How Rush Limbaugh Achieved a Net Worth of $590 Million

Rush Limbaugh should be a familiar name for people with an interest in conservative politics in the United States. After all, he is one of the most famous conservative commentators that can be found out there, which in turn, means that he is one of the highest-paid people in U.S. media. For proof, look no further than the fact that he is estimated to have a net worth of $590 million.

In short, Limbaugh was born in Cape Girardeau, which is a city that can be found in the county of the same name in the state of Missouri. He was named Rush because his grandfather wanted to honor a relative named Edna, whose maiden name was Rush. Regardless, Limbaugh spent some time at Southeast Missouri State University, but it wasn’t too long before he left to pursue other things. Supposedly, his mother said that he had no interest in anything but radio, which was why he flunked everything when he was at the school.

How Did Rush Limbaugh Reach His Current Net Worth?

Regardless, once Limbaugh left school, he wound up becoming a music disc jockey at a small radio station in the Pittsburgh area. Eventually, he managed to move to a bigger radio station in the same area but winded up being fired, with the result that he was told that he should become a salesman instead because he lacked the talent needed to make it in radio broadcasting. For a time, Limbaugh bounced around a number of radio stations until he managed to capitalize on the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, which required stations to give free air time for the responses to the controversial opinions that they broadcast.

From that point forward, Limbaugh started to become more and more popular. Moreover, he managed to catch a ride on a number of political events, with examples ranging from his relentless mockery of peace activists during the First Gulf War to his relentless criticism of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton’s policies. For a time, Limbaugh managed to secure a position as a NFL commentator, but it wasn’t too long when that came to a conclusion when he managed to say something about Donovan McNabb that was interpreted as being racist in nature by a lot of people. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that hasn’t stopped Limbaugh from making other controversial comments in other contexts, which haven’t had much effect on the momentum of his radio show.

By this point in time, there can be no doubt that Limbaugh is one of the most prominent voices in the Republican part of the U.S. political sphere. As such, he gets paid huge sums. For example, he signed a contract in 2008 through 2016 that resulted in him making $400 million. As such, it is no wonder that Forbes said in 2017 that he had made $84 million over the course of 12 months, thus making him one of the highest-paid celebrities in the entire world.

Besides his radio show, Limbaugh has benefited from the usual revenue streams that conservative commentators benefit from. This can be seen in how he has released bestselling books, which are pretty much what most people would expect from the output of such an opinionated individual. Regardless of their content, said books have managed to sell significant numbers, which in turn, have meant more revenue for Limbaugh.

Final Thoughts

Currently, Limbaugh’s net worth is estimated to be $590 million by some sources out there. However, it seems safe to say that number will continue to increase in the time to come because Limbaugh shows no signs of stopping. In fact, his most recent contract was signed in 2016, which extended his radio show to 2020.

Under these circumstances, while Limbaugh’s net worth is $590 million at this point in time, it is bound to see further increases in the times to come. It will be interesting to see what numbers his next contract will manage to fetch in 2020, particularly since his radio show seems to be going strong even in the current political climate. Otherwise, it seems unlikely that Limbaugh will reveal any other notable sources of income.