Al Roker is still the weather anchor on NBC’s Today, and he also co-hosts 3rd Hour Today once in a while. Through his journalism career and other endeavors, he has amassed an estimated net worth of $70 million, and thanks to his current annual salary of about $10 million, his worth is sure to increase in the coming years.
Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. or Al Roker as he is widely known is an American TV presenter, actor, and author best known as a weather forecaster. The African-American weatherman’s claim to fame is the weather report he presents on NBC’s Today but he is as well a news reporter who has worked in several shows such as NBC’s Nightly News.
A multiple-award winner born in 1954, Al initially wanted to be a cartoonist but has pulled off great achievements for himself through the passion he uncovered as a media personality. Al has encountered several challenges since his career took off but none has probably threatened his work and existence like the one he faced in 2020 which kept him away from the shows that had become his identity.
Roker has been active in the industry since 1974 and a lot of people have come to rely on him for weather reports and updates. Given that, it was only instinctive that people began wondering what happened to him when he ceased appearing on his shows. Thankfully, we can confirm that the journalist is fine; but did the problem he confronted affect his earning power and net worth in any way?
The Media Personality Has Resumed His Duties As The Weatherman and Anchor On NBC’s Today
Beyond being the weatherman on NBC’s Today Show, Al also co-anchors the 3rd Hour of Today. Thanks to his career, he is someone that has earned the attention of a huge chunk of the American public. It is estimated that he gets over 30 million viewers per week. The man has a massive fanbase on social media. As of March 2021, he has over 786 thousand followers on Instagram and more than 2.4 million followers on Twitter where he regularly posts photos and gives updates on weather reports.
With such a massive fan base, it is pretty easy to see why Al describes himself as an “institution”. He has spent over four decades with NBC and only a few years shy of attaining a five decades record in the media industry. Even though his versatility in the industry has had people celebrating him as the “King of All Media”, Al Roker is mostly known for his work with NBC which has been traced back to 1978 when he worked for WKYC in Cleveland which was owned and operated by NBC.
In view of the foregoing, it was a big deal when the weatherman was nowhere to be seen on the shows he is known for almost all through November 2020. His fans and followers became very concerned about his whereabouts but before the year ran out, the media personality resumed his duties with NBC. So Al Roker is still with NBC as the weatherman of its Today Show and continues to co-anchor the 3rd Hour of Today.
What Happened To Him?
The fact that he is back and has resumed his duties with NBC does not mean that people have stopped wondering why he was away. From what we uncovered, the journalist was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had to go through surgery to have it removed. It was in early November 2020 that the weatherman revealed he had been diagnosed. When Al revealed the condition, he related that he decided to share the information with the public because the condition is common among African American men and that one in every nine men faces the condition in their lifetime.
He described his diagnosis as a piece of good and bad news; bad because the condition was “a little aggressive” and good because it was caught early. Al explained that he was lucky because his cancer was confined to the prostate. Nonetheless, its aggressive nature meant he needed urgent treatment; thus he was scheduled for surgery. It is said that he underwent a five-hour successful surgery that had his prostate removed at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City on the 9th of November 2020.
Roker attributed his quick recovery from the surgery to good medical care and the love and support he received from friends and family. The weatherman who has been married thrice had his current wife Deborah Ann Roberts and three kids by his side as he battled cancer. While the identity of his first wife has remained unknown, his second wife was Alice Bell, a journalist whom he met at the earlier stage of his career and they got married on December 22, 1985. The couple lived together for almost a decade before their separation in 1994 but prior to that, they adopted his first child in 1987 named Courtney.
His next marriage was on September 16, 1995, to Deborah Ann Roberts, a popular journalist who started her career at NBC News in 1990 and has served as the bureau chief for the ABC affiliate in Florida. Roker and Deborah have two children: a daughter named Leila (born in November 1998) and his son Nicholas Albert born in July 2002. He is very fond of his wife and has described her as someone with a wicked sense of humor.
Al Roker Has Remained Active In Journalism Despite Battling Prostate Cancer and Other Health Challenges
Over the course of his career, the journalist has battled several health issues that have threatened not only his source of livelihood but his existence. For instance, Al was one of the fattest and heaviest people in his field but it seems he has conquered obesity through observing a regular workout regimen, healthy dieting, and gastric bypass surgery. Although he was able to successfully lose about 140 pounds, Al Rocker still considers himself overweight and this has kept him motivated to stay in good shape.
It was in 2002 that he had gastric bypass surgery to lose some of his weight. The previous year, Al Roker had his left knee completely replaced and in 2005, he had back surgery. Sometime in 2016, the journalist had another knee replacement surgery and in 2018, a carpal tunnel surgery. That’s not all, Al had a hip replacement surgery in September 2019 before his prostate cancer surgery in November 2020.
Despite the various health challenges he has faced, Roker remains active in journalism and continues to command the attention of many with his interviews with newsmakers across the world and his vast range of segments on interesting topics. Among other journalistic duties, the weatherman hosts Clod Cuts with Al Roker on YouTube and Today.com. He is also known for Off The Rails which airs on Today Show Radio on SiriusXM, the weatherman co-hosts the show with Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer. There are no doubts that he commands a good salary for his efforts and that it is the major source of his wealth.
What Is Al Roker’s Salary?
Having begun his career in the 70s, Roker’s hard work and passion for his work as a journalist have earned him so many accolades. Among the shows he has hosted include the Game On TODAY, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Celebrity Family Feud, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Remember This?. He has also appeared as a player in several shows such as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
Aside from being a multiple (14) Emmy award winner, he is a Guinness Book of record holder – a recognition he earned for reporting for 33 hours – from 10:05 PM on November 12 until about 8:00 AM on November 14th, 2014. Following his successes as a journalist, Al Roker is no doubt earning huge as he is noted as one of the most famous persons on NBC.
Sometime around 2017, various platforms had it that he earned around $8 million per year. This has seemingly changed based on what has been reported in recent years. It is believed that the weatherman now pulls $10 million in salary every year. As widely reported, the salary increase is a result of a new pact he made with NBC. His most recent contract with the network is said to be a five-year deal worth $50 million. As far as the public knows, the pact covers all his activities on the network; from the NBC morning show to The Weather Channel and 3rd Hour of Today.
It has been speculated in some quarters that Al Roker got the raise because of the departure of other notable anchors of the network like Megyn Kelly and Matt Lauer. It is hard to validate this assumption but it is clear that Al deserves what he is earning. He has been committed and dedicated to the network for four and a half decades.
His Salary Compared to Other On-air Staff of The Today Show
The NBC news and talk morning television show debuted in January 1952 and is currently counted as one of the longest-running television series in the United States. Since its debut, the show has dominated in ratings which have only been challenged twice by ABC’s Good Morning America. The success of the show can be attributed to its on-air staff. Over the years it has aired, about sixteen (eight men and eight women) media personalities have served as the primary host of the show.
Today, the on-air staff of the show are Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin, Carson Daly, Natalie Morales, Sheinelle Jones, Dylan Dreyer, Jenna Bush Hager, Willie Geist, Kristen Welker, and of course, Al Roker.
Below is a look at Al’s salary compared to his colleagues on the show:
- Al Roker Salary – $10 Million
- Carson Daly Salary – $10 Million
- Savannah Guthrie Salary – $8 Million
- Hoda Kotb Salary – $8 Million
- Natalie Morales Salary – $6 Million
- Willie Geist Salary – $5 Million
- Jenna Bush Hager Salary – $4 Million
- Craig Melvin Salary – $3 Million
- Dylan Dreyer Salary – $2 Million
- Sheinelle Jones Salary – Undetermined
- Kristen Welker Salary – Undetermined
Al Roker’s Net Worth Is Estimated at a Massive $70 Million
As much as the weatherman has kept up with his career and continues to make waves thereof, he has seen his net worth increase over the years. In the years he was earning $8 million, it was estimated that he was worth only $30 million. The current $70 million estimate means his wealth has multiplied by over 100%. For someone born in a large family of six that barely managed to get by with the necessities of life, Al has the kind of family he hailed from to thank for his career successes which account for his wealth.
His parents, Albert Lincoln Roker Sr. and Isabel, both of Jamaican descent, valued education a great deal. Albert was a well-known bus driver and a labor-relations negotiator for New York City’s Transit Authority while Isabel was a homemaker who worked hard to support her husband in seeing their children through school. Thanks to their relentless efforts to see their kids through school, Al Roker attended Manhattan’s Xavier High School where he spent up to four years mastering his skills in graphic arts as a comic actor. He also attended the New York State University at Oswego where he had his double major in graphic design and broadcasting/journalism.
With the knowledge he acquired in school, Al set out to build a career and through this, he has accumulated a net worth estimated at $70 million. Based on what has been discussed thus far, it is pretty obvious that Roker earned his fortune through various means. Apart from being a television journalist and meteorologist, the man is also a TV producer, actor, and author.
His Career In Journalism Is The Biggest Source of His Wealth
As hinted earlier, Al Roker has been making a living from his journalism career since 1974 when he worked for WHEN-TV, a CBS affiliate in Syracuse, New York, as a weather anchor; this lasted from 1974 to 1976, a time when he was still a student of the State University of New York at Oswego. Within the same time, he worked for the institution’s campus radio station called WNYO as a DJ. He would later move to Washington DC when he completed his college education to become a weathercaster for WTTG, a television station currently owned and operated by Fox.
His journey with NBC began in 1978 when he joined WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio. He worked with the NBC-affiliated station for five years before he was promoted to join WNBC-TV in New York. He rose through the ranks and is now one of the prominent on-air personalities of the NBC network. For his efforts, he currently commands $10 million in salary per annum and it is the biggest contributor to his status as a multi-millionaire.
Earnings From Acting Have Contributed Significantly to Al Roker’s Net Worth…
Al Roker has pulled off more projects as an actor than many people who have completely dedicated their lives to pursuing a career in the profession. His exploits in this field have been traced back to the 1990s and his first significant acting role was in an episode of Another World in 1990.
In the years that followed, he has been seen in all kinds of small and big screen productions; from TV series to feature film, short movies, animated series & movies; documentaries, TV movies, and what have you. Some of his popular works include Men in Black, The Proud Family, Cyberchase, 30 Rock, Sharknado 2: The Second One, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, Kung Fu Panda 3, Zombieland: Double Tap, and The Blacklist.
Hardly can anyone tell what each of these roles has contributed to his net worth but considering the number of projects he has been a part of, one could tell that it has been a major source of income for the weatherman.
And He Has Produced Many Projects for The Small Screen
Beyond acting, Al Roker is a television producer and he has made good money from it. To the best of our knowledge, his activities in this field began in 2001 when he served as an executive producer of an episode of the TV documentary, Intimate Portrait. That same year, he was also the executive producer of a TV movie documentary titled Al Roker’s Tailgating Party. Since then, he has been credited as the executive producer of no fewer than 34 small screen projects.
His most recent works in this capacity include the TV movies Weather Hunters and The Christmas Doctor; a short documentary titled Life Aid: A Story of Hope and an episode of Forging the Future TV series documentary titled Disease-Free World: The Microbiome.
In all, Al has served as the executive producer of as many as 36 projects meant for the small screen. It is clearly a major source of his wealth.
The Weatherman Owns a Production Company Called Al Roker Entertainment
Another cash cow for the weather reporter is his production company, Al Roker Entertainment (ARE). Founded in 1994, ARE is a broadcasting and media production company known to have produced some original TV programs. With its vision centered on creating industry-leading, storytelling content, ARE has partnered with directors, writers, other production companies, and distribution platforms to create innovative and award-winning content.
Some of its popular projects include GAC’s Kimberly’s Simply Southern, HGTV’s Celebrity Holiday Homes, Spike TV’s DEA, Weather Channel’s Coast Guard Alaska, and spin-offs like Coast Guard Cape Disappointment and Coast Guard Florida.
Al Roker Is a New York Times Bestselling Author
Al Roker’s life has been a journey of encountering and triumphing over challenges; all of which makes an interesting tale that the journalist has shared with the public through his books. He has authored and published a good number of books over time and is known to be a New York Times bestselling author. The man has no fewer than thirteen books to his name and proceeds realized from them have added to his riches in no small manner.
Below is a list of his all books in order of when they were published:
- Don’t Make Me Stop This Car: Adventures in Fatherhood (2001)
- Big Shoes: In Celebration of Dads and Fatherhood (2006)
- Al Roker’s Hassle-Free Holiday Cookbook: More Than 125 Recipes for Family Celebrations All Year Long (2007)
- Al Roker’s Big Bad Book of Barbecue: 100 Easy Recipes for Backyard Barbecue and Grilling (2008)
- The Morning Show Murders (2009)
- The Talk Show Murders: A Billy Blessing Novel (2011)
- The Midnight Show Murders (2011)
- Never Goin’ Back: Winning the Weight Loss Battle for Good (2014)
- The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival, and the Epic True Story of America’s Deadliest Natural Disaster: The Great Gulf Hurricane Of 1900 (2015)
- Been There, Done That: Family Wisdom For Modern Times (2016)
- Al Roker’s Extreme Weather: Tornadoes, Typhoons, and Other Weather Phenomena (2017)
- Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America’s Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster (2018)
- You Look So Much Better in Person: True Stories of Absurdity and Success (2020)
He Also Makes Money From Endorsement Deals
Through his work on NBC’s Today Show, Al Roker is known to over 30 million viewers. In addition to that, he has millions of followers on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter. What this means is that Al is someone who can influence the opinions of a large chunk of the American public.
Popular brands understand this and have approached Al to have him promote what they have to offer. As such, the weatherman has been seen in several TV commercials like the one for Office Depot and Print ads. It is also known that he endorses Lipton’s Brisk iced tea.
What he has made through this avenue may never be known to the public but it must have added some meaningful amount to the total value of his riches.
All The Sources of Al Roker’s Wealth
- Salaries from his career in journalism
- Paycheck from acting
- Income from his career as a TV producer
- Profits made from his production company, ARE
- Proceeds realized from the sale of his books
- Earnings from endorsement deals
The Journalist Owns Two Homes In New York
Al Roker isn’t someone known to indulge in reckless and lavish spending. He has kept his lifestyle simple even though he can afford a great deal of luxury. He currently lives with his family in his five-floor Brownstone house in New York. Reports have it that he acquired the property with his wife for $3.25 million; after which they spent more money renovating it to suit the family’s need.
He also has a townhouse which he bought for $3 million in the East Eighties off Lexington. Aside from these properties, the man is not known to own any fancy cars or spend his money on things of that sort. It is believed that he’s keeping most of his wealth in a trust fund for his kids.
Al Roker’s Net Worth Compared to Other Hosts of Today Show
Because of the various streams of income he has and the fact that he is a prudent money manager, Al Roker is the richest on-air staff of NBC’s Today Show. Below is a look at his net worth in comparison to that of other hosts of the show:
- Al Roker Net Worth – $70 Million
- Carson Daly Net Worth – $40 Million
- Savannah Guthrie Net Worth – $30 Million
- Hoda Kotb Net Worth – $30 Million
- Natalie Morales Net Worth – $16 Million
- Willie Geist Net Worth – $12 Million
- Jenna Bush Hager Net Worth – $10 Million
- Craig Melvin Net Worth – $6 Million
- Dylan Dreyer Net Worth – $4 Million
- Kristen Welker Net Worth – $3 Million
- Sheinelle Jones Net Worth – Undetermined
