Stefan Holt is the son of NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and an anchor himself. (Facebook/Stefan Holt)
Stefan Holt is the 29-year-old son of NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, who moderated the first presidential debate on September 29. On March 8, 2017, Holt announced that he and wife Morgan are announcing their first child.
“Breaking news! A new member of the Holt family will be joining us in September,” Holt wrote on Facebook.
Holt followed his father into the news business and is an anchor himself. After working in Chicago, where his father also worked, he landed his current job as an anchor at WNBC in New York.
Here is a look at his life and career.
1. Holt Met His Wife Morgan at Pepperdine University & Married in July 2012
Stefan, his brother Cameron, Lester, Lester’s wife Carol and Stefan’s wife, Morgan. (Twitter/@carolhagenholt)
Holt is a graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, where he graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism and political science in 2009. While there, he met his wife Morgan. The couple tied the knot in July 2012.
Jeff and Erin Youngrens photographed the wedding reception, which took place at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. The ceremony was held at Pepperfine’s chapel.
2. Holt Began His Broadcasting Career in West Palm Beach, Florida Before Going to Chicago
Stefan Holt and WNBC co-anchor Natalie Pasquarella. (Twitter/@stefholt4NY)
After graduation, Holt was hired by WPBF in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was there until 2011, when he joined NBC 5 Chicago. He also had internships at KABC-TV in Los Angeles and NBC News in London during college.
In February 2012, Holt was promoted from the 4:30 p.m. broadcast at NBC 5 to co-anchor of NBC 5 News Today.
Holt’s father also worked in Chicago before moving to New York. From 1986 to 2000, Lester Holt was an anchor at WBBM-TV, the CBS-owned Chicago station.
3. Holt Joined WNBC in February 2016 to Anchor the 4 p.m. Broadcast
(Twitter/@stefholt4NY)
Holt said goodbye to Chicago in February 2016, when WNBC hired him to anchor a new 4 p.m. broadcast. It means that both Holt and his father work at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Congrats to @stefholtNBC So proud of you kid. First lunch in 30 Rock commissary is on me.
“Stefan is a hard-working, smart and highly curious journalist who takes his responsibility to viewers very seriously,” Susan Sullivan, Vice President of News of NBC 4 New York, said in a statement. “He’s also a caring person and a thoughtful colleague with an unbelievable ability to connect, which is exactly the kind of person we want to attract to our newsroom. We are proud to welcome him to our NBC 4 team.”
There was some gossip published by The New York Daily News that some within NBC News weren’t happy that the younger Holt was hired for the job, suggesting that it was only his famous name that got it. “Stefan Holt is a hard-working, serious and award-winning journalist who connects well with his viewers,” a NBC News rep told the Daily News.
4. Holt & His Wife Bought a Chicago Condo for $520,000 Just a Year Before He Moved to New York
Stefan’s mother, Carol Hagen-Holt, posted the above photo of Stefan and his wife Morgan on Twitter. (Twitter/Carol Hagen-Holt)
Holt and his wife were clearly not anticipating a move to New York. A year before they moved, they paid $520,000 for a Lakeview East condominium, the Chicago Tribune reports. In March, they listed the condo for $539,000 and already had a buyer a month later.
“It’s amazing how things change,” Holt told the Tribune. “And we love the building, we love the apartment and we love the neighborhood. It is bittersweet. I think we’re really excited to take on this next adventure in New York City, but we’re going to miss our home and all our friends in Chicago.”
The Holts started renovating the condo, which was located in a building built in 1920.
5. Holt & His Father Co-Anchored a Special 2012 Post-Thanksgiving Broadcast in Chicago
When Lester Holt goes on vacation, he knows that his phone could go off at any time to cover a breaking news story. But when he took a week off for Thanksgiving in November 2012 to spend time in Chicago, he took a different kind of break from his vacation. He co-anchored a post-Thanksgiving NBC 5 broadcast with his son.
“I asked him: You’re not working on Thanksgiving are you?” Lester Holt told NBC 5. “He said, ‘Actually I am. I said, if you guys are short, if Daniella Guzman wants the day off, I can fill in.’”
Lester Holt said he was joking, but Holt took his father up on the offer. He always knew that his son would become a news anchor like his father.
“I have a picture of Stefan sitting at the desk at WBBM from right around the time I started as an anchor there,” Holt told NBC5. “Stefan was up there, with his arms crossed, ready to go. At 2 ½ years old he already had the look.”
