- Source of Wealth: Books, Publishing
- Age: 56
- Birth Place: London, England
- Marital Status: Married (Niall Leonard)
- Full Name: Erika Mitchell
- Nationality: British
- Date of Birth: March 7, 1963
- Ethnicity: Chilean, Scottish
- Occupation: Novelist
- Education: University of Kent
- Children: 2
British novelist and former TV executive, E.L. James, also known as Erika Leonard, has an estimated net worth of $60 million. She became internationally known, after e-publishing what became a bestselling online trilogy. “Fifty Shades of Grey”, the first book in the trilogy, has since been published by Vintage Books, and has also become a bestseller.
The series was originally a set of fan fiction posts based on the characters in Twilight, but Ms. James (Leonard) ended up removing the posts, as other fan fiction authors complained about the amount of sex in her stories. The series has become both popular and controversial due to its explicit sex scenes and its depiction of the BDSM lifestyle.
While public reception has been almost uniformly positive, the series has met with mixed reviews from critics. Universal Pictures and Focus Features recently optioned the books for film adaptation. E.L. James currently lives in West London with her family. She is half-Chilean, half-Scottish. In 2012, she was listed as one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World”.