7 Trillion Dollars! Terrence Howard Could Have Been Richer Than Robert Downey Jr. Had He Not Abandoned a Patent That's Worth More Than the Entire MCU Franchise (2024)

Had he not made the grave mistake of abandoning his patent, Terrence Howard would have been richer than not only RDJ but even the MCU!

It’s true that Terrence Howard hasn’t achieved as much success as his Iron Man co-star Robert Downey Jr. and earned too much recognition as an actor despite his immaculate acting chops (he himself claims 2008’s Iron Man killed his career). However, he most certainly had a chance to thrive a lot more successfully than not only RDJ but even the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While his scientific beliefs and discoveries that he claims to have found are one thing, there’s something else that would have made him even richer than the entire MCU franchise. This something else was actually apatent — to be more specific, the World of Windows patent — which he abandoned back in the day only for it to be around worth at least 7 trillion dollars now.

Terrence Howard’s Abandoned Patent Backfired Brutally

Yes, Terrence Howard did score quite a few roles that are considered major hits, but besides them, his acting career hasn’t really been that good to him. However, that isn’t the only thing that hasn’t been good to him, considering how one lost patent has cost him a lot more than perhaps what he could have earned throughout his tenure at Marvel, had he stayed.

During a recent appearance on theJoe Rogan Experience, the Empire actor shared the same while talking about how one of his first patents that he abandoned ended up backfiring on him because of its tremendous success. This patent was none other than theWorld of Windows patent, which Howard claims the AR VR world is built off.

In the interview, claimed:

The entire AR VR world was built off of my first patent that was abandoned because I paid $260,000 for the worldwide patent, but then my lawyers kept sending me these maintenance fees and annuities and I’m like, ‘These folks are just tryna shake me down. I’m not gonna pay this.’

Well, abandoning it just like that didn’t really help either, and more or less ended up shaking him down because the patent went on to become incredibly successful. So much so that even major companies have actually “built their entire AR-VR world off of myWorld of Windows patent,” as Howard claimed with proof.

During the same interview,The Best Man actor continued to prove that this patent actually belonged to him long before he abandoned it. For this, he first went to terryslynchpins.com before going into the ‘Knowledge Base’ section. He then went under the ‘Patent Files’ section and clicked on the Merging Virtual Reality With Reality option to reveal the details of this very patent of his.

As can be seen in the patent details (via Google Patents), the inventor’s name is listed as “Terrence Dashon Howard”, and just like he claimed, multiple companies had actually cited this patent of his as well. This list included companies like Amazon Technologies, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., and Sony Corporation, among others.

Although all of this may sound stunningly surprising to even Howard’s fans out there who didn’t know about it, what would leave everyone even more speechless is just how much this very patent has already earned over the years. And, needless to mention, the number is a lot greater than even the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s entire net worth.

Terrence Howard’s Abandoned Patent Could Have Made Him Richer Than the MCU

Continuing in the same interview, Howard then shared just how much this patent of his has already earned, saying:

Look at all the companies. If you look at the patent, these companies have all earned- they have multi-billion dollar companies they’ve built off of my patent… And it’s still making money. This patent has earned over $7 trillion, and I didn’t get a penny of it.

What’s more is that it still has around 8 or 9 years to go, during which, had he not abandoned it, the Big Momma’s House actor could have been making big bucks from it.

Moreover, Robert Downey Jr., who was Howard’s co-star back in 2008 forIron Man, currently has a net worth of $300 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth), which is a comparatively mammoth-like amount in front of Howard’s current net worth, which stands at only a meager $4 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth).

But even that’s not all. If we put the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise’s total net worth in front of the whopping 7 trillion dollars that Howard’s patent has brought in to date, it would seem as tiny as Howard’s net worth seems in front of RDJ’s because the blockbuster MCU’s worldwide earnings stand at $29.55 billion (via Statista).

So, concluding it down to bits, if Terrence Howard had not abandoned that World of Windows patent back then, he would be making a whopping profit out of the $7 trillion the patent has earned to date, which would have made him even richer than RDJ and the MCU franchise combibed. Well, had the series of events not been this unfortunate, it sure seems like it.