Breaking News: These Are The Highest-Paid Journalists, News Anchors, and Reporters on TV

Net Worth: $25 million*
Currently Seen On: Shepard Smith Reporting 

Fox News anchor Shepard “Shep” Smith was born in Mississippi, and he was educated at the University of Mississippi. He was the host of The Fox Report in the evening, as well as Studio B, before he was moved to a 3PM time slot. His ratings, despite being at 3PM, are consistent with the rest of his colleagues, as he is popular among viewers.

Shepard Smith @ AngeloMarzocco / Twitter.com

Smith first got on TV as a reporter in Panama City and then Fort Myers. After anchoring in Miami, he moved to LA as a correspondent for the program A Current Affair. Fox picked him up in 1996.

In 2018, Fox appeared happy with Smith’s work, and the network announced that it was going to resign him to a multi-year contract on March 5, 2018. However, a little over a year later, the anchor announced that he would be leaving Fox for good. He’s currently with CNBC.  

Net Worth: $16 million*
Currently Seen On: Special Report with Bret Baier

Born in New Jersey, Bret Baier is the host of the eponymous news show on Fox called Special Report with Bret Baier. He was Fox’s chief White House correspondent and served as a correspondent to the Pentagon. He was educated at DePauw University. He started as a substitute for Brit Hume in the fall of 2007, after serving as a WHC during George W. Bush’s administration.

Bret Baier @FOXNFL1 / Twitter.com

Baier was, and still is close with former president George W. Bush, and his son was even examined by the White House doctor after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition.

Baier has been recognized by several awards’ organizations. In 2016, he received the Kenneth Tomlinson Award for Outstanding Journalism, which was part of the Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship. Baier received the Sal Taishoff Award from the National Press Foundation a year later (again, for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism). In 2018, he took home the Urbino Press Award.   

Net Worth: $12 million*
Currently Seen On: Fox News Sunday

Chris Wallace is a TV host who has won three Emmys, a Silver Baton, and a Paul White Lifetime Achievement Award. He first started his journalism career at NBC after he graduated from Harvard University. He was a reporter at WNBC-TV in New York before transferring to NBC’s Washington bureau as a political correspondent.

Chris Wallace @TPM / Twitter.com

He was a co-anchor there before he moved to Fox News. He joined Fox in 2003, departing ABC after working there since 1989. He was the host of more than one major Sunday political talk show, being the only person to have ever done so.

Wallace has also been a longtime favorite debate host, especially in presidential races. He is certainly well-qualified for this, as he has won a Paul White Lifetime Achievement Award, a DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, three Emmys, and a Peabody Award for his work in journalism. He and his wife, Lorraine Smothers, have eight children together.  

Net Worth: $12 million*
Currently Seen On: Fox 

Jeanine Pirro is a former prosecutor and judge. She currently hosts Justice with Jeanine, a Fox News program. Pirro has hosted the show since 2011. Pirro previously appeared on NBC News and The Today Show before moving to Fox. The former judge has her undergraduate degree from the University of Buffalo and her law degree from Albany Law School.

Judge Jeanine Pirro @judgejeaninepirro / Facebook.com

Pirro was married to Albert Pirro, a fellow lawyer. Pirro is a published author as well, having written several books about her views. Pirro holds the distinction of being the first female judge to be elected in Westchester County, NY.

Pirro, who once said that she knew she wanted to be a lawyer when she was six years old, just published a new book. In 2020, Don’t Lie To Me: And Stop Trying to Steal Our Freedom was published. The book has done well in sales so far, according to Pirro.    

Net Worth: $40 million*
Currently Seen On: Good Morning America 

Educated at Columbia University and Oxford, George Stephanopoulos was born in Massachusetts to parents of Greek descent. He first worked as a floor man in the U.S. House of Representatives, helping various politicians before he decided that the pressure of politics in that context was too much.

George Stephanopoulos © Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com

He switched to reporting. He became a reporter in 2002 for This Week and was the ABC News Chief White House Correspondent. He became popular with viewers immediately, and he even moderated the first presidential debate in 2008 between Democratic candidates. He now hosts Good Morning America, taking Diane Sawyer’s spot after she retired.

Stephanopoulos, in addition to receiving a high salary from his network, also makes a lot of money doing public speaking. For example, in 2009 the anchor spoke at the Tri-C Presidential Scholarship Luncheon at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. The anchor is married to Ali Wentworth, an actress, writer, and comedian.

Net Worth: $8 million*
Currently Seen On: The Story with Martha MacCallum 

Born in Buffalo, New York, Martha MacCallum is part of the Fox News Network. Her show, The Story with Martha MacCallum, has frequently featured interviews that have been played on other networks and shows besides Fox. She worked for the Wall Street Journal before switching to NBC.

Martha MacCallum @ MonicaGrayley / Twitter.com

She then created the series called Inside the Business, which aired briefly on CNBC. She joined Fox in 2004, and she was the presidential election correspondent for four different elections. She became the host of The First 100 Days, which airs on Fox. 

Like many of the other journalists on this list, MacCallum has been nominated for (and won) several awards. Twice, she has received the Gracie Award for Women in Journalism, an award for women who have made strides in the media. She also was given the Soldiersocks Commitment to Serve Award.

Net Worth: $50 million*
Currently Seen On: Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo

Maria Bartiromo was born in Brooklyn and earned her degree in journalism at New York University. She first became well-known for her shows Mornings with Maria and Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street. She was the first reporter to ever broadcast live on the floor of the NYSE. She works for Fox Business Networkas the global markets editor. She also hosts a financial program, Sunday Morning Futures, where she discusses politics and the economy.

Maria Bartiromo © Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com

She worked for CNN for five years and then went off to work at CNBC for twenty years. Following her twenty-five years of working at those news outlets, She joined the Fox business team in 2013.

The anchor is also a published author, having written and published three books, one of which appeared on the Wall Street Journal and New York Times’ Bestseller Lists.  Her books include Use the News, The 10 Laws of Enduring Success, and The Weekend That Changed Wall Street, published in 2001, 2010, and 2011 respectively.

Net Worth: $35 million*
Currently Seen On: Good Morning America 

TV personality Robin Roberts was born in Alabama, and she received her degree in communication from Southeastern Louisiana University. She is the anchor of Good Morning America alongside George Stephanopoulos. Her father was a Tuskegee Airmen pilot. She first became an anchor in New Orleans at a WWL-TV station.

Robin Roberts © lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Roberts worked for ESPN first before becoming a GMA anchor. She was known for her famous interview of Chris Brown, where she fiercely dug into his relationship with Rihanna. Roberts is also a cancer survivor; She returned to GMA after receiving treatment for her illness.

For her battle against cancer, ESPN awarded her the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. The NBA awarded her its Sager Strong Award in 2019. Roberts is also the recipient of a Peabody Award. She is the tenth person ever to be named an honorary Harlem Globetrotter. The anchor is also a published author, having written three books.

Net Worth: $20 million*
Currently Seen On: The Rachel Maddow Show

Political host and commentator Rachel Maddow was born in California. She attended Stanford University and Lincoln College in Oxford. She hosts the eponymous Rachel Maddow Show, which airs nightly on NBC and is one of the station’s most popular shows. She also is a co-anchor for special events alongside Brian Williams.

Rachel Maddow © Juli Hansen / Shutterstock.com

She has a talk radio show, The Rachel Maddow Show, which airs on Air America Radio. She made history by becoming the first openly gay anchor to ever host a major, prime-time news show in America. She is also an author. She has written a book about American military power. 

Maddow is also a history buff, and she launched a podcast in October 2018 on the subject. Her first topic covered on the podcast (which is called Bag Man and is produced by MSNBC) focused on Spiro Agnew and the events of 1973. Additionally, in 1995, Maddow became the first openly-gay Rhodes Scholarship winner.

Net Worth: $20 million*
Currently Seen On: N/A (Left Fox in 2018)

Kimberly Guilfoyle is another attorney turned news anchor. Guilfoyle worked in California as a prosecutor for the San Francisco DA’s office. She was married to Gavin Newsom, the current governor of California, from 2001 until 2006. Guilfoyle worked for Fox from 2006 until 2018.

Kimberly Guilfoyle @Jezebel / Twitter.com

She resigned from Fox in 2018, with a Fox spokesperson describing her departure as a parting of ways. It remains to be seen whether Guilfoyle will return to television. Currently, she works for a PAC (Political Action Committee), campaigning for politicians. The former First Lady of San Francisco is an alumnus of the University of California.

Now, Guilfoyle has turned more to behind-the-scenes activism in politics. Though she is famous for her work on Fox with The Five, she would later join a super PAC to campaign for her preferred candidates during the 2018 midterms. She is a super PAC worker now, preparing for future elections.

Net Worth: $12 million*
Currently Seen On: CNN 

Chris Cuomo is a graduate of both Yale University and Fordham University. The anchor is the brother of Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, and the son of Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York. Cuomo started out his journalism career with guest appearances on major networks like CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC.

Chris Cuomo @ChrisCCuomo / Facebook.com

He co-anchored 20/20, where he did a story on the opioid crisis, and how it is affecting suburban families. That special helped further his career, and policy change has often come after he chases down a tip or follows a story.

Now, you can catch Cuomo on CNN, hosting the weeknight news analysis show called Cuomo Prime Time. Before he worked for CNN, he spent time at ABC as the chief law correspondent and one of the anchors of the show New Day. In 2018, he made the switch to CNN to host his own eponymous show.

Net Worth: $4 million*
Currently Seen On: NBC

Katy Tur graduated from UCSB with a degree in philosophy. In her early career, she worked for KTLA, HD News, News 12 Brooklyn, and several other local New York City stations (though Tur is from Los Angeles). She then joined the Weather Channel as a VORTEX2 storm chaser.

Katy Tur @KatyTurNBC / Facebook.com

Tur joined a local NBC affiliate in 2009. She then rose through the ranks to get a job at the national NBC level. Part of her career success came from the AP Best Spot News Award that she won for her coverage of the March 2008 crane collapse that took place in Manhattan.

Tur now works for NBC. She is also an anchor for MSNBC. Her platforms include Meet the Press, NBC Nightly News, Today, and Early Today. Tur received the prestigious 2017 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism for her coverage of the 2016 presidential campaigns (about which she later wrote a book, titled, Unbelievable). 

Net Worth: $6 million*
Currently Seen On: Fox News

Born in Durban, South Africa, Lara Logan is a war reporter. She graduated from the University of Natal in 1992, achieving a degree in commerce. Later, she would go on to earn another degree in French language from Alliance Francaise in Paris.

Lara Logan @laralogan / Facebook.com

Logan started her career in the late 1980s with the Sunday Tribune, a South African paper, while she was still in college. In 1992, she became a senior producer for Reuters Television. In 1996, she became a freelance journalist, taking assignments as a reporter, editor, and producer with networks like FOX, CBS, ABC, the European Broadcast Union, and NBC.

Most recently, Logan was a correspondent working for CBS from 2002 until 2018. In 2019, she announced that she was making a major career change, joining Sinclair Broadcast Group. One year later, she joined Fox News’ streaming subscription service, Fox Nation. She hosts the show Lara Logan Has No Agenda. 

Net Worth: $40 million*
Currently Seen On: CBS 

Lesley Stahl has had a fifty-year career in journalism, and she is one of the most respected journalists in America. The Wheaton College alum has spent the majority of her career with CBS. She began working with CBS in 1971 as a producer after time spent at local stations.

Lesley Stahl @LesleyRStahl60 / Facebook.com

She has been most well-known for her work with 60 Minutes, where she has reported since 1991. She has won many journalism awards, including a 2003 “Lifetime Achievement” Emmy. Stahl has reported with Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, and she was a moderator of the Sunday afternoon show Face the Nation during the eighties and nineties.

The CBS reporter has interviewed famous world leaders like Yasser Arafat, Boris Yeltsin, and Margaret Thatcher. Stahl has covered some of the most impactful world events in modern history, including Watergate, the attempted Reagan assassination, and the Gulf War of 1991, in addition to every presidential campaign since the seventies.