How Wendy Williams Achieved a Net Worth of $60 Million

The weekday Wendy Williams Show can be seen on major television networks (generally Fox) and has been a mainstay of daytime television for years. Hosted by Wendy Williams, it deals with controversial issues, discussing them with real people rather than a panel of intellectual experts. This is one reason the show has remained popular for many years and has allowed her to amass a total net worth of an estimated $60 million.

Reports are that her current salary from the show is $15 million a year, which includes any syndication of previous shows. As she has been doing the show for nine years, the basic calculation is that she has made $135 million before the tax man and expenses took some of those earnings away. Stashing away or investing 45 percent of our earnings is something we should all learn to do.

It can be said that despite all the pop culture examples of how people made millions of dollars without going to college (or even high school) Wendy Williams is an example of good old fashioned hard work and having a plan and a clue about her future. She attended Northwestern University in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. That step would launch her career in broadcast entertainment, as she would be a DJ at the university’s radio station, WRBB.

It would take her another 20 years before getting the opportunity to have her own TV show. She would find herself traveling to the Virgin Islands, Philadelphia, and eventually Manhattan where she would spend more time discussing her personal life’s successes and failures, establishing a brand that would eventually open up the door at Fox. If you think she is the type to walk the corporate line to achieve success, you are mistaken. She was fired from her Virgin Islands job for not sticking to the script.

From a financial perspective, none of these previous jobs contributed significantly to her current net worth. They were steps up the ladder, but were hardly responsible for her $60 million net worth. Yet had she not gone down this path she might have ended up somewhere else less profitable.

Though the lion’s share of Wendy’s income comes from her show, she has stepped out and ventured into other forms of media. Her biography, “Wendy’s Got the Heat,” was a New York Times bestseller, and she has continued to write about her life and her career. She has embodied the entrepreneurial spirit, and extends her earnings potential when the opportunities present themselves.

That spirit resulted in Williams creating her own fashion line of clothes, along with a jewelry brand and wig store. She turned her popularity into being cast in several Hollywood movies, including Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and Think like a Man. She also took advantage of opportunities to appear on classic TV soap operas like “One Life to Live.”

Earlier it was mentioned that Wendy was financially astute. Part of her net worth has been added to by her fleet of luxury cars. Models include Mercedes Benz, a Mini Cooper, and an Aston Martin estimated to be worth $350,000. We know cars depreciate over time, even the most regal brands. Williams is not necessarily buying the cars for their resale value but for a symbol of the quality of her life, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Raised in New Jersey, Williams stays put in her home state having bought a $2 million mansion to call home. Located in Livingstone, she once gave a tour of her mansion and displayed antiques but nothing overly garish. This is consistent with her general lifestyle and how she spends money.

Though her lifestyle may seem idyllic, there is a potential monster lurking in the shadows of her financial future in her husband. He was caught being unfaithful to her with there being rumors of continued infidelity. At 53, Williams does not seem to be too concerned about it, though that situation could change overnight. One reason is that she is beginning to have health problems, while the second is her shows have not had the same popularity as before. This combination could lead her to act to stabilize her personal life and cement retirement before her net worth is put at risk.

The future of Wendy Williams’ net worth is debatable. Her television ratings are declining and based on her health problems she may not have as much gas in the tank as she once did. The problems with her husband can also prove costly in the long run. It’s safe to say that we can expect her total net worth to begin declining, barring the discovery of any new or unknown financial assets.