Stephen Colbert Is The King Of Late Night As Far As Salary Is Concerned, Here's Why
Competition in the late night arena is not quite as intense now as it was two decades ago. Back in the days of David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, the battle for ratings was very fiercely contested.
The new field of contention today would appear to be who earns the most, and consequently amassing the highest net worth. Still a relatively new entrant to the scene, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah has already managed to rise to the top of the tree, with his $100 million net worth.
This is attributable in large part to his $16 million annual salary on the Comedy Central show, a figure he shares with host of The Late Show on CBS, Stephen Colbert. Although Noah has been hosting his current show longer than Colbert has been at the helm of his, the latter is way more experienced in the American late night show scene.
Despite sometimes rubbing his guests the wrong way, Colbert has now become the king of late night salaries.
How Did Stephen Colbert Become The King Of Late-Night?
Colbert started hosting The Late Show in September 2015, following the retirement of the legendary David Letterman. At the time of his retirement, Letterman was taking home a staggering $14 million annual salary, and had become the highest paid host in late night circles.
When Colbert took over, his starting salary was $4.5 million, an actual decrease from his previous pay: $6 million as host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Having been viewed generally as a conservative comedian, Colbert’s chances of success in an increasingly liberal space were widely questioned.
The TV personality would soon prove his critics wrong, though, as his show very quickly became a hit with audiences. This success preceded a salary review, which would see his annual pay increase to $16 million, and place him squarely on top of the list of the highest-paid late night TV hosts.
Colbert would then reveal that The Late Show provided a platform for him to fully be himself. “I guess, flattering that people thought I was an actual pundit or a newsman, eventually, over the years,” he told CNN. “But it's really nice not to have to pretend it anymore.”
Colbert Is Worth An Estimated $75 Million
The apparent drop in ratings competition is not as a consequence of a dearth of talent in the arena. James Corden, Jimmy Fallon, Amber Ruffin and Jimmy Kimmel are just some of the notable names plying their trade in modern late night.
Apart from Noah, none of these hosts can boast the amount of wealth that Colbert does: an estimated $75 million net worth. His sister show on CBS - The Late Late Show - is led by British star James Corden, who earns around $9 million per year and is worth an estimated $70 million.
Jimmy Fallon’s (The Tonight Show) net worth is around $60 million, while that of Jimmy Kimmel on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! is about $50 million. Conan O’Brien is another member of the band, although he is not currently active in the late night show scene.
Had that been the case, he’d be ranked as the highest in terms of net worth, with his total assets valued at around $150 million. Even then, his most recent salary - at Conan on TBS was still about $4 million shy of what Colbert currently earns on The Late Show.
Greg Gutfeld Overtook Colbert’s Ratings
The advent of social - and other new - media has changed the landscape in terms of the chase for ratings, with each of these late night show personalities carving out their own unique niches instead. This does not mean, however, that ratings no longer count - or that they are not tracked at all for that matter.
Colbert’s unique style bears all manner of different experiences on The Late Show - from the very well choreographed, to the downright uncomfortable. This unpredictability makes for a brilliant show with very good ratings, a factor that directly links back to his leading salary figures.
Yet the TV personality has found his ratings supremacy being challenged from a rather unlikely source: Greg Gutfeld is the 57-year-old host of Gutfeld! on Fox News. He recently made news for being the first conservative comic to overtake The Late Show ratings, in August 2021.
While there was a time Gutfeld and Colbert might have been deemed to be on the same team, the contrast could not be any clearer today. With the gulf between right and left being bigger than it has ever been, it is no surprise that an outsider like Gutfeld gets the platform to take on Colbert, the reigning king of late night salaries.
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