Tyler Perry has greatly benefitted from the power of the Black dollar.

Perry, who spoke at the 2022 Invest Fest as a keynote speaker, revealed he has always felt the outpouring of support from the Black community. It explains why the filmmaker’s debut in Hollywood, with “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” grossed $50.6 million from a budget of $5.5 million, E! Online reports.

“I learned early on the power of us. I was on tour performing 300-something performances a year, making 75-80 million from us,” Perry explained during Invest Fest.

He added, “This thing that a lot of elitist Black people wanna look down on is called ‘The Chitlin Circuit,’… but what they’re missing is the power of the Black dollar, and when the Black dollar shows up, it shows up in an enormous way. So when I got to Hollywood, I didn’t need to ask anybody for money. I didn’t need to ask them to give me a green light on a film. ‘Cause I had us, and I still have us.”

The Black dollar has continued to be instrumental for Perry in various ways. He is a longtime partner of BET. The network has become a hub to shows such as “Sistas,” “The Oval,” “House of Payne,” among others through a deal with Viacom.

Additionally, Perry was able to open Tyler Perry Studios in 2008 in Atlanta, GA. He has since expanded his studio with the acquisition of Fort McPherson, adding 37 acres to his holdings, as AfroTech previously told you.

Perry says the towering support from the Black dollar allowed him to self-fund the multimillion-dollar studio without the need to seek private equity investment.

“That’s why ‘Sistas,’ ‘The Oval,’ ‘Ruthless,’ and ‘Zatima’ — soon to come — All these shows on BET are doing so well, because I had us,” Perry said during Invest Fest. “So, I haven’t been in a position where I’ve had to use private equity or money like that. But anybody who does that, I think that’s great as long as you hold onto the ownership and the majority of what’s happening.”

Today Tyler Perry Studios is worth $280 million, per Forbes.