After officially hanging up her robes in 1996, she leveraged her image as a no-nonsense judge to create a successful TV career, raking in millions – of viewers and dollars – since she went on air.

So just how much is she worth – and how does she splurge her fortune? Let’s take a closer look.

How much does Judge Judy make from her shows?

Judge Judy became famous for her straight-talking, no-holds-barred approach to legal disputes in her TV series of the same name. She earned a whopping US$47 million per year from the show between 2012 and 2020, per Forbes.

Although her long-running series ended in 2021, after 25 years on TV screens, the show returned on Amazon Freevee under a new name, Judy Justice. It features a similar format as before: a mock courtroom TV drama solving minor claims disputes. Her estimated net worth as of June 2023 is US$480 million, according to Forbes.

A savvy businesswoman, Sheindlin negotiated the rights to own all of her old Judge Judy episodes and initially shopped them around for US$200 million, per The Hollywood Reporter. While on the show, she also created a schedule that allowed her to work just 52 days a year, with filming scheduled for two days every second week.

Sheindlin has also spoken openly about advocating for herself and ensuring she is in control of her finances. “You have to make yourself indispensable – and that is irrespective of what you do. Once you’ve done that and have leverage, make a reasonable demand and know what the commodity is worth,” she said, per People.

How does Judge Judy spend her millions?

She flits between her properties on a private jet, and used to take to the waters on a 152-foot yacht called the Triumphant Lady before she sold it for US$6.9 million, per People.

According to Hello!, Sheindlin’s primary residence is her Newport, Rhode Island home, which she bought for US$6.9 million in 2018. The sprawling property has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, and sits on over one hectare (three and a half acres) of land.

Who did Judge Judy marry … and does she have any kids?

Sheindlin married prosecutor Ronald Levy in 1964, and the couple went on to have two children: daughter Jamie, and son Adam. After 12 years together, the pair divorced in 1976. She met her current husband, Jerry Sheindlin, that same year. Jerry has three children from a previous marriage – Gregory, Jonathan and Nicole – who are now Judy’s stepchildren.

Per the New York Post, Jerry and Judy met at a bar, with Jerry recalling, “Judy came walking in and put her finger in my face and said, ‘And who is this?’ I said, ‘Lady, get your finger out of my face.’ We’ve been together ever since.” Jerry and Judy share many similarities, including parallel careers. He has worked as a lawyer and an arbitrator, becoming the presiding judge on The People’s Court in 1999.

In 1991, as Judy was mourning the loss of her father, the pair divorced – only to remarry a year later. Per Hello!, Judy said she did not feel supported after the death of her father, and pleaded with Jerry to “look after” her. In a showdown of tempers, Judy threatened a divorce, which Jerry dared her to go through with. She sent the papers the next day. But Judy quickly realised she missed him and realised that the now 90-year-old would likely never change. “I just had to come to terms with the fact that men of that generation are different. They expect – even if they have no right – they expect to be taken care of or catered to,” she said.