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What is Vanna White’s net worth? What is her salary on Wheel of Fortune?
White joined the show a year after fellow co-host Pat Sajak but, according to reports, has earned significantly less.
Most of you will be familiar with the basic premise of Wheel of Fortune: contestants spin a big wheel made up of boards with different quantities of money on them, and have the chance to win the quantity of money they randomly ‘land’ on depending on how many letters they can correctly guess from a well-known concept on the puzzle board, controlled by Vanna White.
But if reports by Puck are to be believed, White herself may feel as if she’s been playing along for the best part of two decades.
Pat Sajak and White’s salary discrepency
White has been a co-host on the show since 1982, joining Pat Sajak at the start of its second year on our screens. Sajak, of course, has been there from the beginning but announced last year that he would be retiring at the end of the 41st season, which started in September and finishes in June 2024.
But while the pair’s Wheel of Fortune longevities have been similar, their salaries are anything but, with Puck revealing that Sajak was earning “fives times as much” as his co-host.
White was reportedly earning €3 million per year, not including bonuses, a figure which hadn’t increased in 18 years. For comparison, the inflation rate in the United States between 2005 and 2023 is 56.21% (which means $1 then is the equivalent to $1.56 now).
Ryan Seacrest named as new Wheel of Fortune host
If White didn’t already feel as if she deserved a raise – and she does, having allegedly hired an “aggressive new lawyer” to negotiate a new contract to stay on the show – then the revelation that Ryan Seacrest was picked as Sajak’s replacement must have her casting envious glances across the studio.
Some reports suggest that Seacrest stands to earn a staggering $28 million per year on the show. If these figures are indeed true, he would join the ranks of television’s highest-paid personalities. “I can’t wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White,” the American idol star said on Instagram, with his bank manager no doubt rubbing his hands together in the background.
As it turns out, though, White’s negotiation for a new contract went rather well, and she got a salary bump up to $7.5 million to stay on. Add this to what she takes in for hosting other ABC shows, such as the the celebrity version of the game and her annual salary is $10 million, agreed until 2026.
Vanna White’s wealth away from the screens
Despite White’s bizarrely “low” - don’t miss those quotation marks - salary by comparison to Sajak, the 66-year-old has actually amassed more of a personal fortune than her long-time sidekick thanks to other ventures.
As of mid-2024, White’s net worth iswasestimated at $85 million, $10 million more than Sajak. The majority of her wealth comes away from the screens and as a result of real estate investments she made with ex-husband, a real estate developer called George Santo Pietro.
Despite her significant salary increase on the show, however, she remains far behind that of new co-host Seacrest, whose hosting, TV production and lucrative business ventures have combined to make him one of the US’ most successful entertainment personalities. That’s how you play the game.