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

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!

While Terrence Howard has not attained the same level of success as his ‘Iron Man’ co-star Robert Downey Jr., nor has he gained extensive recognition as an actor, he believes that his role in 2008’s ‘Iron Man’ was detrimental to his career. Nevertheless, there was a potential for him to achieve greater success than not only RDJ but also the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Terrence Howard. | Credit: Gordon Correll/Wikimedia Commons.
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 a patent — 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

Indeed, Terrence Howard secured several roles that became major hits, yet aside from those, his acting career has not been particularly favorable. Moreover, his challenges extend beyond acting, as losing a patent has potentially cost him significantly more than he might have earned during his time with Marvel, had he continued.
Howard in Iron Man. | Credit: Marvel Studios.
During a recent appearance on the Joe 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 the World of Windows patent, which Howard claims the AR VR world is built off.

In the interview, the Hustle & Flow actor 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.’

Howard in Empire. | Credit: Fox.
Abandoning the patent did not turn out to be beneficial; it rather resulted in a loss, especially since the patent became extremely successful. Major companies have even built their entire AR-VR world based on what Howard referred to as his “World of Windows” patent, a claim he substantiated with evidence.

In the same interview, the actor from “The Best Man” continued to assert his ownership of the patent well before he relinquished it. To demonstrate this, he navigated to terryslynchpins.com, accessed the ‘Knowledge Base’ section, proceeded to the ‘Patent Files’ area, and selected the ‘Merging Virtual Reality With Reality’ option, which disclosed the specifics of his patent.
Howard in Hustle and Flow. | Credit: Crunk Pictures.
As indicated by the patent details on Google Patents, the inventor is named “Terrence Dashon Howard,” and as he claimed, his patent has indeed been cited by multiple companies. This includes Amazon Technologies, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., and Sony Corporation, among others.

While this may come as a stunning surprise to Howard’s fans who were unaware, what is even more astonishing is the substantial earnings accrued from this patent over the years. It goes without saying that the amount is significantly higher than the entire net worth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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

Robert Downey Jr. in his Iron Man saga. | Credit: Marvel Studios.
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 for Iron 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).
The official logo of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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.