Conan O'Brien's net worth explained: Late-night TV salary, podcast deal, and more
By Matt Moore
Conan O'Brien's net worth is nothing to laugh at. The writer, late-night TV host, and podcast leader has earned millions in the decades he's spent in comedy.
O'Brien came out of Harvard and knew that he wanted a career in comedy. He dabbled in improv classes, but writing his where he first made a name for himself. Early gigs on Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons earned him enough recognition for Lorne Michaels to put O'Brien in front of the camera.
The rest is late-night TV history as Conan O'Brien became an icon of the genre, inspired a generation of comedians, and reinvented himself as a podcast host. Along the way, O'Brien's net worth has skyrocketed to an estimated $200 million (via Celebrity Net Worth).
O'Brien's early jobs at Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons weren't exactly cash cows. But making a name for himself in the early '90s changed the trajectory of his career (and net worth).
He took over Late Night in 1993, operating on a weekly contract. Yet his absurd and wholly unique sense of humor eventually found its audience and kept him at the gig for 15 years.
What was Conan O'Brien's late-night TV salary?
The 2009-2010 Tonight Show debacle had very few positives in it for O'Brien. However, NBC did pay out a reported $30 million settlement to O'Brien and his staff.
From there, his next stop was TBS. The late-night TV show Conan premiered in 2010. The network reportedly paid O'Brien a salary of $10 million until the show's end in 2021. For comparison, Stephen Colbert earns a reported $15 million per year from CBS.
O'Brien's production company Team Coco also added to his income during the Conan years. O'Brien and his company retained rights to the show, earning additional revenue from YouTube, streaming services, and social media. The channel boasts over 8 million subscribers and over 8 billion lifetime views.
How much has Conan O'Brien made podcasting?
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend launched in 2018 and quickly dominated the comedy podcasting space. While it was initially a side gig to his late-night TV job, Conan O'Brien eventually walked away from TV and focused full-time on podcasting.
The success of Needs a Friend helped create an entire network of podcasts under the Team Coco umbrella. It didn't take long for SiriusXM to take notice and put a deal on the table.
In 2022, O'Brien sold Team Coco's podcast empire to Sirius for $150 million. The company also signed O'Brien to a talent deal while acquiring revenue from the Team Coco YouTube channel.
How else does Conan O'Brien make money?
Conan O'Brien shocked the industry when he announced his late-night TV departure in 2021. The bright side was that he had no plans of riding off into the sunset.
Instead, he landed a deal with HBO to produce new programming. O'Brien produced comedy specials for the Max streaming service featuring comedians in his orbit.
O'Brien then produced Conan O'Brien Must Go, a travel series and a successor to the "Conan Without Borders" segments that became so popular.
O'Brien also has a solid list of TV and film appearances that have added to his net worth. His credits include 30 Rock, Family Guy, Final Space, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Lego Batman Movie, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain.