Who says hard work doesn’t pay off?

For the past year or two, it seems like every other article covers some endeavor of Dwayne Johnson or another. More than any other actor, this guy seems adamant about elbowing his way into just about any and every franchise under the sun. 

Fast & Furious, San Andreas, Shazam!, Jumanji, Journey, Baywatch, Doc Savage, Rampage –and those are but a few franchises he’s a part of, or will be a part of very soon. It’s like the only movie that guy isn’t in is Jem and the Holograms (no, wait, he was in that, too). If you follow him on Instagram, it’s very evident that he’s a hard-working dude, and 2016 seems to be a year that heavily reflects that fact.

According to Forbes, Johnson has secured a $64.5 million payday, which not only doubles his earnings from 2015, but it locks him down as the highest paid actor in 2016. In taking that title, Johnson ha beaten out such hotshots as Robert Downey Jr., Jackie Chan, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, and Johnny Depp.

Given how much we’ve been hearing about all the properties Johnson is a part of, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up at the top of this list a few years in a row. After all, in 2017 and 2018, we’ll be seeing a lot of the films he’s been working on lately, and once they hit theaters, it’ll only skyrocket his pay that much more.

As is typical with Johnson, he took to Instragram to thank his fans for all their support:

“I just wanna say guys, thank you so much for all the messages, and thank you so much for all the love. As many of you guys know, today Forbes magazine made it official that I’m the highest paid actor on the planet…and that’s a cool thing, and I’m so grateful. And look, there’s a lot of high fives going at my team at Seven Bucks Productions, ’cause they know there’s no greatness achieved alone. We did it together as a team. 

“But I did wanna take a moment just say guys thank you so much. I appreciate you. I’m grateful for you, and I love the relationship that we have, because I always tell people the reason my relationship with my fans is so strong is because, look, you can strip all this away from me — I wouldn’t like it (laughs) because I’ve worked hard for it — but if you stripped it all away, I ain’t gonna be hard to find. I’m gonna be in some run-down gym at four o’clock in the morning just trying to improve my life, like a lot of you guys out there. So let’s keep putting in the work, trying to get better. If you’re up at 3:30, I’m up at 3:29 — f**k that (laughs)! That’s too early! Guys, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Let’s keep workin’.”

Congratulations to Dwayne Johnson, it’s a title well-earned. 

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SOURCE: Forbes