From Hollywood Star to Billionaire Power Player: Inside Jami Gertz's Reinvention

If you grew up on 80s movies, you know Jami Gertz. These days she shows up on screen less by choice: she prioritized family and built a serious business life on the side. The result? A low-key empire, a reported billionaire status, and an NBA team in the mix. Here is how the career pivots, the highlights, and the checks all fit together.

Where you know her from

• First film job: On the Right Track (1981)
• 80s films: Sixteen Candles (as Robin), Crossroads, Quicksilver (as Terri), Less Than Zero (with Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey Jr.)
• Her most famous big-screen role: Dr. Melissa Reeves in Twister
• TV run: Square Pegs, Dreams, The Facts of Life, Sibs, ER, Ally McBeal, Still Standing, Entourage, The Neighbors

She even scored an Emmy nomination for Ally McBeal, which feels like one of those credits you remember only when someone brings it up.

The family-first pivot

While her career was humming, she married businessman Tony Ressler in 1989. They have three kids. As the family grew, she intentionally stepped back from Hollywood. Back in 2001, she told People that her focus had shifted to being a wife and mom, and whenever a script came in, her first question was where the production would shoot. Translation: work had to fit around family, not the other way around.

Still acting, just selectively

Gertz has taken multiple breaks over the years, but she never quit entirely. Her most recent screen credit was the 2022 rom-com I Want You Back.

The money part: deals, teams, and a very specific draft-lottery gig

While keeping one foot in acting, Gertz quietly built out the other side of her career:

She and Ressler are part of the investor group that purchased MLB's Milwaukee Brewers. The couple also own the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, and Gertz became a familiar face at the NBA draft lottery, repping the Hawks in 2018, 2019, and 2020. That is a surprisingly specific tradition to keep for three years, but here we are. She also runs her own investment outfit, Laurel Grove Capital.

"Everyone thinks I married a rich guy," Gertz said in 2018. "But I made more money - way more money - than Tony when I met him. I paid for our first house. I paid for our first vacation. I married him because I fell in love with him."

Where the giving goes

Gertz and Ressler have been listed among the top donors by the Giving Back Fund. They helped cofound the Painted Turtle Camp, which gives kids with chronic illnesses a real-deal, year-round camp experience. She has also served on the board of the Melanoma Research Alliance.

So, is she a billionaire?

Gertz is regularly cited as one of the richest women in Hollywood. Together, she and Ressler are reported to have a combined net worth north of $10 billion. Short version: she stepped out of the spotlight and built something massive, quietly.