It certainly pays to be a news reporter on TV! Lester Holt has been a journalist for more than four decades, appearing on multiple cable networks before finding a home on NBC. His net worth has grown exponentially since launching his career in the early ‘80s and hasn’t dwindled after announcing his departure from NBC Nightly News as the media personality will be continuing his anchor role with Dateline NBC in a full-time capacity.
What Is Lester Holt’s Net Worth?
Lester has an estimated net worth of $35 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The outlet also reports that the newscaster is bringing in a salary of around $10 million from his work on NBC each year.
How Does Lester Holt Make Money?
Lester started his career as a radio disc jockey before getting his foot in the door at CBS when he was studying government at Sacramento State University. Lester ended up working at the network for 19 years after initially getting rejected by NBC.
Eventually, he was contacted in 2000 for an opportunity to anchor NBC News, becoming a full-time correspondent in the years that followed. In 2003, the California native joined the Weekend Today team as a host, a role he held until 2015. Lester also became a familiar face on NBC Nightly News, as well as regularly hosting Dateline NBC since 2011.
The California Hall of Fame inductee has moderated presidential debates and was given the title of managing editor of NBC Nightly News in April 2021. His work on television doesn’t stop there. Lester has made appearances in shows like Primal Fear, 30 Rock and House of Cards. While he has admitted that his schedule is incredibly busy, the media personality is grateful for all of the opportunities he’s been given.
“That’s a pretty good little lineup there,” he reflected on why he decided not to scale back his duties at NBC during an April 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It allowed me to be compensated well. I had much of the stature of the other anchors here, but I thought it’s not the brass ring. So it wasn’t that I had settled, but it was a recognition that, you know, you’ve been spending so much time climbing up the ladder, maybe you need to stop on the rung you’re on and look out and enjoy the view.”
Lestor Holt Announces His Departure from ‘NBC Nightly News’ in 2025
After 17 years on air, Lestor announced he was leaving his position at NBC Nightly News in a memo to staffers on February 24, 2025.
“A smile comes to my face when I think that with Nightly News, and Dateline, I have now anchored two of the most successful and iconic television news programs in broadcast history,” he said in the memo. “As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has. What an amazing ride.”
He continued, “After 10 years, 17 if you include my years on the weekends, the time has come for me to step away from my role as anchor of Nightly News. It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to work with each of you every day, keeping journalism as our true north and our viewers at the center of everything we do.”
Although he stepped down from the position with NBC Nightly News, the journalist stated that his work on Dateline would continue in a new capacity.
“But before we play the walk off music, I have another announcement. I’m excited to report I will be continuing as anchor of Dateline NBC, but for the first time in a full-time capacity whereby I will be expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about,” the statement continued. “I am thrilled to be able to work more closely with my enormously talented friends at Dateline as the broadcast continues to grow and attract new viewers in new places.”
Does Lester Holt Have Kids?
Lester married his wife, Carol Hagen, in 1982. The pair welcomed two children together, sons Stefan and Cameron. Cameron is an analyst at Morgan Stanley while Stefan became a news anchor at NBC like his father.
