Khan was born Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan on December 27, 1965, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, the eldest son of screenwriter Salim Khan — one half of the famed Salim-Javed screenwriting duo — and his first wife, Sushila Charak (later Salma Khan). He grew up in Mumbai at Galaxy Apartments in Bandra West, where he still lives with his parents. He has two younger brothers, actors and producers Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan, and two sisters, Alvira Khan Agnihotri and adopted sister Arpita Khan Sharma. The tightly-knit Khan family is a regular fixture of Indian entertainment coverage.

Khan made his film debut in a supporting role in Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988) before his breakout lead performance in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), a hit romance that earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He followed it with a run of successful 1990s films, including the family drama Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), one of the highest-grossing Hindi films ever made, along with Karan Arjun (1995) and Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999). These films established him, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, as one of the three “Khans” who would dominate Bollywood for the next three decades.

After a quieter stretch in the 2000s, also marked by high-profile legal troubles, Khan re-emerged as a dominant box-office force with Wanted (2009) and Dabangg (2010), a franchise that became his signature role as the policeman Chulbul Pandey. He built further franchises with Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and Tiger 3 (2023), and had one of his biggest hits with Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), a cross-border drama that became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time and won a National Film Award. Trade press credits him with starring in the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year on multiple occasions, a record few actors match. Since 2010 he has also hosted Bigg Boss almost continuously, and produces films through his banner, Salman Khan Films; as producer he has won two National Film Awards. His most recent films include Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (2023) and Sikandar (2025).

Because Khan’s income spans film fees, television hosting fees, endorsements, and profit-sharing on hit films, Indian trade outlets do not publish a single confirmed annual earnings figure for him. Combining reporting on his per-film fees, his Bigg Boss hosting deal, and endorsements, industry estimates place his typical annual earnings well into eight figures in dollar terms, ranking him among the small handful of highest-paid entertainers in India alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar. These figures come from trade press rather than disclosed contracts.

Khan is reported to command roughly INR 100 crore to 150 crore per film in upfront fees, with recent projects reportedly adding profit-sharing that can push total compensation on a hit well beyond that figure. For his 2025 film Sikandar, outlets reported a fee around INR 120 crore plus a share of profits. On television, his Bigg Boss hosting fee has been widely reported to run into the hundreds of crores per season — some reports cite figures as high as INR 150-250 crore — though producers have pushed back on some of the higher numbers, and exact terms are not independently confirmed.

Photo: Bollywood Hungama via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Khan has been one of Bollywood’s most sought-after brand ambassadors for over two decades, with deals spanning soft drinks, confectionery, appliances, and footwear. Brands he has fronted include Thums Up, Chlormint, Relaxo, and Dixcy Scott innerwear, along with a more recent Bahamas Footwear partnership announced in 2025. Unlike many contemporaries, Khan’s most visible “endorsement” today is arguably his own brand: he is rarely seen out of Being Human merchandise, which functions as an ongoing, self-owned promotional platform rather than a conventional paid endorsement.

Khan’s most significant business venture is Being Human, a lifestyle and clothing brand founded in 2007 whose licensed manufacturing and retail is run by Mandhana Industries, with proceeds funding the Being Human Foundation, a charity supporting education and healthcare for underprivileged communities in India. He also runs Salman Khan Films, the production company behind several of his biggest hits. Being Human and his production banner remain the two clearly documented, ongoing business interests tied to his name.

Khan’s primary residence is the family flat at Galaxy Apartments in Bandra West, Mumbai, where he grew up and still lives with his parents; its location on Mumbai’s Bandstand makes it a well-known fixture for fans. He also owns Arpita Farms, a roughly 150-acre farmhouse in Panvel outside Mumbai, named after his sister and reportedly valued at around INR 80 crore. Khan’s car collection reflects his security needs as much as his taste in luxury vehicles, including protected models such as a Nissan Patrol and a Toyota Land Cruiser, alongside a Range Rover, a Mercedes-Benz GL63, and a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, with several reportedly bulletproof following past threats to his life.