Here's How Much Jimmy Kimmel Is Really Worth
From writing behind the scenes to making himself one of the wealthiest late-night hosts of all time, Jimmy Kimmel has built himself up to be worth $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. This is wild considering he began his career in show business working for free.
At the start of his career, Kimmel was writing for a radio show. "It never was my plan to get into television," he revealed to Variety. When he was asked to come in and help out on a project at Fox early on in his career, he thought he was helping them put together a script. "I went in, and they started putting makeup on me," he said. After that, the calls never stopped coming in — and they weren't all hosting gigs.
Since then, Kimmel has become a movie star and an event host. Read on for some of the things that make up Jimmy Kimmel's net worth.
The Man Show made Jimmy Kimmel big in show business
Before Jimmy Kimmel ever stepped foot on the set of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," he had had a lot of practice hosting a TV show. In the late '90s, he partnered with Comedy Central and his pal Adam Carolla to create "The Man Show." The TV show was targeted toward — you guessed it — men. Even though they only catered to half of the population, the series was an instant success. It was the second most popular show on the network, right behind "South Park," according to The New York Times.
While Kimmel should have been excited about the success of the series, he was actually upset that people were enjoying it for all the wrong reasons. He and his co-host created the show as a way to poke fun at men, but many of their viewers portrayed it as something sexist instead. After sharing a specific joke that seemed to go over audience members' heads, as Kimmel explained to The Daily Beast, "Adam [Carolla] and I looked at each other and said, 'It's time to end this show.'"
The series skyrocketed Kimmel into stardom, and he still thinks it would be a success today if they had stuck with it. In fact, "I think it would be more popular than it ever was," Kimmel said on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" in 2019. However, he's also admitted that he'd never want to be a part of a reboot.
His late-night talk show treats him to a huge paycheck
Ever since Jimmy Kimmel stepped foot on the set of his talk show in 2003, the world of late-night television has welcomed him with open arms. His series, appropriately named "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (though it's really not live), has become one of the most viewed shows on television, according to Deadline. He's since become the "longest-tenured continuous late-night franchise host" in history, too, as Variety reported.
While hosting a late-night show is many people's dream, it was surprisingly never Kimmel's. "If I'd been a writer on David Letterman's show, I would have been thrilled. I would have been very excited by that. That would have been more than enough for me," he admitted on "The Howard Stern Show." However, getting a paycheck for hosting must not be so bad either. It's been reported by Celebrity Net Worth that Kimmel hauls in $15 million every single year to star on the show. Yet, "the ideal situation is having people doing my job for me while I continue to get paid," he joked.
Jimmy Kimmel has taken over hosting a popular game show, too
Few fans may know that one of Jimmy Kimmel's first jobs on TV was as a game show host. In 1997, he began hosting "Win Ben Stein's Money," and it was perfect practice for taking over for an even bigger game show over 20 years later. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Regis Philbin and Meredith Vieira, Kimmel became the official host of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2020.
Though the series has kept its classic look and feel, Kimmel wanted to bring in his own personality when it came to becoming the new host. "I figured it would be better not to imitate," he told Entertainment Weekly. "It's hard enough not to imitate when you have phrases like 'Is that your final answer?' or 'Do you want to go 50/50?' So I decided to go into it somewhat fresh." Fans were loving it, too. By the end his very first season of the show, Variety reported that 6.6 million viewers had tuned in to watch.
Jimmy Kimmel has his own production company
In 2018, Jimmy Kimmel started making big moves. He partnered with producer Brent Montgomery to create his very own production company. This producer was the perfect partner, too. Four years beforehand, he had sold his first creative company for $360 million, according to Deadline.
Now that Kimmel is the creator of his own company called Kimmelot, he's had executive producer credits on all of his projects, including his own talk show and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." In 2019, he even brought back an old show on Comedy Central he used to star on called "Crank Yankers" that had been off the air for 12 years. "The truth is, I would've brought it back in 2014 if anyone had approached me about it," he later told Entertainment Weekly. "Because it has always been my favorite show to do." Thanks to his production company, he now has a lot more say when it comes to which projects we see on our screens and which projects he's a part of.
Jimmy Kimmel owns two huge houses
Like any other big name in show business, Jimmy Kimmel has made Hollywood his home. In fact, his actual home is "not too far" from the set of his talk show. "There are lots of nice neighborhoods in L.A.," he said during an interview with Visit California, "but the primary reason I live there is so I can be close to work. I have a tendency to forget things." Plus, it definitely makes the big city traffic manageable!
According to Dirt, Kimmel dropped $7.1 million on his permanent residence in the Hollywood Hills. Yet, that's not the only place he likes to spend his time. For days when he and his family are wanting to live life at a slower pace, they head over to their home in Hermosa Beach. He paid a little over $2.1 million for this home away from home, which is conveniently located one block away from the beach. Kimmel has purchased other properties in the area, but the $2.1 million one appears to be the only one his family spends time at.
Jimmy Kimmel has had his name attached to some big movies
Jimmy Kimmel has become quite a big name. Not only is he a recognizable talk show host, but he's even appeared as himself in some major movies, such as "Pitch Perfect 2" and "Ted 2." (He seems to be quite a fan of sequels, if you couldn't tell.)
Over the course of his career, Kimmel's even lent his voice to major movies as well. He's played animated characters in films like "Garfield," "The Smurfs 2," and "The Boss Baby," which grossed over $320 million combined in domestic sales, according to Box Office Mojo — so we can only imagine how much he was paid for his roles.
Even still, nothing will ever compare to the role he played in "Paw Patrol: The Movie" in 2021. His kids are some of the series' biggest fans. "I have been telling them, trying to explain to them that daddy's in the 'PAW Patrol' movie, and they don't really understand what I'm talking about," Kimmel told The Movie Times. "I'm not sure they'll understand even after they see it, but I'm hopeful this will make me a big shot — at least for a couple of days."
Jimmy Kimmel has been the face of show business itself
Hosting gigs don't just happen on talk shows. In 2017, Jimmy Kimmel got a call to host one of the biggest shows in Hollywood — the Oscars. He even shared that he would be paid $15,000 to appear on stage for the evening. "I'm not sure I was supposed to reveal this, but nobody told me not to," he said on "The Kevin & Bean Show," per The Hollywood Reporter.
His low salary wasn't the only big news from the awards show either. Though no fault of Kimmel's, the wrong movie was announced for best picture, making headlines everywhere. USA Today even called it "the worst flub in Oscar history." While it was definitely an embarrassing moment, the show was still the most-watched entertainment program that year. Over 34 million Americans tuned in, according to IndieWire. Not surprisingly, Kimmel was asked to return as host the following year, and no one has been able to compare. Ever since, the iconic awards show has continued without a host.
In 2020, this talk show host was asked to host the Emmys, too. However, Kimmel never expected it would be done virtually during a worldwide pandemic. "There will be no fake laughs after my monologue jokes," he said during a promotional video. Even so, it was no doubt an exciting moment for the Emmy winner to be the face of the television industry.
Jimmy Kimmel has his own comedy club
In 2019, Jimmy Kimmel opened up his own comedy club at Caesar's Palace. Though it makes sense for any comedian, having a business there was even more special to the late-night host. "I grew up in Las Vegas," Kimmel said on "The Howard Stern Show."
When it came to creating Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy Club, the star was super involved in making the atmosphere what it is today. While working with the interior design team, he invited them over to his house to see what kind of design style he liked. When opening weekend rolled around, he said, "I get to the club, and it looks exactly like my house." And fans there almost feel as though they have been invited into his home, too. On display is his neon sign from his hosting gig on "The Man Show" and even some of the puppets he worked with on "Crank Yankers." "It's almost like a museum," he said.
Tickets start around $20 for the show, and guests can even hit up a bar while they're there as well.
Jimmy Kimmel made Time 100's Most Influential People list
With him having made such a massive impact on the entertainment industry, it's no surprise that Jimmy Kimmel was named one of Time's Most Influential People in 2013 and in 2018. Though the late night host is usually making us all laugh, it was how seriously he took his platform that landed him on the list.
In 2017, he started out his talk show on a much different note. Instead of telling jokes and receiving laughs, Kimmel began to get emotional as he told the audience about the recent birth of his baby boy. "And he appeared to be a normal, healthy baby until about three hours after he was born," he said. After having trouble breathing, doctors discovered that the baby had heart problems that needed to be addressed immediately. His son was then rushed into open heart surgery and, luckily, the issue was resolved.
During the show, Kimmel addressed his millions of viewers and encouraged them to donate to the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. He also brought attention to the White House itself, which at the time, was discussing a decrease in funding to the National Institute of Health. "More than 40% of the people who would've been affected by the National Institute of Health are children," Kimmel added. Though he makes millions making people laugh, Kimmel's first priority will always be fighting for a good cause.