Introduction

Conan O’Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer with an estimated net worth of $200 Million. 

Early Career

After graduating from Harvard, Conan O’Brien moved to Los Angeles and became a writer for the sketch comedy series No Necessarily the News. During that time, he was also a writer for The Wilton North Report before being hired in 1988 by Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels. 

O’Brien spent three years on SNL and wrote many recurring sketches, including “The Girl Watchers,” which was performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz. In 1991, he left SNL, citing burnout, and was quickly snatched up by Mike Reiss and Al Jean, the showrunners of The Simpsons.

Conan O’Brien was one of the first new hires following the original crew of The Simpsons, and Lisa Kudrow even helped him with the transition. From 1991 to 1993, O’Brien was a writer and producer for The Simpsons and was thought a shoo-in to become a showrunner. 

After writing some of the show’s most acclaimed episodes, Lorne Michaels approached him about producing the talk show Late Night. However, with David Letterman preparing to leave the show, O’Brien auditioned for the role and was picked as the new host. 

Late Night with Conan O’Brien

Once he was cast as the host of Late Night, Fox refused to let him out of his contract with them on The Simpsons. Ultimately, NBC and O’Brien split the cost to end the agreement prematurely so he could switch networks. 

Late Night with Conan O’Brien premiered on September 13, 1993, to mixed reviews from critics. Since he was relatively unknown at the time, people quickly nitpicked and tore apart everything they felt was out of place about O’Brien. Fortunately, the show gradually gained commercial success and outperformed its competitors in ratings. 

The Tonight Show

In June 2009, O’Brien officially took over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno; however, just seven months later, in January 2010, O’Brien left the show and NBC altogether. It was alleged that NBC had promised O’Brien back in 2004 that he would replace Leno. At the time, O’Brien was extremely popular, and NBC wanted to prevent him from going to a rival network, particularly Fox.

Although exact details weren’t made public, it was estimated that NBC had offered O’Brien between $12 million and $15 million per year to host the show. NBC had always believed that by 2009, and after 17 years as the host, Leno would be ready to leave The Tonight Show. However, Leno wasn’t prepared to retire, and so, NBC planned to give him a new show at 10 p.m., while O’Brien would host The Tonight Show at 11:35 p.m.

In September 2009, Leno’s prime-time show debuted, but it received poor ratings and reviews, and audience numbers steadily declined. This, in turn, affected local TV stations, which rely heavily on the popular 10 p.m. slot as it traditionally captures audiences who then go on to watch local news and commercials. As a result, local stations put pressure on NBC to find a solution, and so it decided to move Leno’s show back to 11:35 p.m., and The Tonight Show was shifted to the later time of 12:05 a.m. Despite NBC’s best efforts, O’Brien refused to agree, arguing that pushing The Tonight Show after midnight would damage its legacy and his role as host.

NBC Settlement

As the problem grew, NBC faced the option of either sticking by its decision, which would affect ratings, or getting O’Brien to leave. At the time, O’Brien had about two and a half years left on his contract for The Tonight Show, and to avoid a legal battle, NBC offered him a generous severance package.

After negotiations, NBC finally agreed to pay $45 million to be split between O’Brien and his staff members, many of whom had relocated from New York to Los Angeles for the show. O’Brien reportedly covered some of the payments for stagehands and crew who had not been included in NBC’s deal. To secure the money, the settlement also required O’Brien to follow specific conditions. He had to agree not to appear on another network until September 2010 and was not to make any jokes or remarks about NBC.

O’Brien’s last appearance on The Tonight Show was on January 22nd, 2010, before Leno returned. Up until that point, O’Brien had been with NBC for almost two decades, and his departure was considered to be undignified and unnecessary. However, it didn’t affect the rest of his career, as in November 2010, TBS offered him around $12 to $15 million per season to host the Conan show, which ran for 10 and a half years. Although the show was popular with younger audiences, its ratings declined over time, with audiences dropping to just 282,000 per episode in the final season.

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

Conan’s production company, Team Coco, teamed up with Earwolf in 2018 for Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, a weekly podcast. In every episode, O’Brien is joined by a guest, with some of the most prominent being Barack Obama, Stephen Colbert, and Bob Newhart. Since its debut, the show has won numerous awards and has been downloaded over 250 million times across various hosting platforms. 

In 2022, this podcast, along with other Team Coco podcasts, Inside Conan, and Parks and Recollection, was sold to SiriusXM for $150 million. Conan announced that his four-episode travel series, Conan O’Brien Must Go, was in production in 2023 and is set to be released on Max.

Conan Salary

When TBS began airing Conan in 2010, O’Brien reportedly earned $12 million annually in compensation. He typically hosted between 159 and 165 episodes per season, resulting in a salary of roughly $75,000 per episode.

The show ran from 2010 to 2021, for eleven seasons and 1508 episodes. Assuming the $12 million figure was constant throughout (somewhat unlikely), he would have earned $132 million from the show.

Introduction

Amy Schumer is an American professional stand-up comedian and actress with an estimated net worth of $45 Million.

In the late 2010s, Amy Schumer was raking in money from every single direction, holding at least half a dozen significant income streams. This included projects such as her Netflix special, film salaries, book advances, live show performances, and endorsement deals. As a result, her net worth exploded during this time. 

This profile details our research into the factors that have affected Amy Schumer’s wealth significantly throughout her career, covering her earnings history, income sources, assets, and highest-grossing films.

Quick Facts

• Earned a combined $65.5 million over three years (2016, 2017, 2019)
• Received an $8 million book advance in 2015
• Secured a $13 million deal with Netflix for The Leather Special
• Grossed almost $1 billion at the global box office
• Earns approximately $500,000 per live show

Earnings History

In 2016, Amy Schumer became the world’s first female comedian to be featured on the Forbes list, earning an estimated $17 million that year, and placing fourth. This meant that she’d earned more in a single year than other renowned comics such as Dave Chappelle, Jeff Dunham, and Jim Gaffigan. However, despite this, the bulk of her income wasn’t generated through comedy. Almost half of her earnings that year were thanks to an $8 million book advance from Simon & Schuster. The remainder came from a combination of her upfront salary for starring in Trainwreck and her earnings from the sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer, which aired on Comedy Central.

Schumer also made the list again in 2017, and despite appearing a spot lower at fifth, her annual income had exploded to an estimated $37.5 million. However, this time, instead of book advances being her primary income source, it was her deal with Netflix that stole the show. According to initial reports, she was expected to receive $11 million to produce the stand-up special, The Leather Special. However, after she heard that Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle were being paid $20 million each, she renegotiated and allegedly secured a higher value.

Finally, in 2019, she earned an estimated $21 million, which would bring her earnings from the three years combined to a total of $65.5 million.

The Leather Special

At the beginning of 2017, Amy Schumer signed a lucrative contract with the streaming platform Netflix for her comedy special, The Leather Special, which was filmed live in Denver. It was reported that Schumer would receive $11 million from the special, which at the time was the most any female comedian had received or been offered from such a deal.

Initially, Schumer seemed satisfied with the financial incentives. However, just a short while later, in March of that year, both Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle also signed Netflix contracts for their own comedy specials. According to reports, they were each going to receive $20 million, and after Amy learned of the news, she went back to the company to ask for more money.

The situation led to much controversy and dispute surrounding the topic of gender pay gaps in entertainment-based industries, but Schumer later clarified that she didn’t demand to be paid on equal terms. She simply used Rock and Chappelle’s contracts as leverage to squeeze more out of her own. Schumer allegedly managed to renegotiate with Netflix and secure an additional $2 million, bringing her total earnings from the special to $13 million.

Highest-Grossing Movies

Schumer is known for her raunchy comedies, such as Trainwreck and Snatched, but those films have recently been pushed down the list by her voiceover work in animation films, Trolls Band Together and IF. Trolls Band Together grossed $209 million worldwide, becoming Schumer’s highest-grossing film. The movie IF, in which she had a minor role, became the second highest-grossing movie at $187 million, despite being somewhat of a flop, with a production budget of $110 million.

2015’s Trainwreck grossed $141 million at the box office, costing $35 million to produce, making it the best return on investment in Schumer’s acting career. Other notable mentions that made the list include Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, despite her only receiving a “special thanks,” which grossed $108 million. I Feel Pretty also grossed $95 million, and Snatched grossed $61 million.

Here’s a complete list of Amy Schumer’s ten highest-grossing movies:

1. Trolls Band Together – $209 Million (2023)
2. IF – $187 Million (2024)
3. Trainwreck – $141 Million (2015)
4. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising – $108 Million (2016)
5. I Feel Pretty – $95 Million (2018)
6. Snatched – $61 Million (2017)
7. Bros – $15 Million (2022)
8. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World – $12 Million (2012)
9. Thank You for Your Service – $10 Million (2017)
10. Sleepwalk with Me – $2.3 Million (2012)

Real Estate

Manhatten apartment

In 2014, Schumer paid $1.695 million for an 850-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. A year later, she relisted the unit on the market for $2.075 million. In 2016, the price was reduced by 20% to $1.625 million, finally closing a sale at the end of the year.

New York Penthouse

Around the same time, Schumer upgraded to a five-bedroom, 4,500-square-foot penthouse on the Upper West Side. The unit set her back $12.1 million at the time. She listed the property on the market in 2022 with an asking price of $15 million. It reportedly sold for $13 million.

Brooklyn Heights Townhome

Schumer and her husband, Chris Fischer, sold their penthouse in Manhattan to move to an area near their child’s school. According to reports, the couple was under contract to buy an $11 million townhouse in Brooklyn Heights. The listing has since been removed.

Introduction   

Seth Meyers is an American professional comedian, writer, and actor with an estimated net worth of $26 Million. 

Late Night Contract Renewal

In 2024, shortly after Meyers celebrated 10 years of hosting Late Night with Seth Meyers, NBCUniversal announced that his contract had been renewed until 2028. The agreement also included a deal between Meyers’ own production company, Sethmaker Shoemeyers, and Universal Studio Group for him to develop other projects for NBCUniversal.

Meyers’ contract for hosting the show pays him around $5 million per year. However, this amount is significantly lower than that of other late-night TV hosts, such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, who both earn $15 million per year.

Despite the renewal, the show’s house band, the 8G Band, was let go by the show in August 2024 to cut costs. However, they still provided pre-recorded music, rather than playing live in the studio. Since Meyers took over the slot from Jimmy Fallon in 2014, the show has received 11 Emmy nominations, seven Writers Guild of America Award nominations, and won two Critics’ Choice Awards.

Real Estate

Meyers and his wife purchased an apartment in the West Village neighborhood of New York in December 2013 for $3.5 million. Subsequently, they renovated the property before listing it for sale in 2017 for $4.5 million. The two-bedroom apartment, which featured a sunken living room with a fireplace, a modernized kitchen, and a spa bathroom, was sold in early 2018 for the full asking price.

Before the sale of the apartment was completed, the couple purchased a 5-bedroom duplex in Greenwich Village in 2016 for $7.5 million, as they needed more space following the birth of their first child. The 3,200-square-foot residence features two wood-burning fireplaces, a chef’s kitchen, a spacious living/dining room, four and a half bathrooms, and wooden beamed ceilings. The duplex occupies two floors of a 15-story building, which has only two apartments per floor, providing complete privacy for Meyers and his wife in a prime location in the city.

Philanthropy

Meyers has supported various charitable organizations, including Amnesty International, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Cycle for Survival, Forgotten Harvest, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Mia Hamm Foundation, Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Somaly Mam Foundation. 

Highlights

Here are some of the best highlights of Seth Meyers’ career:

• Late Night with Seth Meyers
• Weekend Update
• Hosted the Webby Awards (2008, 2009)