Tucker Carlson Net Worth (Money & Salary)

Know about Tucker Carlson’s worth and salary

Tucker Carlson, the American political commentator, and author possesses a worth of $50 million. He served as a CNN commentator from 2000 to 2005. During 2005 to 2008, he hosted a show on MSNBC. Transitioning to Fox News in 2009, he went on to host the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” show from 2016 onwards.

On April 24, 2023, Tucker’s surprising exit from Fox News took place, closely following Fox’s settlement of a defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems worth $787.5 million. This event had major repercussions in the media industry. On the same day, a similar unexpected firing occurred at CNN with Don Lemon.

Aside from his television endeavors, Tucker is one of the founders of The Daily Caller. He is also an accomplished author and columnist. In a recent turn of events, on May 9, 2023, Tucker announced his decision to launch a new show on Twitter, forgoing an estimated $25 million owed to him from his Fox News contract. Further details on this and other Tucker contracts will follow.

Earnings & Fox Contract

Tucker Carlson was raking in $10 million annually during his peak time at Fox before his termination.

Transitioning from a weekend correspondent to filling Bill O’Reilly’s former prime-time slot at 8 pm led to a raise in his salary from $2 million to $6 million annually. Although this seemed substantial, O’Reilly had been earning $25 million. Tucker’s success in ratings quickly outpaced O’Reilly’s.

Operational under his contract until February 2021, Tucker signed a 3-year extension enhancing his earnings to $10 million. This extension included hosting a podcast with interviews from his show and monthly originals called “Tucker Carlson Originals.”

Prior to his abrupt exit, negotiations were ongoing for another contract extension extending his Fox tenure till 2029.

The future course with Tucker and Fox is uncertain. Fox could elect to terminate his contract without payment by proving a just cause for his dismissal. In contrast, Fox could aim to retain Tucker under contract to prevent him from joining a rival network. This would mean adhering to the terms of his former contract earning $10 million a year for a set duration without appearing on other networks or denouncing Fox publicly.

On May 9, 2023, Tucker decisively chose to abandon his Fox contract, opting to pursue his new show independently on Twitter. Foregoing an estimated $25 million intended from his Fox contract, Tucker broke free from his earlier obligations.

Early Years

San Francisco-born Tucker spent his formative years in Southern California. His father, Richard Warner Carlson, was an LA news anchor and Seychelles ambassador. At the age of 10, Tucker’s mother left, and his father later wedded Patricia Caroline Swanson, who inherited significant wealth from her grandfather, the Swanson frozen foods empire founder.

He graduated with a history degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1991.

Career Milestones

Commencing his journalism journey in print media with stints at outlets like Policy Review and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Tucker progressed to become a columnist for periodicals including Reader’s Digest and New York Magazine. He also made appearances in various newspapers and magazines such as Esquire, The Weekly Standard, The New Republic, The New York Times Magazine, and The Daily Beast. His TV career started as a host of CNN’s panel discussion program Crossfire, advocating the right-wing perspective.

Carlson gained notoriety during a confrontational interview with comedian Jon Stewart, which many believe led to Crossfire’s termination shortly after. Since then, he has secured roles at CNN’s competitors, MSNBC, and most recently at Fox News.

Known for his conservative views and signature bow tie, Carlson elevated to the slot vacated by Bill O’Reilly at Fox News in 2017. This move propelled “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to become Fox News’s highest-rated show within a few years, with an average nightly viewership of 3.4 million, surpassing his CNN and MSNBC counterparts combined.

On April 24, 2023, the media landscape was shocked by Tucker’s immediate departure from Fox News, marking his final broadcast on April 21st.

Authorship Endeavors

Around his Fox News promotion, Tucker inked a profitable book deal valued at $15 million covering multiple titles. Carlson’s works include “Politicians, Partisans, and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News” in 2003, “Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution” in 2018, and “The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism” in 2021.

Daily Caller Initiative

In 2010, Tucker and Neil Patel co-founded DailyCaller.com, a right-wing news and opinion platform marketed as a conservative counterpart to The Huffington Post. In June 2020, Tucker transferred his 1/3 ownership stake to Patel for an undisclosed sum.

Personal Details

Susan Andrews has been Tucker’s spouse since 1991. The duo met and later wed at St. George School’s chapel in Middletown, Rhode Island, a boarding high school. They share four children. Additionally, Tucker is left-handed and dyslexic.

For almost a decade, Tucker and his brother Buckley have been entangled in a legal battle concerning their late mother’s estate. Lisa Vaughn, their mother, inherited an oil and gas partnership in central California totaling 70,000 acres. Initially assumed to hold minimal value, it was later revealed to be worth a minimum of $2.5 million. A lawsuit against their mother’s estate, wherein each brother was bequeathed a nominal $1, remains unresolved to date.

Property Portfolio

The Carlsons divide their time between their Florida residence and a property on his family’s estate in Maine. In 2011, Tucker and Susan..

Traded down from a $4 million home to a $2 million home in the Washington D.C. neighborhood of Kent, they managed to sell that house for $2.04 million in November 2017. In July 2017, a new house was purchased again in the same neighborhood of Kent for $3.895 million, which was later put up for sale in July 2020 for $3.95 million, seeing a slight increase. The home was sold within a month at asking price. The decision to sell the home reportedly came after a group of protestors entered the driveway and even rang their doorbell.

In early 2020, Tucker acquired a home on Gasparilla Island in Florida for $2.9 million. By mid-2022, they had purchased a second home on Gasparilla for $5.5 million. These side-by-side properties are situated within a community called Boca Grande.