“I did not figure that out until life began to show me I was a so-so newspaper reporter, and as a novelist I might have something special.”
His first success came in 1979 when Follett published Eye of the Needle. The World War II thriller about a German spy strand on an island won the author multiple awards and was later made into a film.
The book sold over 10 million copies worldwide and brought Follett instant fame and money.
Eye of the Needle was the start of a long career as a writer, with 34 books published in total. His work has sold more than 160 million copies around the world.
In 1997, Follett held the record for the highest-ever price paid by a TV station for the rights to a book. CBS bought the rights for The Third Twin for $US1,400,000. The record has since been surpassed.
Ken Follett books in order
The Big Black (1974)
The Big Needle (1975)
Shakeout (1975)
The Big Hit (1975)
Amok (1976)
The Modigliani Scandal (1976)
The Mystery Hideout (1976)
The Power Twins (1976)
Paper Money (1977)
Capricorn One (1978)
Eye of the Needle (1978)
Triple (1979)
The Key to Rebecca (1980)
The Man from St. Petersburg (1982)
The Bear Raid (1982)
Lie Down with Lions (1986)
The Pillars of the Earth (1989)
Night Over Water (1991)
A Dangerous Fortune (1993)
A Place Called Freedom (1995)
The Third Twin (1996)
The Hammer of Eden (1998)
Code to Zero (2000)
Jackdaws (2001)
Hornet Flight (2002)
Whiteout (2004)
World Without End (2007)
Fall of Giants (2010)
Winter of the World (2012)
Edge of Eternity (2014)
A Column of Fire (2017)
The Evening and the Morning (2020)
Never (2021)
The Armor of Light (2023)
What is Ken Follett’s net worth?
Ken Follet is estimated to have a net worth of $86 million.
It makes him one of the top 15 most wealthy authors in the world. Those with a similar net worth include Stephenie Meyer ($75 million) and George R. R. Martin ($60.5 million).
His wealth comes not only from sales of his books but also from the royalties accrued from adaptations of his novels.