Kenneth Martin Follett was born on the 5th June 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, UK, and is a novelist, best recognized for writing a number of popular thrillers and novels, such as “Eye Of The Needle” (1978), “The Key To Rebecca” (1980), “The Third Twin” (1996), and “Whiteout” (2004). He is also the author of book series, such as Kingsbridge series and The Century Trilogy.
So, have you ever wondered how rich Ken Follett is, as of mid-2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that the total size of Ken’s net worth is over $55 million, accumulated through his successful career as the best selling author of many books, which has been active since 1974.
Ken Follett Net Worth $55 Million
Ken Follett spent his childhood with three siblings in his hometown, where he was raised by his mother, Lavinia Follett, a housewife, and his father Martin Follett, who worked as a tax inspector. At the age of 10, he moved with his family to London, where he attended Harrow Weald Grammar School. Upon matriculation, he enrolled at Poole Technical College and later he was accepted to University College London, where he was a student of Philosophy. Right after graduation, he attended a post-graduate course in Journalism.
At the beginning of his career, Ken was hired as a reporter by the (London) Evening News; however, he quit the job and moved his focus to publishing, working as a managing director for the small London publisher Everest Books. During the same period, he began writing and his first book “The Big Needle” from the Apples Carstairs book series was published in 1974. He eventually achieved enormous success in 1978, when he published “Eye Of The Needle”, which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, adding a considerable amount to his net worth and earning him the Edgar Best Novel Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Since then, his career has only gone upwards and by the end of the 1970s, he had also published the novels “Capricorn One” (1978), “Triple” (1979), and “The Key To Rebecca” (1980).
In the next two decades, Ken continued successfully, publishing the novel “The Man From St. Petersburg” in 1982, which was followed by “On Wings Of Eagles” (1983). Two years later, he also published “Lie Down With Lions”, after which he wrote the first book of the Kingsbridge series entitled “The Pillars Of The Earth” in 1989. During the 1990s, he published six novels, including “Night Over Water” (1991), “A Place Called Freedom” (1995), “The Hammer Of Eden (1998) – which won the Premio Bancarella Literary Prize in Italy in 1999 – and “Code To Zero” (2000), all of which increased his net worth by a large margin.
In 2001, Ken published the book entitled “Jackdaws”, for which he won the Corine Literature Prize in Bavaria, followed by “Hornet Flight” (2002) and “Whiteout” in 2004. In 2007, he published the second book of Kingsbridge series entitled “World Without End”. To speak further about his career, Ken is also known as the author of The Century Trilogy, which consists of the novels “Fall Of Giants” (2010), that won the Libri Golden Book Award for Best Fiction Title in Hungary, “Winter Of The World” (2012), that won the Qué Leer Prize for Best Translated Book in Spain, and “Edge Of Eternity” (2014) – all of which contributed a lot to his wealth. Most recently, he wrote the third and last book of the Kingsbridge series “A Column Of Fire”, which is scheduled for release in September of 2017.
Thanks to his accomplishments, Ken has received three Honorary Doctor of Literature degrees from the University of Glamorgan and Saginaw Valley State University in 2007, and from the University of Exeter in 2008.
Speaking about his personal life, Ken Follet has been married to Barbara Broer since 1985. He was previously married to Mary Emma Ruth Elson (1968-1985), with whom he has two children. In his spare time, Ken enjoys performing music with the folk band Clog Iron. Moreover, he also collaborates with a number of charitable organizations.
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