David Letterman net worth
Number of divisions: 14
What is David Letterman’s net worth and salary?
David Letterman is an American comedian and former late-night talk show host with a net worth of US$400 million. In the past few years, Letterman can easily earn $50 million in licensing and joint fees per year, but this number has declined slightly in recent years.
early life
David Micheal Letterman was born on April 12, 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has an older sister and an older sister. His parents are Harry the flower shop and Dorothy Letterman, the church secretary. His father died of a heart attack at the age of 57. Letterman attended Broad Ripple High School and worked as a stock boy in a local supermarket. He graduated from the Department of Television and Broadcasting at Ball State University in 1969.
Early career
Letterman worked as an announcer and news announcer for WBST, a student radio station at Ball State University. He was fired for speaking satirically and humorously on the topic of classical music. After graduation, he started working as a weatherman for Indianapolis Television. He is known for his unpredictable behavior and casual humor on the radio, such as sometimes reporting the weather in a fictional city. In 1975, encouraged by his family and friends, he moved to Los Angeles to become a comedy writer. There, he started performing stand-up comedy in The Comedy Store. He established many connections through stand-up comedy, and wrote and guest appearances for various small shows, TV shows and game shows before 1978.He conducted a screen test for the protagonist of the 1980s airplane!, But this role was ultimately taken by Robert Hayes.In the end, his irony and dry humor caught the attention of the scouts The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, He quickly became Carson’s favorite comedian and frequent guest on the show. Letterman has always believed that Carson had the greatest impact on his career.
(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Late night career
On June 23, 1980, Dave watched his own morning comedy show on NBC. Although very successful, the ratings were disappointing and it was cancelled after only four months. However, NBC tried to transfer him to a different time period. David Letterman’s Late Night It premiered in February 1982. The first guest is Bill Murray. The show airs from Monday to Thursday at 12:30 am Eastern Time, immediately following the show tonight. Because of Dave’s disrespect, arrogance, cynicism, self-deprecating humor and quirky points, it has gained a fanatical following among college students and young people. Dave quickly became known for being a keen and straightforward interviewer, and many fans found his honesty refreshing. The show is also notorious for its bizarre sketches, such as “Stupid Pet Techniques” and top 10 list clips.
Johnny Carson (Johnny Carson) retired in 1992, fans eagerly believe that Letterman will take over the Tonight Show. However, shockingly, NBC handed this job to Jay Leno. Letterman left NBC to host his own show, David Letterman Evening Show, Opposite to CBS Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, For an eternal duel on their shared 11:30 p.m. time slot. The show premiered at the historic Ed Sullivan Theatre on August 30, 1993. CBS signed a three-year, $14 million contract with Letterman, which doubled his previous salary at NBC. Letterman played down his quirky and unique sense of humor to some extent, in anticipation of more, more traditional and more conservative audiences. He added Paul Shaffer and his band as partners on the show and extended the opening monologue. He was able to retain many of the iconic parts of his previous show by renaming it slightly (ie, the top ten list became the top ten in the evening show). For many years, Letterman and Renault were notorious competitors, and everyone took turns taking the top spot, depending on the year. Letterman’s show was very popular and well received. In his first 20 years late at night, he won 67 Emmy nominations and 12 victories.
Letterman announced his retirement in April 2014, and his last episode of Star-studded Grand Romance was broadcast on May 20, 2015, with a total of 13.76 million viewers. Announced that Stephen Colbert will succeed Letterman. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of late night and late night shows. He surpassed his mentor and friend Carson to become the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history.
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Late performance
Letterman spent most of his retirement in a low-key state, putting his attention and money into various pursuits and charities in his mind. His private foundation, The Letterman Courtesy and Beauty Foundation, has donated millions of dollars to non-profit organizations including the American Cancer Society, Doctors Without Borders, and Ball State University. He continues to own Worldwide Pants Incorporated, which he founded in 1991. The company produced his show and continued to produce several other shows. In 2018, Letterman started hosting a project on Netflix called David Letterman no need to introduce my next guest. Barack Obama is his first guest. The second season premiered on May 31, 2019.
personal life
In January 2000, after doctors discovered that one of Dave’s arteries was severely blocked during a routine examination, he was rushed to the emergency room for five-fold bypass surgery. During his recovery, he hired guests to host the show.
Dave married his college girlfriend Michelle Cook in 1968. They divorced in October 1977, just after they moved to Los Angeles. He maintained a long-term relationship with late night producer Meril Marco from 1978 to 1988. It is said that she had a great influence on the development of his comedy style.
Letterman began dating Regina Lasko in February 1986, and Lasko gave birth to their son in 2003. The couple married in 2009 and live in North Salem, New York with the whole family.
In 2005, the police discovered a conspiracy to kidnap his son and demand a ransom of 5 million U.S. dollars. A house painter who had worked for Letterman was accused of participating in the conspiracy.
Letterman was the victim of an attempted blackmail in 2009. The person threatened to disclose his affairs with several female employees. Letterman confirmed the authenticity of these things and used a clip on October 5, 2009 to publicly apologize to his wife and staff.
Letterman admitted to fighting alcohol addiction and anxiety, and he stopped drinking.
Real estate and other venture capital
Dave used his bundle to become a real estate tycoon. He owns a 108-acre estate in Westchester County, New York (purchase price: 88 acres were purchased for US$5 million in 1994, and the rest for US$5 million in 2007); 2,700 acres near the Montana Castle A pasture; a place on Martha’s Vineyard; and a house in St. Barth. He co-owns Rahal Letterman Racing, the IndyCar League team.
