From captivating video games to thrilling animated series, has attracted fans from all over the world since its inception.
However, Satoshi Tajiri – the creator of is not wealthy in terms of personal assets.
Although Pokémon has achieved tremendous success, other mangaka such as Eiichiro Oda and Akira Toriyama are much richer than Tajiri. Even other similar Shonen series bring significantly higher net worth. This extreme contrast certainly raises questions about the economics of intellectual property in the entertainment industry.
If One Piece is worth millions, then Pokémon is worth billions
The Japanese entertainment industry has certainly produced some astonishingly great brands, and One Piece is certainly one of them. Eiichiro Oda’s masterpiece has attracted millions of fans worldwide and brought unprecedented financial success to the author. Today, Oda proudly holds the crown as the richest mangaka of all time, with an estimated net worth of 230 million dollars (equivalent to nearly 6 trillion VND).
However, while the economic value of One Piece may be enormous, it pales in comparison to the Pokémon giant. As of August 2021, Pokémon has achieved an impressive revenue of 105 billion dollars. This solidifies Pokémon as the highest-performing media brand in the world.
Such a staggering figure stems from Pokémon’s diverse revenue sources, including merchandise sales, video games, box office success, family entertainment, book sales, and more. The scale at which Pokémon has expanded is so vast that it will overshadow the popularity of the largest brands in the world, such as One Piece and Dragon Ball.
Why is Satoshi Tajiri’s actual net worth insignificant compared to Oda?
Satoshi Tajiri’s personal assets, the creator of Pokémon, seem modest. According to a survey article by Cartoon Toi, Tajiri’s estimated net worth in 2024 is only a modest 10 – 15 million dollars.
This figure is certainly astonishingly low, considering the resounding success of Pokémon and its status as one of the highest-grossing media brands of all time. The basis for this lies in the ownership structure of the intellectual property related to Pokémon. Unlike some other wealthy mangaka, Tajiri does not have full ownership of this brand.
In fact, Nintendo and several other entities retain a large portion of the profits earned from the Pokémon brand, significantly reducing the profits that Satoshi Tajiri receives. Therefore, even though Pokémon earns billions of dollars each year, a large portion must be allocated to producers, distributors, and others…
Thus, Tajiri’s share is very meager, and his personal assets are only a fraction of the expected amount.