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. Keep scrolling to see how much money he makes.  

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. He served as a radio disc jockey before getting his foot in the door at CBS during college. Lester ended up working at the network for 19 years after initially getting rejected by NBC.  

Lester Holt Net Worth: NBC News Anchor Salary, Money
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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.”

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.