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After the Star Wars movies made by George Lucas, Disney started producing Star Wars movies and TV shows related to Star Wars characters.

I know that George Lucas sold his Star Wars rights to Disney, but after that also when Star Wars movies or TV shows start, we can see Lucasfilm Ltd., logo appearing & being mentioned.

So my question is, is George Lucas still getting paid for new Star Wars movies and TV shows done by Disney?

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According to this 2021 article from iPleaders, and as other answers have mentioned, he is gaining compensation through Disney shares. But this article breaks down a lot about the trademark situation and Lucas' transaction in selling Lucasfilm to Disney and what those shares were worth in Spring 2021.

"Even though Lucas is not the owner of Lucasfilm now, he still makes a lot of money from the first movie which is considered as the father of the Star Wars saga. Lucas does not earn any royalties from the newer movies or shows as a writer, director, or even creator. However, because of the Disney stock shares he received as part of the transaction, Lucas still sees a hefty payout due to the value of the stocks.

Around the time of the acquisition of Lucasfilm, each of Disney’s shares was worth about $50. Lucas acquired 37,076,679 shares from Disney, valued at $1.85 billion at the time.

By now, Disney’s stock value is sitting at $200 per share, meaning that Lucas’s stocks are now worth over $7 billion."

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    To be fair, money earned from stock value increases has a decidedly "virtual" flair to it until Lucas actually realizes these gains by selling. It's not quite the same as getting royalties in hard cash.
    – xLeitix
    Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 7:32
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    @xLeitix: The value of the stock can be used for a SBLOC, which effectively grants access to much of the value without ever selling (well, until they die and the debt is settled using the stock that has been allowed to continue growing that whole time).
    – ShadowRanger
    Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 11:24
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    @Pierpaolo Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4.05b in cash and $1.855b in stock. They divided $1.855b by the Disney share price at the time to come to the number of shares. It would be extremely unlikely for that to result in a round number of shares.
    – Barmar
    Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 15:17
  • @Barmar, yup, thought so :)
    – Pierpaolo
    Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 15:29
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    @xLeitix to me, the phrasing "he is getting paid a lot through Disney shares" implies dividends, but I'm not sure that's what Darth Locke meant.
    – Teleporting Goat
    Commented Aug 25, 2023 at 12:16
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He's probably making some money from the franchise still.

It should be noted that didn't just sell the rights to Star Wars, he sold LucasFilm for $4 billion. But a bunch of that was stock in Disney rather than straight cash. As Disney stock has gained value since the deal (in no small part thanks to the success of the Star Wars franchise), the value Lucas' share would also have increased.

More directly, Lucas is still given some level of credit on each show produced by Disney. WGA rules say he should be getting some payment. Although maybe not, as he has not been a member of the WGA for many years.

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So my question is, is George Lucas still getting paid for new Star Wars movies and TV shows done by Disney?

Paid? Maybe. But he doesn't need to, and contracts with Disney have NDA that will most probably forbid us from knowing (as for the shares after he sold to Disney). As, in the 70's, George Lucas chose himself opted for future merchandising rights over a raise in salary1, he knows where to get the money from. So, no direct money, but he's definately getting money, and BIG money2.

Over these past 5 decades, George Lucas and Lucasfilm have been protecting their intellectual property rights. Copyright (2500+), Trade Marks (1,000+), Patents and Designs, they own over thousands of rights. He gets money anytime someone wants to use a name or technology they created and protected. And they enforce them anytime it's needed. They even sued some politics/groups/companies because they used the tag "Star Wars" (and here) or any other word he owns rights upon. Sometimes, they don't win though...

1. 2. and others : The sources are Fieldfisher -- Suiter -- Lucasfilm vs Ainsworth -- The force is strong with Star Wars intellectual property

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    This answer ignores the fact that Lucasfilm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney. So the fact that Lucasfilm gets paid for those licensing rights does nothing to prove that George Lucas does.
    – Ben Murphy
    Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 5:06
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    It does not ignore that fact. As part of (parts of) the deal that went public, GL didn't sell everything. He kept some rights over his previous work (ie. Lucasfilm). So, yes, it's Disney owned, but GL still gets rights (and thus, money... but we can't know under which terms)
    – OldPadawan
    Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 5:31
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    You cite multiple sources proving that Lucasfilm aggressively pursues its rights, and that Lucas did so when he owned it, but that’s irrelevant to the question of “Does Lucas receive money now?” unless your argument is “he would not have sold Lucasfilm without some sort of ongoing royalty arrangement”, which as you said, would be based on non-public information.
    – Ben Murphy
    Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 8:00

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