Jimmy Kimmel’s Salary: How Much the Oscars Host Earns

Getty Jimmy Kimmel, host and executive producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and host of the "90th Oscars", speaks onstage during the ABC Television/Disney portion of the 2018 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 8, 2018 in Pasadena, California.

Jimmy Kimmel is a very wealthy man with a high salary. He’s a millionaire many times over. However, at least based on what he made in 2017, his salary for the Academy Awards hosting gig is a lot less than the money he earns for his television talk show.

Kimmel is a well-known face to many Americans because of his television talk show and comedic talents. Kimmel will grace television screens and host the Oscars on Sunday, March 4, 2018. What’s his salary? In 2017, he leaked the amount he was paid to host the Oscars, and it wasn’t much. It seems it’s the exposure and honor that makes it worth it.

Here’s what you need to know:

Kimmel Doesn’t Make Much Money for Hosting the Oscars

TV Personality Jimmy Kimmel arrives for the premiere of “Office Christmas Party” at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on December 7, 2016.

Although it gets him a lot of exposure, hosting the Academy Awards doesn’t earn Kimmel much money. In fact, he only earned $15,000 for hosting the Oscars in 2017, which he’s said is similar to the amount earned by past hosts. It’s likely that his 2018 payday isn’t a lot more, although that’s not certain.

“Although the pay is only $15,000, celebrity hosts also have a show rider, which is the list of demands that is added to their contracts spelling out what the performer requires in their dressing room or after the show,” noted Money.com.

Kimmel leaked word of his 2017 Oscar pay during an interview with KROQ. “I think it’s illegal to pay nothing,” he said, according to Daily Variety. “I’m not sure I was supposed to reveal this,” he added. “But nobody told me not to. I consider this their fault.”

Kimmel Earns Millions Per Year Hosting His Talk Show

An Oscar statue is seen as preparations get underway for the 89th Annual Academy Awards February 20, 2017 in Hollywood, California.

The big moneymaker for Jimmy Kimmel is obviously his television talk show on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel Live! He’s said to earn anywhere from $13 to $15 million a year for that show, which he’s hosted since 2003.

Some sites put his salary for the show a bit lower, but still at a hefty sum: $10 million a year. When Kimmel’s ABC talk show debuted, he earned about $1.75 million a year hosting it, but his salary has steadily increased along with his popularity.

Being a television talk show host at the network level is very lucrative business.

In 2017, Jimmy Kimmel placed number 3 on the list of richest talk show hosts in the United States. According to Thought.com, two other talk show hosts are are richer: Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert.

Kimmel has had a long career. “He has also been successful in radio, television and in roles as a voice actor in animated films and television shows,” the site notes. For example, Kimmel has guest hosted on shows like Larry King Live and Live with Regis and Kelly.

Jimmy Kimmel started out on the radio as “Jimmy the Sports Guy” in Los Angeles. In 1997, “he switched to television when he landed a gig as the host of Comedy Central’s game show ‘Win Ben Stein’s Money,'” reports Bankrate. He created a production company with friends to pitch comedy shows to the networks, eventually grabbing their attention, according to Bankrate.