Ray Romanos Surprising Residuals Shock Fans

Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano set a Guinness World Record when he was paid $1.94million per episode for the beloved show's ninth and final season in 2005.

Two decades on from the comedy series' finale, Romano is part of an in residuals, long after their shows went off the air.

Fans were stunned to learn Romano reportedly earns $18million annually in syndication residuals, per Forbes and Vanity Fair, thanks to the show's continued streaming on services such as  Paramount+ and Peacock, quipping Romano 'never has to work again.'

Romano, 68, who played sarcastic sports writer Raymond Barone from 1996-2005 in the show created by Phil Rosenthal, is today worth an estimated $200 million, with much of his finances said to come from his residuals and backend profits.

The eighth season of Everybody Loves Raymond - which began airing in 2003 - gained notoriety after a landmark cast contract dispute led by Robert Barone actor Brad Garrett.

Romano became the highest-paid television star in history at the time with his $40million deal for the season, equating to $1.8million a week.

Romano's contract renewal also stipulated he would get royalties from syndicated re-runs of older episodes - infuriating Garrett, who in comparison earned around $160,000 an episode.

Garrett refused to show up for work unless CBS negotiated a new contract - leading to his character being axed from the first episode and threatened with being written out permanently.

Fans were stunned to learn Romano earns a reported $18million annually in syndication residuals, per Forbes and Vanity Fair , thanks to streaming on services including Paramount+ and Peacock - the original cast are pictured during the show's first season in 1996