Being a daytime TV show host may be seen as second to the guys who reign the late timeslots, but in reality, there is probably just less swearing! This is our list of some of the most famous and wealthiest TV show hosts.
Ellen DeGeneres
Net Worth: $400 million
She started her comedy life by performing for a few friends in the 1970s.
From there, Ellen DeGeneres became more confident and was engaged by local coffeehouses. Soon she was on the comedy club circuit, popularizing her brand of humor and her quirkiness.
Today, we all know and love DeGeneres and her The Ellen DeGeneres Show which has brought us so much laughter and fun. Her daytime show has been aired continuously since 2003. Although there has been recent bad publicity about her and “toxic” workplace, we hope that DeGeneres will be able to move fast this bad patch and regain the screen as one of the most beloved TV talk show hosts again.
As of 2023, Ellen is estimated to have a net worth of $400 million.
Find out who you are and be that person.
Ellen DeGeneres
Dr. Phil
Net Worth: $400 million
Another titan of the television talk shows, Dr. Phil McGraw got his break being a frequent guest of Oprah Winfrey.
In 2002, Dr. Phil launched his nationally syndicated series Dr. Phil, a one-hour show which takes on a different subject matter each week with Dr. Phil dispensing advice on life and psychology. Other than his main Dr. Phil show, there have been a few other spin-off shows either produced by Dr. Phil himself or hosted by him.
As of 2023, this enormously popular clinical psychologist is thought to have built up an estimated net worth of some $400 million. He has reportedly stopped renewing his license to practice psychology as a therapist since 2006.
You’re only lonely if you’re not there for you.
Dr. Phil
Oprah Winfrey
Net Worth: $2.5 billion
The Oprah Winfrey show started airing in 2011, and since then, she has become the most successful talk show host of all time.
If you were skilled enough to get on her show and have your book or merchandise talked about by her, she would have graced you with the “Oprah Effect” and your sales would literally, shoot through the roof.
Away from her talk show couch, Oprah is a consummate actress, having starred in numerous acclaimed movies, one of the most famous of which was The Color Purple.
As of 2023, this queen of talk show is worth about $2.5 billion.
Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.
Oprah Winfrey
David Letterman
Net Worth: $300 million
He helmed The Late Show from 1993 to 2015, a span of over 20 years. During that time, Letterman grew to become the pre-eminent talk show host of all time. He was ranked the 45th out of 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
After his retirement, David started a series on Netflix called My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman which started airing in 2018.
During his time hosting The Late Show, he had an audience size of about five million. A recipient of an incredible 67 Emmy Award nominations and 12-time winner David Letterman is as of 2023 worth about $300 million.
Next in importance to having a good aim is to recognize when to pull the trigger.
David Letterman
Whoopi Goldberg
Net Worth: $35 million
She’s the host of The View since 2007, and while it has sometimes been controversial, the format of the show was to present socio-political and entertainment news. At times controversial, the show has received praise from the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, as well as The New York Times, which has called it “the most important political TV show in America”.
The show currently attracts over 2.5 million viewers each episode.
Just last week, Whoopi had her fans discussing fervently after she posted an eerie photo of herself walking in a bare forest on her Instagram page. As it turned out, the picture is from the new apocalyptic limited series she is starring in called The Stand, based on a Stephen King’s novel of the same name.
Outside of The View, Whoopi is, of course, a true blue comedian whose films would send you hacking with laughter.
As of 2023, this comedian and daytime star is thought to be worth approximately $35 million.
Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine.
Whoopi Goldberg
Seth Meyers
Net Worth: $15 million
Seth Meyers belongs to the late-night talk show club. Like most late-night talk show hosts, Meyers started on Saturday Night Live back in 2001 and is currently the host of Late Night aired on NBC which has been airing since 2013. He succeeded Jimmy Fallon who became the host of The Tonight Show.
With a $3 million salary per annum hosting Late Night, Seth Meyers is estimated to have a current net worth as of 2023 of $15 million.
I throw caution to the wind.
Seth Meyers
James Corden
Net Worth: $50 million
This British actor who has crossed the Atlantic and found success. James Corden is the current host of The Late Late Show with James Corden.
A bubbly and bright personality on stage, James also hosts Carpool Karaoke, and between the two shows, he has audience in stitches.
Corden was appointed Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honors for services to drama by Queen Elizabeth II. James was recently in the film version of the musical Cats.
As of 2023, this English thespian and comedian has an approximate net worth of $50 million.
I guess I have a faith.
James Corden
Jerry Springer
Net Worth: $40 million
The host of The Jerry Springer Show from 1991 to 2018, Springer’s show was a tabloid talk show which features controversial and sensationalist topics. The format of his show featured a family member being confronted by other members of the family for their adultery, homosexuality, transvestism, and other issues.
Springer is currently the host of Judge Jerry, a courtroom television show.
Loved by audience for its raw reality and conservative ideals, Springer as of 2023 has built himself a personal wealth of some $40 million.
It’s just a show. It’s not the end of Western Civilization. It’s chewing gum.
Jerry Springer
Joan Rivers
Net Worth: $100 million
Comedian Joan Rivers was known for her self-deprecating and sharp-tongued comments, usually directed at other celebrities and politicians.
She was unabashed about her numerous cosmetic surgery and was in 2015 awarded a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.
Her jokes are brash and intuitively funny. Rolling Stone ranked her sixth on the list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time.
Although she passed on in 2014, some of her best jokes will live on – for example: “My love life is like a piece of Swiss cheese; most of it is missing and what’s there stinks.”
Joan Rivers’ net worth is estimated to have been about $100 million, at the time of her death in 2014.
Life is very tough. If you don’t laugh, it’s tough.
Joan Rivers
Phillip Donahue
Net Worth: $90 million
Phillip Donahue is known as the King of daytime talk and is the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show.
The show, later known as Donahue, was the first talk show format that included audience participation.
The show ran for 29-years from 1967 to 1996.
The show focussed on issues that had liberals and conservatives in the United States in heated discussions, such as abortion, consumer protection, civil rights, and war issues.
In 1996, Donahue was ranked #42 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
As of 2023, Phillip Donahue is estimated to be worth about $90 million.
To a journalist, good news is often not news at all.
Phillip Donahue
Barbara Walters
Net Worth: $130 million
Walters is a veteran journalist, tv host, and television personality. She started hosting the The Today Show in the early 1960s and was host of The View, 20/20 and anchorwoman of ABC Evening News, a pioneering position for a woman broadcaster.
Barbara Walters was well-known for her scoop interviews, having interviewed some of the most powerful persons in the world. She has interviewed Anwar Al Sadat, Margaret Thatcher, the Shah of Iran, and Fidel Castro. On the celebrities end, she’s interviewed Michael Jackson, Katharine Hepburn, Anna Wintour, and Sir Laurence Olivier.
In 1996, Walters was ranked No. 34 on the TV Guide “50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time” list, and in 2000 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
This pioneering tv host is as of 2023 reportedly worth an estimated $130 million.
I have affected the way women are regarded, and that’s important to me.
Barbara Walters
Anderson Cooper
Net Worth: $35 million
His mother is Gloria Vanderbilt and many consider him blue blood! However, Cooper is a first-class journalist and an anchor of CNN.
Anderson had his own show Anderson Cooper 360 and was also the host of day time talk show Anderson Live, which ran from 2011 to 2013.
As a correspondent, he traveled far and wide for his reportage. Today, Anderson is more grounded and anchors CNN’s news. He recently became a dad with his son Wyatt. Cooper is openly gay.
As of 2023, Cooper is thought to have an estimated net worth of some $35 million.
I’ve been addicted to TV since I emerged from the womb.
Anderson Cooper
Piers Morgan
Net Worth: $10 million
Piers Morgan has got into trouble numerous times for his outspoken personality. He was panned quite heavily for his views on gun control in America, as people did not like a non-American making castigating (but actually sensible) remarks about an American issue.
However, Piers Morgan would be Piers Morgan without his sometimes blunt but very illuminating comments on certain social issues.
He is currently the co-presenter of ITV’s Breakfast program Good Morning Britain which airs Monday to Wednesday each week.
Morgan began his career in 1989 in Fleet Street as a writer and editor for several British tabloids, including The Sun, News of the World, and The Daily Mirror. In 1994, aged only 29, he was made editor of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, the youngest ever editor of a British national newspaper in more than half a century.
As of 2023, this English tv show host is thought to be worth about $10 million.
There is a certain advantage to the British accent.
Piers Morgan
Charlie Rose
Net Worth: $30 million
Charlie Rose is an institution. He was a revered host of his talk show Charlie Rose on PBS and Bloomberg LP. His show was known for its distinguished stature and intellectual conversations. Almost anyone who is prominent in the entertainment industry and politics has been interviewed by Rose.
He also co-anchored CBS This Morning news segment from 2012 to 2017.
Unfortunately, in November 2017, in the height of the #metoo movement, Rose was terminated for sexual harassment dating back to the late 1990s through to 2011. This also ended the Charlie Rose show.
As of 2023, Charlie Rose has an estimated net worth of approximately $30 million.
The question is just as important as the answer.
Charlie Rose
Graham Norton
Net Worth: $25 million
Best known for his The Graham Norton Show, Graham started as a comedian for BBC Two and BBC One, hosting and performing various talk shows and television comedies until The Graham Norton Show which first aired in 2007.
What distinguishes his show is that his guests all seem to be very spontaneous and often offer up hilarious stories about themselves, making it one of the most engaging talk show on television today.
Norton is also a huge fan of the Eurovision Song contest and is seen most years in a commentary segment during the semi-finals and finals.
As of 2023, Graham Norton is estimated to have a net worth of $25 million.
I don’t think I’ve got bad taste. I’ve got no taste.
Graham Norton
Tucker Carlson
Net Worth: $20 million
Tucker Carlson is a conservative television presenter and political talk show host called Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News which has run since 2016.
A supporter of Donald Trump, he is seen as the highest-profile proponent of Trumpism, Tucker sometimes makes controversial statements about race, immigration and women which have led to boycotts of his show.
In 2020, Tucker show is the most-watched cable news show in the United States. After the November 3, 2020 election, Tucker has been more critical of Trump and his allies, and has posed searing questions to Trump allies like attorney Sidney Powell, questioning the lack of evidence for her claims of election fraud.
As of 2023, Tucker Carlson is estimated to have a net worth of $20 million.
It is increasingly important to be open-minded.
Tucker Carlson
Kelly Ripa
Net Worth: $75 million
Kelly Ripa is an actress and is currently the host of an American syndicated morning talk show, co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest called Live! with Kelly and Ryan. The show has been running since 1988, and since 2001 Kelly started hosting it.
Kelly first landed the role of Hayley Santos on the ABC daytime drama All My Children in 1990. In February 2001 she joined co-host Regis Philbin for ABC’s morning talk show Live! with Regis and Kelly, replacing longtime co-host Kathie Lee Gifford. She continued to appear periodically on All My Children and left the show in 2002. Considered one of the most powerful women in media.
As of 2023, Kelly Ripa is thought to be worth an estimated $75 million.
Sleeping is not something I do a lot of.
Kelly Ripa
Jimmy Fallon
Net Worth: $45 million
As host of late-night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and before that Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Fallon is a hugely popular late-night TV host who initially started in stand-up comedy.
He joined NBC’s Saturday Night Live as a cast member in 1998, fulfilling childhood dream Fallon remained on SNL for six years between 1998 and 2004, co-hosting the program’s Weekend Update segment and becoming a celebrity in the process. He left the program to be an actor, starring in films such as Taxi (2004) and Fever Pitch (2005).
He returned to television as the host of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC studios in 2009, where he became known for music and video games on his show.
He moved from that program to become the sixth permanent host of the longest-running The Tonight Show in 2014.
As of 2023, Jimmy Fallon is reportedly worth a personal fortune of some $45 million.
I sing in the car if I’m in LA, because you’re like soundproofed.
Jimmy Fallon
Terry Wogan
Net Worth: $25 million
Terry Wogan was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career.
Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his Wake Up to Wogan aired on BBC regularly drew an estimated eight million listeners. He was believed to be the most listened-to radio broadcaster in Europe.
Wogan was known for his work on television, including the BBC One chat show Wogan. He also presented Children in Need, the game show Blankety Blank, and Come Dancing. He was the BBC’s commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest every year from 1980 to 2008 and its host in 1998. From 2010 to 2015 he presented Weekend Wogan, a two-hour Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 2.
When he passed away in 2016, Britain was in mourning for a well-loved talk show host. As of 2023, at the time of his death, he was estimated to have a personal wealth of some $25 million.
At the time of his death in 2016, Terry Wogan was estimated to have an estimated net worth of $1.3 million dollars. Or about £1 million pounds according to Daily Mail. However it seems that he may have taken advice from an inheritance solicitor who may have neatly transferred assets before his departure.
Television contracts the imagination and radio expands it.
Terry Wogan
Johnny Carson
Net Worth: $200 million
No list of talk show hosts can be complete without mentioning Johnny Carson. He is the king of talk show host, best known as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for three decades. His easy-going style ensured a lot of interaction with his guests, and this quickly became the format of The Tonight Show.
Johnny Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Television Academy’s 1980 Governor’s Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.
As of 2023, at the time of his death in 2005, Johnny Carson was worth approximately $200 million.
There comes a time or a moment when you know in which direction you’re going to go.
Johnny Carson
