Don Lemon is an American television journalist who has an estimated net worth of $10 million. He has recently made the headlines himself for his teary reaction when he was talking about his colleague Chris Cuomo who has been diagnosed with Coronavirus. A closer look at how Don has earned his fortune is taken below.
Education And First Jobs
He was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and he attended Louisiana State University. He also studied broadcast journalism at Brooklyn College. The college website states that he now acts as an adjunct professor for the college. While he was at the university he started working for Fox News and their affiliates in St. Louis and Chicago. These were entry level jobs and so he would not have been earning a big salary at this time. However, these early roles were important in terms of him gaining experience which meant that he was able to attract higher paying roles later in his career.
Establishing His Broadcasting Career
After he left university he also started working for NBC affiliates in Philidelphia and Chicago. In the early days of his career he felt it was important for him to get as much experience in broadcasting as possible. He was a weekend new anchor for stations in Alabama and Philidelphia. He also worked as an investigative reporter in St. Louis. He would have spent a lot of time in the early days of his career traveling around between different cities but it showed people in the industry that he was not afraid of hard work. It also meant that his face would have become familiar to people all across the United States.
His hard work started to pay off in 2003 when he was hired by WMAQ-TV. This station was owned and operated by NBC. He worked as a reporter for the station and also appeared as a co-anchor for the local news segment. While he was reporting for WMAQ-TV he was awarded a local Emmy on three separate occasions. There have been no details of his salary released publicly, but this was likely to be the best paid job that he worked in so far in his career. The fact that he had received these awards meant that he would be able to command a higher salary and that he would have been in greater demand from other networks.
In 2006 he moved to CNN. He was a controversial appointment at the time because he is very outspoken on a number of issues. He did not always agree with the way that CNN and other networks operated their local news stations and this is something he has spoken publicly about. He has also not been afraid to speak out about the racism he has encountered during his life. The CNN has a comprehensive list of all the stories that he has covered during his time at the network. This includes some of the biggest stories in recent years such as the Boston Marathon bombing and Hurricane Florence. He has reported many of these stories live from the location where they have been happening.
One of the most popular segments that he hosts on CNN is ‘No Talking Points’. In this part of the show he interviews politicians and public officials and is known for holding them to account. He is not afraid to ask difficult questions and he tries to ensure that the person he is interviewing does not try to avoid the questions that are being asked. The fact that this segment is so popular is something else that will go towards how his salary from CNN is worked out.
Since 2014 he has hosted CNN’s New Year Special which is usually broadcast from New Orleans although there have been some years where he has been in Nashville. The main action of the night takes place in Times Square, but CNN also shows other locations in the United States. In 2016 he caused controversy by appearing to be drunk and having his ear pierced live on air. However, this was not enough for him to be replaced and he still continues to be a regional host. Although he may not be paid as much as the main hosts based in New York, this is a role that he will be well compensated for. It also seems to be a regular source of income for him.
Autobiography
Away from broadcasting, he has also published his autobiography. The money he earned from the sale of copies of his book would have contributed towards his net worth. In the book he talked a lot about his personal life and the struggles that he faced when growing up. He also used to the book to come out as gay. He told the New York Times that although he never kept his sexuality a secret from of his colleagues, it was a big step to talk about it publicly. A lot of people were touched by his honesty in this book and it would have helped to raise his profile as a broadcaster.
Property Investments
He has made some investment in property with the money that he has earned from his broadcasting career. He has an apartment in Harlem which is his primary residence. He also owns property in Sag Harbor in Long Island. Sag Harbor is a fairly wealthy area and property prices are quite high. If he holds onto the property for a while, then there is a good chance he would make a reasonable profit when he did come to sell.
There is no sign that Don is going to give up his role as a broadcaster anytime soon, and this could mean that his net worth would increase in the future. He is one of the most popular presenters on CNN and while no job is guaranteed forever, there is nothing to suggest that he will be leaving this role anytime soon. If he were to leave, then it probably would not be too long before he was able to find a new job and so there would be no gap in his income.
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