Justin Lin Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What is Justin Lin’s Net Worth?

Justin Lin is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker who has a net worth of $50 million. Justin Lin is best known for directing such films as “Better Luck Tomorrow,” “Star Trek Beyond,” and five of the films in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, starting with “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” He has also directed some episodes of television series, including “Community,” “True Detective,” and “S.W.A.T.”

Early Life and Education

Justin Lin was born on October 11, 1971 in Taipei, Taiwan. When he was eight years old, he moved with his family to the United States, settling in Buena Park, California. Lin attended nearby Cypress High School as a teenager. After graduating, he attended the University of California, San Diego for two years before transferring to UCLA. There, Lin earned both his BA and MFA degrees from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Film Career

While still a student at UCLA, Lin made his first feature film, “Shopping for Fangs,” with fellow student Quentin Lee. Starring actor John Cho in his own feature debut, the film was released in 1997. Lin went on to make his solo directorial debut with the crime drama “Better Luck Tomorrow,” which came out in 2002. He also co-wrote and edited the film. Focused on a group of disillusioned, overachieving Asian-American teens who become involved in a life of crime and excess, “Better Luck Tomorrow” was a solid critical and commercial success and eventually gained a cult following in the Asian-American community. Lin had a much bigger budget for his next film, the Hollywood naval drama “Annapolis,” which starred James Franco and Tyrese Gibson and was released in early 2006. However, the film proved to be a critical and commercial failure. Lin had better box-office success later in the year with the action film “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” The third installment in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, it grossed over $150 million worldwide on an $85 million budget.

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After writing and directing the 2007 mockumentary film “Finishing the Game,” Lin returned to the “Fast & Furious” franchise and went on to direct the next three films in the series: “Fast & Furious” (2009), “Fast Five” (2011), and “Fast & Furious 6” (2013). All were box-office hits, with the most successful being “Fast & Furious 6,” which took in over $788 million worldwide. Lin next co-wrote and co-produced the action comedy “Hollywood Adventures,” which was directed by Timothy Kendall and released in 2015. After that, he directed “Star Trek Beyond,” released in 2016 as the third film in the rebooted “Star Trek” film series. Lin subsequently returned to the “Fast & Furious” franchise to co-write and direct its ninth installment, “F9.” Delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it came out in 2021 to major box-office success. Although Lin was replaced by Louis Leterrier as director of the tenth installment, “Fast X” (2023), he did co-write the film’s screenplay. Lin would return to the director’s chair with the biopic “Last Days,” about slain American evangelical Christian missionary John Allen Chau. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Television Career

Lin began directing for television in 2009, starting with an episode of the NBC sitcom “Community.” He directed two more episodes of the show’s first season, going through 2010. Later, in 2014, Lin directed the pilot episode of the CBS series “Scorpion.” The following year, he directed the first two episodes of the second season of HBO’s “True Detective.” Lin went on to direct the pilot episode of “S.W.A.T.” in 2017 and the pilot of the rebooted “Magnum P.I.” in 2018, both for CBS. In early 2022, he directed the pilot of the short-lived NBC heist drama series “The Endgame.”

Personal Life

Lin is married to Chen Yun-ing. He has a son named Okwe who has had cameos in many of his films.

In 2017, Lin spoke at the graduation ceremony for the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he was given a Distinguished Alumni Award.