Judge Judy Relaunches: Hear the Story of Her Journey to a $460 Million Fortune

79-year-old Judy Sheindlin may be sitting on a fortune, but it wasn’t always that way. There was a time when she could barely make ends meet, and now she’s a television legend. Court dismissed!

Judge Judy Remembers Her Rise to Fame

“You know life goes by so fast,” Judge Judy says in her interview with PEOPLE magazine where she shared the secrets to her success. “And it gets faster when you’re older.”

For Judge Judy, the end of her 25-year-old show doesn’t mean absolute retirement, she’s excited and she’s ready to get back into the courtroom for “Justice Judy”. It means we’re finally getting Judy on a streamer. How cool is that, your Honor?

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In the interview, Judy admitted that life can be so full of ups and downs, but for the judge, it’s also full of surprises.

There was once a time when Judy Sheindlin was scared to enter some stores because she couldn’t afford to, now Forbes estimates she’s worth a total of $460 million.

“The majority of my life, I spent buying on the sale rack,” she told PEOPLE for this week’s cover story. “I didn’t bother going into [Neiman Marcus], [Bergdorf Goodman] and Saks [Fifth Avenue] because I couldn’t afford it.”

After the hit reality series “Judge Judy” ended in May, Judy looked around and decided she didn’t want to retire and play golf. When Amazon came calling with their offer, the famous TV personality was ready to listen. And that’s how we’re getting the new and improved show “Justice Judy” on IMDb TV, Amazon’s free premium streaming service.

“We left on top, which is perfect,” she noted. “Amazon had the confidence in me to say, ‘Let’s do it in streaming. Let’s let you do your thing in a fresh version with new people.’ And I’m excited!”

The Brooklyn native got her start as a lawyer back in 1972, where she prosecuted child abuse, domestic violence and juvenile crime cases in New York’s family court. In 1982, she became a judge and rose to the rank of a supervising judge in 1986.

Her tough no-nonsense reputation earned her some media interest, first in a 1993 Los Angeles Times profile and later that year in a 60 Minutes segment that caught the attention of a CBS production company.

Fast-forward to September 16, 1996, “Judge Judy” premiered. “I was hoping we would have a three- or four-year run and that my husband and I would be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment one block off the beach in Florida as a retirement place,” she recalls. “We were civil servants. We had five kids that were all educated, most went to graduate school. We tried to see to it they weren’t burdened with a lot of debt.”

Judy Sheindlin Shares Her Secrets Of Negotiating

Judge Judy may have been, for many years might I add, one of the most paid people on TV (raking in $47 million on an annual basis), but she worked hard to get there.

She certainly did not get there by simply flashing a smile, she had to bargain with the big men to get her dues, and let’s just say that she holds all the cards in every negotiation table.

After a decade on the show, Judy was ready to negotiate like a boss, demanding huge paydays to match the popularity of the show.

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“We should be partners,” she recalled telling CBS executives at the time. “I can do this program without you. Good luck, you can’t do it without me.”

In negotiations that followed, Judy knew her worth and negotiated accordingly. The days of arguing over a raise was over, Judy would smartly slip her bosses dollar figures in sealed envelopes across the table.

Her advice for anyone willing to negotiate a better pay? “You have to make yourself indispensable — and that is irrespective of what you do,” she said. “Once you’ve done that and have leverage, make a reasonable demand and know what the commodity is worth.”

“Judy Justice” premiered with four episodes on Monday on IMDb TV. New episodes are set to arrive every weekday.

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with “Judy Justice” right now. Come back here often for all Judy Sheindlin spoilers, news, and updates.