Tucker Carlson Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What is Tucker Carlson’s web price and wage?

Tucker Carlson is an American political commentator, writer, and TV character who has a web price of $50 million. Tucker Carlson started his profession within the Nineteen Nineties as a print journalist, writing for publications resembling The Weekly Standard, The New Republic, and The Wall Street Journal. In the early 2000s, Carlson transitioned to tv, co-hosting NCS’s “Crossfire,” the place his heated debates, together with a well-known on-air conflict with Jon Stewart, made him a recognizable face in political commentary. After stints at PBS and MSNBC, the place he hosted “Tucker,” he joined Fox News in 2009 as a contributor.

Carlson launched “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News in 2016, rapidly turning into the community’s top-rated host. His present mixed populist conservatism with commentary on tradition, media, and politics, usually sparking controversy over points like immigration, race, and authorities overreach. By 2020, he was among the many most-watched cable information hosts within the United States, shaping right-wing discourse and influencing Republican politics.

On April 24, 2023, Carlson abruptly parted methods with Fox News following the community’s $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. In a wierd twist, Don Lemon was abruptly fired from NCS on the identical day. On May 9, 2023, Tucker introduced he could be launching a brand new present on Twitter. By doing so, he opted to forgo an estimated $25 million that was owed to him on his Fox News contract. More particulars on this and different Tucker contracts within the subsequent part. Tucker quickly launched an unbiased media enterprise, the Tucker Carlson Network, and started releasing interviews and commentary by way of X (previously Twitter) and different digital platforms. Beyond tv, Carlson has authored a number of books and co-founded the conservative information website The Daily Caller, cementing his position as one of the polarizing and impactful media personalities of his technology.

Salary & Fox Contract

Tucker Carlson’s peak Fox wage, which he was incomes on the time of his firing, was $10 million per yr. In 2017, when Tucker went from a weekend correspondent to taking up Bill O’Reilly’s former prime-time 8 pm weeknight slot, his wage was elevated from $2 million to $6 million per yr. And whereas which will seem to be an enormous bump, O’Reilly had been incomes $25 million. Tucker quickly was considerably outperforming O’Reilly by way of scores.

Tucker operated below that contract by way of February 2021, when he signed a 3-year extension that elevated his wage to $10 million. This extension expanded Tucker’s deal to incorporate a podcast made up of interviews from his present and month-to-month originals below the banner “Tucker Carlson Originals.”

In the months earlier than his sudden firing, Tucker had been negotiating a brand new contract extension that might have stored him at Fox by way of 2029. If Fox was seeking to NOT pay him the rest of his contract ($10 million per yr for an additional 2-3 years), they might have needed to show that Carlson was fired for trigger. Had they proved he was fired for trigger, Fox may have booted Carlson with out paying him any extra money.

On the opposite hand, Fox may even have wished to maintain Tucker below contract to stop him from becoming a member of a rival community for the rest of his deal (2-3 years). In different phrases, Tucker may have chosen to proceed to earn $10 million per yr below his former contract, however he wouldn’t be allowed to seem on every other networks or rival information media shops. He seemingly would additionally not have been permitted to host a podcast, produce specials, or publicly disparage his former employer.

And on May 9, 2023, we obtained our reply! Tucker opted to decide out of his Fox contract and forge forward independently with a brand new present on Twitter. Assuming he was owed $10 million per yr for the roughly 2.5 years that had been left on his Fox contract, Tucker opted to forgo $25 million in assured earnings to be let loose of his former deal.

Early Life

Tucker McNear Carlson was born on May 16, 1969, in San Francisco. He was raised principally in Southern California. Tucker attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, the place he graduated with a level in historical past in 1991.

His father, Richard “Dick” Warner Carlson, was an LA information anchor, businessman, lobbyist, and diplomat.  From 1986 to 1991, he was the director of Voice of America. In 1991, George H.W. Bush appointed Dick as ambassador to the Seychelles. From 1992 to 1997, he served because the CEO of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. In 1997, he was employed because the CEO of King World Public Television, a subdivision of King World Entertainment, which syndicated Oprah, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune and was acquired by CBS in 1999 for $2.5 billion.

Tucker’s organic mom, Lisa McNear Lombardi (later referred to as Lisa Vaughn after a remarriage), left the household when he was simply six years outdated. Lisa was born in 1945 right into a outstanding California household – her mom was Mary Nickel James, an heiress of a California cattle-ranching empire that when managed 3 million acres of ranch land. After the divorce, Lisa largely deserted her boys and as an alternative lived a bohemian way of life. She lived in Los Angeles, South Carolina, and the South of France, and at one level, she was a part of famed artist David Hockney’s circle in L.A. and collaborated on artwork initiatives. Lisa finally married a British artist named Michael Vaughn. She died of most cancers in 2011.

In 1979, when Tucker was 10, Richard married Patricia Caroline Swanson. Patricia was rich because of her grandfather, Carl A. Swanson, who based the Swanson frozen meals empire. Patricia in the end adopted Tucker and his brother Buckley, and immediately Tucker generally goes by the title Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson.

Swanson Family Fortune & Income

Tucker Carlson’s connection to the Swanson frozen meals fortune begins with Swedish immigrant Carl A. Swanson, who arrived within the U.S. in 1896 with a tag round his neck studying, “Carl Swanson, Swedish. Send me to Omaha. I speak no English.” Three years later, he co-founded a small produce enterprise that by the Nineteen Thirties had develop into C.A. Swanson & Sons, one of many Midwest’s largest poultry suppliers. When Carl died in 1949, the corporate was grossing about $60 million a yr—roughly $815 million immediately.

In 1953, Swanson launched the frozen “TV dinner,” which bought 10 million models its second yr and turned the corporate right into a family title. Two years later, Campbell Soup Company acquired Swanson in a landmark all-stock deal. By 1968, household patriarch Gilbert C. Swanson managed holdings in Campbell, Coca-Cola, and different corporations price over $100 million (round $1 billion immediately).

Before his loss of life, Gilbert established a sequence of household trusts. His daughter Patricia Swanson—who married Tucker’s father, journalist and diplomat Richard “Dick” Carlson, in 1979 and adopted Tucker and his brother Buckley—acquired her share by way of these trusts. According to a 2024 lawsuit filed in Nebraska, Tucker and Buckley have been receiving month-to-month funds of about $2,400 every from the Swanson Family Residuary Trust, whereas their father collected roughly $11,000 monthly from a associated “Sprinkle Trust.” When Dick Carlson died in March 2025, that distribution seemingly shifted to his sons, suggesting Tucker now receives round $8,000 a month in dividends from the Swanson household fortune — a small however regular inheritance from one in all America’s unique frozen-food empires.

Lisa Vaughn’s Estate Battle

When Tucker’s organic mom, Lisa Vaughn, died in 2011, she seemingly died and not using a latest formal will, so initially her property was to be divided evenly amongst her two sons (Tucker and Buckley) and her husband, Michael Vaughn. However, in 2013, a bombshell surfaced: Vaughn’s daughter (from one other marriage) found a one-page handwritten will in Lisa’s French studio, dated years earlier. In this handwritten notice, Lisa bequeathed all her property property to her husband Michael, and added a merciless addendum: “I leave my sons Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson and Buckley Swanson Peck Carlson one dollar each.” This nominal $1 inheritance was basically a closing snub, reducing Tucker and his brother out of any household cash. The timing and authenticity of this doc had been instantly challenged by the Carlson brothers, resulting in a protracted authorized battle in California probate courtroom. Tucker and Buckley Carlson sued to invalidate the $1 will, arguing it was fraudulent or solid. They believed their mom’s property must be distributed per the unique plan (1/3 every). The case dragged on for years. A forensic evaluation finally indicated the notice was certainly written by Lisa, which sophisticated the matter.

Nevertheless, the Carlsons continued in contesting its authorized standing. The combat even went to a California appellate courtroom. Finally, in 2019, the appellate courtroom dominated in favor of Tucker and Buckley, permitting the Carlson brothers to “keep their shares” of Lisa’s property regardless of the $1 bequest try.

The most precious a part of Lisa Vaughn’s property turned out to be royalty rights to grease and fuel on 70,000 acres of household land in central California. For years, the brothers thought these rights had been of little worth (estimated at solely round $125,000). But they later found the mineral rights had been price thousands and thousands – at the very least $2.5 million by one valuation.

Early Career

Carlson started his skilled path in print journalism, working initially as a fact-checker and contributor to conservative journals and newspapers. He began at Policy Review and later joined the employees of the Arkansas Democrat‑Gazette. From there, he expanded his portfolio by writing opinion items and columns for periodicals, together with Reader’s Digest and New York Magazine. His byline additionally appeared in magazines and newspapers resembling Esquire, The Weekly Standard, The New Republic, The New York Times Magazine, and The Daily Beast. During this era, he developed a fame as a conservative voice in print journalism, constructing a community of publications and commentary shops round his work.

NCS and “Crossfire” (2000-2005)

Carlson made the transition into tv when he grew to become co-host of the Crossfire debate program on NCS, starting round 2001. On “Crossfire,” he usually took up the right-wing viewpoint within the structured debates, paired with colleagues resembling Robert Novak, whereas liberal voices resembling Paul Begala and James Carville held the opposing aspect. During this period, Carlson adopted his now-familiar trademark bow tie and cultivated a persona that blended conservative commentary with tv presence. One second that attracted appreciable consideration was a 2004 showing of Jon Stewart on the present, through which Stewart instantly challenged Carlson and the format of “Crossfire,” accusing it of being partisan quite than substantive — an alternate extensively famous as a turning level for this system. From there, “Crossfire” was cancelled by NCS in early 2005, and Carlson’s contract was not renewed.

Following his departure from NCS, Carlson moved to MSNBC, the place he hosted his personal night present initially titled “The Situation With Tucker Carlson,” later shortened to easily “Tucker.” The program premiered in June 2005 and coated political evaluation and commentary. However, the present struggled to seek out sturdy scores traction in a aggressive cable information setting. By March 2008, it was cancelled, and Carlson moved on from full-time on-air internet hosting to discover different media actions, whereas persevering with to put in writing and commentate throughout shops.

Fox News and “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (2009-2023)

Carlson joined Fox News in 2009 as a contributor and panelist, steadily working his approach towards his personal primetime present. In November 2016, he launched Tucker Carlson Tonight, which rapidly grew to become one of many most-watched cable information applications within the United States. In 2017, the present moved into the 8 p.m. slot following the departure of Bill O’Reilly, and by late 2019/2020, it was averaging thousands and thousands of nightly viewers — peaking at round 5.3 million per evening and breaking cable-news data for its time slot. The program’s mixture of populist commentary, conservative politics, cultural critique, and Carlson’s on-air character made him a serious determine within the right-wing media ecosystem. On April 24, 2023, Fox News introduced Carlson’s instant departure and canceled “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” ending his tenure on the community.

Independent Media Ventures and Post-Fox Era (2023-present)

After his exit from Fox News, Carlson turned towards unbiased media. He launched a brand new present by way of social-media platforms and continues to supply commentary outdoors the normal cable-television ecosystem. While the total contours of his new media operation are nonetheless evolving, this part represents Carlson’s shift from network-anchored host to unbiased creator and commentator, leveraging digital distribution and a built-in viewers cultivated over many years.

Book Deal

Around the time of his elevation at Fox News, Tucker signed a profitable ebook deal. The deal was reported to be worth $15 million and coated what in the end grew to become 2018’s “Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution,” and 2021’s “The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism.” In 2003, he revealed “Politicians, Partisans, and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News.”

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Daily Caller

In 2010, Tucker and Neil Patel co-founded DailyCaller.com utilizing $3 million in funds offered by Foster Friess. The website was positioned as a conservative model of The Huffington Post. In June 2020, Tucker bought his 1/3 stake to Patel for an undisclosed quantity.

Personal Life

Tucker has been married to Susan Andrews since 1991. They met (and later married) on the chapel of St. George School, a boarding highschool in Middletown, Rhode Island. They have 4 kids. Carlson is left-handed and dyslexic.

Real Estate

The Carlsons break up their time between their Florida residence and a house positioned on his household’s property in Maine. He had spent summers in rural Maine all through his life, however lastly purchased his personal property in September 2020. The value was not disclosed. He subsequently paid $30,000 for a close-by “old garage” in Woodstock, Maine, which he transformed right into a Broadcast studio.

In 2011, Tucker and Susan traded down from a $4 million residence to a $2 million residence within the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Kent. They bought that home for $2.04 million in November 2017.

In July 2017, they purchased a brand new home once more in the identical neighborhood of Kent for $3.895 million. They put this residence up on the market in July 2020 for $3.95 million, a slight improve. They bought the house inside a month for his or her actual asking value. They apparently determined to promote the house after a gaggle of protestors got here onto the driveway and even rang their doorbell.

In early 2020, Tucker paid $2.9 million for a house on Gasparilla Island in Florida. In mid-2022, they paid $5.5 million for a second residence on Gasparilla. The properties, that are positioned side-by-side, are inside a group known as Boca Grande.