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‘That’s my masked vigilante thing’
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Published Feb 18, 2026 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 3 minute read
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Kunal Nayyar in a scene from ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Photo by Michael Yarish /CBSArticle content
After racking up millions starring on The Big Bang Theory, Kunal Nayyar uses his wealth to give back.
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Nayyar played Raj Koothrappali for 12 seasons on the hit CBS comedy, and at the height of its popularity he — along with his castmates — was earning $1 million-per-episode.
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According to Forbes, Nayyar was ranked as the world’s third-highest-paid TV actors in 2015, 2016 and 2018 with earnings in excess of $20 million annually. Earlier this year, Fortune pegged Nayyar’s reported net worth at $45 million.
But in a December 2025 interview with The i Paper that is currently going viral on X with over 9.3 million views after it was re-shared by Pubity, Nayyar revealed that he generously gives money away to help people in need.
He views it as his type of superpower.
“Money has given me greater freedom and the greatest gift is the ability to give back, to change people’s lives,” Nayyar said in the interview. “We also support animal charities because we love dogs. But what I really love to do is go on GoFundMe at night and just pay random families’ medical bills. That’s my masked vigilante thing!”
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Nayyar and his wife, Neha Kapur, also use his riches to fund university scholarships for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Kunal Nayyar and Neha Kapur arrive at the People’s Choice Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Jan. 18, 2017. Photo by TOMMASO BODDI /AFP/Getty Images‘Right now, people are not happy’
His wealth “doesn’t feel like a burden,” he said. “It feels like a grace from the universe.”
“I’ve cleaned toilets in Portland, been held up for 76 cents in Philadelphia, and my first acting job on TV was playing a terrorist,” he said when he announced his autobiography in 2013.
Nayyar got the job on Big Bang Theory with just one acting credit.
He knows hardship and said in his chat with i Paper that people don’t have to be rich to give back.
“Right now, people are not happy,” Nayyar said, “because we are all expecting someone else to be kind. We are expecting a president or a politician, some leader, to come and bring us world peace. But there is no world peace if your neighbour comes to your door wanting some sugar for their tea, and you lock it against them and say, ‘Get away’… No one is going to come and change the world for you. You have to do it for yourself.”
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As news of Nayyar’s reported generosity made the rounds on social media, fans praised the sitcom star for his kindness.
“It’s one thing to give to a massive foundation, but there is something so personal and empathetic about sitting up at night and finding individual families to help. Bless his heart,” one X user wrote.
“Quietly erasing medical debt at 2 a.m. while the rest of Hollywood is posting jet selfies is honestly peak ‘quiet luxury’ energy,” another person shared.
“It’s wild to think that the same guy who played Raj is out here quietly saving families from financial ruin just because he can,” a third account commented.
Nayyar’s interview went viral after a GoFundMe to help the family of the late James Van Der Beek raised over $2.6 million after the Dawson Creek star’s death following a battle with cancer earlier this month.
Van Der Beek’s “extended fight against cancer” left his wife Kimberly and his six children “out of funds” and “facing an uncertain future,” according to the GoFundMe page.
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