The 20 Richest Game Show Hosts of All-Time
When thinking of the richest people in the entertainment industry, it is often those who act in films or on television that spring to mind. However, there are many ways that people can become wealthy while working in entertainment, including working as a game show host.
Depending on the host’s appeal and the success of the game show, there is the potential for game show hosts to become both professionally and financially successful. Whether they are involved in any other ventures will also impact on their overall net worth. Here are the 20 richest game show hosts of all-time.
20. Chuck Woolery Net Worth – $15 Million
Woolery is a game show host, talk show host, and musician born in Kentucky in 1941, and he began his career in entertainment in 1963. He was the original host of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ from 1975 to 1981, ‘Love Connection’ between 1983 and 1994, and ‘Scrabble’ from 1984 to 1990. Woolery then hosted the revival of ‘Scrabble’ in 1993. Chuck Woolery was also the game show host of ‘Greed’ between 1999 and 2000, and ‘Lingo from 2002 to 2007.
19. Tom Bergeron Net Worth – $16 Million
Tom Bergeron began his career in 1981, and he is still active today. He has had many roles in the entertainment industry, including game show host, television personality, actor, and comedian. He is best known for being the former host of ‘Hollywood Squares,’ ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos,’ and ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ Bergeron has been married to Lois Bergeron since 1982, and the couple has two daughters together.
18. Ben Stein Net Worth – $20 Million
Ben Stein was the game show host of ‘Ben Stein’s Money’ from 1997 to 1993. In addition to his salary for this series, Stein was paid up to $5000 per episode. However, any money won by the contestants was deducted from his pay.
Although he has worked as a game show host, this is not how Stein made most of his $20 million fortune, as he has had many other careers. Including working as a lawyer, actor, comedian, and a commentator on political and economic issues.
17. Bob Eubanks Net Worth – $25 Million
Probably best-known for hosting ‘The Newlywed Game’ and ‘Card Sharks,’ Bob Eubanks began his career in 1956. Due to his successful career, Eubanks has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he received the lifetime achievement Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2005. Despite being in his 80s, Eubanks continues to work in entertainment.
16. Meredith Vieira Net Worth – $40 Million
According to Cheat Sheet, Meredith Vieira has a net worth of $40 million. Currently, Vieira is the host of the weekday game show ’25 Words or Less’. However, she is also known for her talk show ‘The Meredith Vieira Show,’ ‘The View,’ ‘Today,’ and as the original host of the daytime version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire from 2002 to 2013. She is married to Richard M. Cohen, and they have three children.
15. Jeff Probst Net Worth – $40 Million
Born in Kansas in 1961, Jeff Probst began his career in 1996. He is best known as a reality series host, particularly as the host of ‘Survivor,’ and as the host of ‘The Jeff Probst Show.’ However, he has also worked as a game show host.
He was the host of ‘Rock & Roll Jeopardy’ from 1999 to 2001. In 2008, Probst won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for Reality or Reality-Competition Program. He has been married twice, and he is a stepfather to his second wife’s two children from a former marriage.
14. Howie Mandel Net Worth – $40 Million
It is estimated that Howie Mandel has a net worth of $40 million, says Talent Recap. He has made his fortune through his work as a television and film actor, television personality, screenwriter, comedian, game show host, producer, director, author, and entrepreneur. In terms of his career as a game show host, he has hosted ‘Deal or No Deal’ from 2005 to the present day. Howie Mandel married Terry Soil in 1980, and the couple has two daughters and a son together.
13. Anne Robinson Net Worth – $45 Million
Anne Robinson is an English journalist and television presenter. Her first job as a game show host was hosting ‘Scaredy Cat’ for the Nickelodeon network in the United States. However, she is best known for presenting ‘The Weakest Link’ in the UK and its US counterpart’ Weakest Link.’ She is known for her catchphrase, ‘You are the weakest link—goodbye!’, which she follows with her trademark wink. Robinson is also known for her acid tongue and sarcasm.
12. Pat Sajak Net Worth – $45 Million
‘Wheel of Fortune’ is the game show for which Pat Sajak is best known. For his work hosting this show, Sajak has won three Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, although he had been nominated on 19 occasions.
In 2019, Sajak broke the world record for the longest career as a game show host, as he hosted ‘Wheel of Fortune’ for 38 years and 198 days. Currently, he is signed to continue hosting this game show until 2022. In his personal life, Pat Sajak is married to Lesly Brown Sajak, and the couple has a son and a daughter together. Their daughter, Maggie Sajak, is a country and western singer.
11. Alex Trebek Net Worth – $50 Million
George Alexander Trebek, better known as Alex Trebek, was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1940, although he has dual American and Canadian citizenship. He is a game show host, television personality, and actor who began his career in 1961.
Since the revival of ‘Jeopardy!’ in 1984, Trebek has hosted the popular game show. For his work on this show, Trebek has received 31 nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, and he has won on seven occasions.
He has also hosted multiple other game shows, including ‘Double Dare,’ ‘The Wizard of Odds,’ ‘To Tell the Truth,’ and ‘Classic Concentration.’ Trebek has been married twice, and he has two children with his second wife. Sadly Trebek is no longer with us.
10. Bob Barker Net Worth – $70 Million
Bob Barker was a game show host from 1960 to 2007. He was born in Washington in 1923, and he was in the United States Navy during World War II before he began his career in entertainment. He hosted his first game show, ‘Truth or Consequence,’ in 1956, and continued to host this show until 1974.
It led to him hosting many more game shows. Throughout his career, some of the game shows he hosted included ‘The Price Is Right’ from 1972 to 2007 and ‘Simon Says’ in 1971. Furthermore, he hosted the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants from 1967 to 1987. In addition to his television career, Bob Barker is an animal rights activist. He was married to Dorothy Jo Gideon from 1945 until her death from lung cancer in 1981.
9. Steve Harvey Net Worth – $100 Million
Broderick Stephen Harvey is better known by his professional name Steve Harvey. He began his career in 1985, and he has worked as a comedian, television host, entertainer, and businessman. The series he hosts include ‘Miss Universe,’ ‘Family Feud,’ ‘Celebrity Family Feud,’ and ‘The Steve Harvey Morning Show.’
In addition to his career in front of the camera, Steve Harvey founded the Steve Harvey Global entertainment company in 2017. This company includes a production company called East 112, along with many other ventures. Harvey has been married three times and has seven children.
8. Jeff Foxworthy Net Worth – $100 Million
Jeff Foxworthy has enjoyed an extensive career in various aspects of the entertainment industry. As a game show host, he is known for hosting ‘The American Bible Challenge,’ which is a biblical-themed game show, and the game show ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?’ from 2007 to 2015. Foxworthy is also known as the host of ‘The American Baking Competition,’ a food reality competition series. Foxworthy has been married to Pamela Gregg since 1985, and the couple has two children.
7. Don Francisco Net Worth – $100 Million
Don Francisco retired earlier in 2020, but he had enjoyed a long career as a television host that began in 1962. Born in Talca, Chile, in 1940, Francisco is known in his home country and by Spanish-speaking viewers in the United States. Although he is best known for hosting variety shows, he has also hosted game shows. Francisco was married to Teresa Muchnik Rosenblum from 1962 to 2019, and the couple has four children together.
6. Regis Philbin Net Worth – $150 Million
Once known as the hardest working man in show business, Regis Philbin was a presenter, actor, game show host, and talk show host who was born in New York City in 1931. Despite his death in 2020, he retains the Guinness World Record for the most hours on U.S. television.
During his career, which began in 1955, Philbin hosted game shows including ‘The Neighbors’, ‘Almost Anything Goes,’ ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,’ and its spin-off ‘Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire.’
5. Drew Carey Net Worth – $165 Million
Since his career in entertainment began in 1985, Drew Carey has had many roles, including games show host, sports executive, comedian, actor, and voice actor. In terms of his game show host career, Carey is known as the host of ‘Power of 10’ and ‘The Price is Right.’
He originally gained fame when he starred in his own sitcom ‘The Drew Carey Show.’ Carey is also known as the host of ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’, an improv comedy show.
4. Dick Clark Net Worth – $200 Million
Richard ‘Dick’ Clark was a radio and television personality who was born in New York in 1929. He is best known as the game show host of ‘Pyramid.’ Other game shows he hosted include ‘The Challengers,’ ‘Let’s Make a Deal,’ ‘Scattergories,’ ‘Winning Lines,’ and ‘It Takes Two.’
He was also an executive producer of ‘Greed.’ In addition to his entertainment career, Clark was involved in several business ventures, including having a stake in a chain of music-themed restaurants and owning several theaters. Clark was married three times, and he had three children from his first two marriages. He died from a heart attack in 2012 at the age of 82.
3. Ryan Seacrest Net Worth – $300 Million
Seacrest is probably best known as the host of ‘American Idol’ and for his work as a radio presenter. However, he has also worked as a game show host. According to IMDb, Seacrest hosted ‘The Million Second Quiz’ in 2013 and has also been on the panel of several game shows featuring celebrities. In his early career, he was the host of ‘Gladiators 2000’ and ‘Wild Animal Games.’
2. Johnny Carson Net Worth – $300 Million
Although Johnny Carson is probably best-known as a host of ‘The Tonight Show,’ he began his career in radio in 1950. He went on to host multiple television series, and he was also the game show host of ‘Who Do You Trust?’ from 1957 to 1962. He was less successful in his personal life as he was married four times, and three of his marriages ended in divorce.
1. Merv Griffin Net Worth – $1 Billion
The richest game show host of all-time is Merv Griffin. Born in California in 1925, Griffin was a television show host and media mogul. He is best known as the host of his own talk show, ‘The Merv Griffin Show.’ His career in game shows involved both hosting the shows and creating them. Griffin was the host of ‘Play Your Hunch’ and ‘Keep Talking.’ He was also the creator of ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ Merv Griffin died of prostate cancer in 2007 at the age of 82.
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