How much is Steve Wilkos worth?
| Net Worth: | $6 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional TV Personality |
| Date of Birth: | March 9, 1964 (age 58) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) |
About Steve Wilkos
Steve Wilkos, whose full name is Steven John Wilkes, is an American (occasional) actor, former law enforcement officer, and television host and personality. He has made sporadic appearances on films and television series since the 1990s. He gained popularity when he became the director of security on The Jerry Springer Show from 1992 to 2006. The following year, in 2007, he landed his own talk show titled The Steve Wilkos Show on NBC.
He was born on March 9, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois. He is one of the four children to Stanley, a former police officer that took part in the Korean War as an army paratrooper, and Roscoe, a beauty school instructor. Steve attended the Lane Technical High School, from which he graduated in 1982.
Just after his graduation, driven by his passion for military and action, he joined the United States Marine Corps just before he turned 20 years old. For the next six and a half years, he served in various states and countries such as Illinois, Virginia, South Carolina, South Korea, China, and Japan. He was discharged in March 1989 and upon his arrival home, he joined the Chicago Police Department. In the department, he was stationed at various times in different neighborhoods such as Chicago, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, and Near West Side to name a few.
Besides landing a role in the distinguished Syndication tabloid talk show, acting in films and television series helped the former police officer become rich. Presently, Wilkos’ net worth exceeds an estimated $6 million. His television career began in the early 1990s when his resume impressed Jerry Springer and the Syndication officials who offered him a role on Springer’s show. He signed a multi-year contract with the show in May 1994 and began working as a security guard.
Thanks to his work in the show for well over a decade, Steve earned an estimated $1.5 million dollar net worth. In 2004, he retired from the force and made sporadic appearances on television, including on The Jerry Springer Show.
In 2005, it was reported by Entertainment Weekly that he had ventured into a wrestling career and began wrestling for the promotion Maryland Championship Wrestling. That year, after his short-lived wrestling career, Steve began working as a replacement to Jerry Springer, who was having a seven-episodes long stint on the dancing competition Dancing with the Stars.
September that year, just two months after his departure as the director of security. Thanks to his fame and association with Springer, Wilkos quickly accumulated millions of viewers on his show. Most recently, after 13 seasons and over 2,000 episodes, NBC announced the show was renewed for two additional seasons.
Besides the two highly-praised syndicated talk shows, Steve Wilkos is also known for being an occasional actor. His acting debut came in the television series WXW Rage TV in 1996. He then appeared in other projects such as The Wayans Bros and Kismet.
Concurrently with his appearances on The Jerry Springer Show, he also made sporadic appearances on other shows such as The Roseanne Show, Fuel TV, Revealed with Jules Asner, Identity, Maury, and Bethenny. Most recently, he became a panelist on The Wendy Williams Show and has had multiple appearances on Celebrity Page since 2015.
Wilkos’ Total Net Worth
Steve Wilkos has earned estimated total career income of $15 million dollars. As Wilkos has lived between the states of California, Wisconsin and Connecticut, and probably paid around 45% in taxes on his career income. After tax, it is estimated that his career earnings are at around $8.25 million dollars, having paid $6.75 million dollars in taxes.
Steve Wilkos has been married three times and has been divorced twice. He married Rosae Wilkos in 1985 and they divorced two years later, in 1987. He married Hannah Wilkos in 1999 and they divorced that same year. He later married Rachelle Wilkos in 2000 and they remain together. He has two children with Rachelle, Ruby and Jack Wilkos. The family bought a property in 2008 for $543,000 in Wisconsin and, a year later, paid $1.9 million for a property in Connecticut.
In his personal life he has likely spent $2-3 million dollars, including alimony payments, of his career earnings but also earned $1.5 million dollars from his investments. He will have also had to pay around $700,000 in business costs. Therefore, it is estimated that Steve Wilkos has a net worth of about $6 million dollars.
Summing-Up
Steve Wilkos is a familiar face on television, especially on the Syndication and NBC networks. He made his television debut in the 1990s and became famous after he joined The Jerry Springer Show. After working there as the director of security guards for nearly two decades, thanks to which he also became a millionaire, the television personality became a host of his own NBC show. In addition to hosting The Steve Wilkos Show, Steve has made sporadic appearances on other television series, talk shows, and realities.
