Squid Game is Netflix’s most-watched series in history, with Season 1 accumulating over 1.65 billion streaming hours. Season 2 premiered on 26 December 2024 and set a new Netflix debut record with 68 million views in four days, ranking number one in 92 countries. Season 3, the final season filmed back-to-back with Season 2, was released on 27 June 2025. The cast spans South Korean acting veterans with twenty-plus year careers alongside performers who were largely unknown internationally before the show. The combined net worth of the main cast sits well into the tens of millions, though the financial gap between the show’s most established actors and its breakout newcomers illustrates how different the starting points were before Netflix’s most successful series changed the picture for all of them.
Lee Byung-hun (The Front Man / Oh Il-nam): The Richest in the Cast
Lee Byung-hun has the highest net worth among the Squid Game cast at approximately $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He plays both the mysterious Front Man and the reveal of Oh Il-nam, Player 001, across the three seasons. His pre-Squid Game career is the most extensive Hollywood filmography in the cast: he appeared in G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra in 2009, G.I. Joe: Retaliation in 2013, and Terminator Genisys in 2015. In Korean cinema, he has headlined acclaimed crime films including A Bittersweet Life and I Saw the Devil, directed by Kim Jee-woon, which are considered among the finest Korean action films of the 2000s. He is also known for the international political thriller Memories of the Alhambra. His Hollywood crossover preceded Squid Game by over a decade, and the show’s global success extended rather than created his international profile.
Lee Jung-jae (Seong Gi-hun, Player 456): The Main Character’s Money
Lee Jung-jae plays Seong Gi-hun, the gambling-addicted driver who wins Season 1 and becomes the series’ protagonist across all three seasons. His estimated net worth is approximately $12 million. He was reportedly paid around $250,000 per episode for Season 1, totalling approximately $2.25 million, making him one of the highest-paid actors in Korean drama at the time. He has co-founded Artist Company, a production house, with fellow actor Jung Woo-sung, giving him producing and directing interests beyond performance income. He has endorsement deals including Gucci. Beyond Squid Game, his highest-profile international credit is The Acolyte, the Disney+ Star Wars series from 2024, in which he plays The Stranger. His Korean film career spans 30-plus credits from his debut in 1993, including New World, Hunt, which he also directed, and The Housemaid remake.
Gong Yoo (The Recruiter): Endorsements Over Acting
Gong Yoo plays The Recruiter, the sharp-suited man playing ddakji in the subway who draws Gi-hun back into the game in Season 2. His estimated net worth is approximately $14 million, second only to Lee Byung-hun in the Squid Game cast. Lifestyle Asia has noted that the majority of his net worth comes not from acting fees but from fashion endorsements, commercial deals, and real estate, including property in Jeju Island. He is a long-term brand ambassador for Kia and has endorsement relationships with multiple major consumer brands. His acting profile includes the monster survival film Train to Busan from 2016, considered one of the finest zombie films ever made, and the fantasy romance drama Goblin from 2016 to 2017, which was one of the most-watched Korean drama series of that decade. His role in Squid Game as a recurring character rather than a lead means his screen time is limited but his commercial profile has expanded significantly with each season’s international success.
HoYeon Jung (Kang Sae-byeok, Player 067): The Breakout Star’s Trajectory
HoYeon Jung’s estimated net worth is approximately $4 million following her Squid Game Season 1 breakout. She plays Kang Sae-byeok, the North Korean defector who competes to fund her family’s escape. Before Squid Game, she had finished as runner-up on Korea’s Next Top Model and had modelled for Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Gucci. She was a global ambassador for Louis Vuitton when Squid Game premiered. The show’s worldwide success made her the most-followed Korean actress on Instagram globally, gaining approximately one million new followers per day immediately after the show’s release.
She won a SAG Award, becoming the first Korean actress to win an individual acting prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She appeared in Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV+ limited series Disclaimer in 2024 alongside Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. She became the first East Asian actress to receive a solo feature on the cover of US Vogue. Her career trajectory post-Squid Game is the clearest example within the cast of the show creating an entirely new international platform for an actor rather than extending an existing one. Kang Sae-byeok dies in Season 1, which means her return to the Squid Game universe would require a different mechanism; her post-show career has been built independently of further seasons.
Wi Ha-jun (Hwang Jun-ho): The Detective’s Arc
Wi Ha-jun plays Detective Hwang Jun-ho, who infiltrates the games in Season 1 searching for his missing brother, is shot and falls from a cliff in the Season 1 finale, and returns in Season 2. His estimated net worth is approximately $3 million. He has appeared in the Korean romance drama Romance is a Bonus Book and the horror film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. His role as one of the few characters to survive across multiple seasons gives him ongoing Squid Game income and the international visibility that comes with the show’s continued global reach. He also works as a model and has brand endorsement relationships.
The Season 2 and 3 Newcomers: Im Si-wan, Choi Seung-hyun, Park Hae-soo
Im Si-wan joined the cast in Season 2 as Player 333. His estimated net worth sits between $1 million and $3 million, partly derived from his time as a member of the K-pop boyband ZE:A and partly from his subsequent acting career, which includes the Korean dramas Six Flying Dragons, Prison Playbook, and Memories of the Alhambra, and an appearance in Money Heist: Korea. His profile going into Squid Game was strong within Korea but limited internationally, and the show’s global reach has significantly expanded his recognition.
Choi Seung-hyun, known as T.O.P, plays Thanos, a failed rapper who enters the game after losing money in a cryptocurrency investment, a character arc that mirrors his real-world public profile to a notable degree. His estimated net worth is approximately $12 million, derived substantially from his years as lead rapper of BigBang, one of the most commercially successful K-pop groups globally. Some estimates place his net worth considerably higher, but the $12 million figure is most consistently cited. His acting and K-pop career predate Squid Game substantially.
Park Hae-soo played Cho Sang-woo, Player 218, in Season 1. Sang-woo is the elite financial analyst and eventual villain of the first season. His estimated net worth is approximately $3 million. Following Squid Game he appeared in Money Heist: Korea, the Korean adaptation of the Spanish series, as Berlin. Park Gyu-young, who plays No-eul in Seasons 2 and 3, has an estimated net worth of approximately $5 million, built primarily through her role in Netflix’s creature horror series Sweet Home.
Squid Game Cast Net Worth: Combined Analysis and What Netflix’s Biggest Series Means Financially
The combined net worth of the core Squid Game cast across all three seasons is estimated at well over $100 million, with Lee Byung-hun and Gong Yoo together accounting for more than a third of that figure. The show generated a reported $1 billion in profit for Netflix in its first month alone, meaning the cast’s total compensation represents a small fraction of the value their performances created for the platform.
The most significant financial legacy of the show is visible in HoYeon Jung’s trajectory: an actress who was a model with limited acting credits became one of the most-endorsed and sought-after performers in global entertainment within months of Season 1’s premiere. Her $4 million estimated net worth is likely to grow substantially given the calibre of the projects she has since been able to access. For Lee Byung-hun and Gong Yoo, already established at $20 million and $14 million respectively, the show’s global impact has opened Hollywood and international brand partnership doors that would have been narrower before Netflix’s algorithmic distribution made Squid Game a household name in 90-plus countries simultaneously.
Squid Game Cast Net Worth: Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the richest Squid Game cast member?
Lee Byung-hun, who plays The Front Man and Oh Il-nam, is the richest cast member in Squid Game with an estimated net worth of $20 million. He had an established Hollywood career before the show, appearing in G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Terminator Genisys, as well as acclaimed Korean crime films including A Bittersweet Life and I Saw the Devil.
What is Lee Jung-jae’s net worth?
Lee Jung-jae’s estimated net worth is approximately $12 million. He plays Seong Gi-hun, Player 456, across all three seasons of Squid Game and was reportedly paid around $250,000 per episode for Season 1. He has co-founded the production company Artist Company with actor Jung Woo-sung and appeared in the Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte in 2024.
What is HoYeon Jung’s net worth?
HoYeon Jung’s estimated net worth is approximately $4 million. She played Kang Sae-byeok, Player 067, in Squid Game Season 1. Before the show she was a model and Louis Vuitton global ambassador. After Season 1 she won a SAG Award, appeared in Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV+ series Disclaimer, and became the first East Asian actress to receive a solo cover feature in US Vogue.
When did Squid Game Season 3 come out?
Squid Game Season 3, the final season, was released on Netflix on 27 June 2025. It was filmed back-to-back with Season 2, with both seasons treated as one continuous story. Season 2 was released on 26 December 2024 and set a Netflix debut record with 68 million views in its first four days.