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American television host and comedian, David Michael Letterman has an estimated net worth of $425 million. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. He has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC.
The late night giant owns his own show and his long-time production company pulls in millions of dollars from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens.
David Michael Letterman was born April 12, 1947, in Indianapolis, IN. Letterman's background was eclectic: he graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana in 1969, and was once an all-purpose announcer on station WLWI in Indianapolis, a job which included introducing movies and serving as a substitute weatherman.
He worked his way into stand-up comedy (appearing on Carson's show in 1978) and wrote and performed on various comedy shows, including his own failed morning show on NBC. He clicked almost immediately in the late-night spot, and his show was a hit throughout the 1980s. Letterman later made no secret of his wish to host the Tonight Show once Carson retired; when NBC gave that job to Jay Leno in 1992, Letterman jumped to CBS and began the competing The Late Show with David Letterman. He's been a fixture on CBS ever since. A new contract will keep him on CBS until 2014, by which time he will have eclipsed Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late-night host.
Earnings & Financial Data
Date |
Category |
Description |
Amount |
---|---|---|---|
2012 |
Asset |
The estimated value of Letterman's 108-acre estate in Westchester County, New York |
$10,000,000 |
2012 |
Salary |
Letterman's annual salary with CBS |
$20,000,000 |
2008 |
Salary |
Letterman's estimated annual salary accdg to a New York Times article |
$32,000,000 |
1992 |
Salary |
Salary from Late Show with David Letterman plus show profits and licensing |
$31,500,000 |
1991 |
Contract |
In 1992, he was signed to a three-year $14 million/year contract |
$42,000,000 |
1981 |
Salary |
Late Night with David Letterman salary |
$7,000,000 |
1979 |
Salary |
The David Letterman Show salary |
$1,000,000 |