For most children's book authors, their reward is seeing that their stories helped nurture a love of reading in their young audience. It's rare for the average writer to become a true bestseller; just making a living through their work is impressive enough. Eric Carle was one of the exceptions. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the author was already bringing in up to $8 million in royalties from his popular books by 2019. That year, he sold the rights to his franchise to Random House for a tidy profit. That helped boost his net worth to an impressive $80 million by the time he died in May 2021.

Carle didn't just sock the money away in the bank, however. He and his late wife, Barbara, founded the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Books in Massachusetts, a center where current and future generations can come and view the large collection of books and illustrations and perhaps become inspired to become writers themselves. This would be the best legacy he could have hoped for.