How Much Does Jon Stewart Earn? A Lot

Jon Stewart Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen August 22, 2013

TV Guide Magazine’s annual survey of star salaries is out and one thing is clear — Jon Stewart’s high ratings translate into dollars.

According to the survey, Stewart tops the late night bracket, earning between $25 and $30 million a year. In previous years, Jay Leno and David Letterman had monopoly over the honor — no more. Leno took a nearly $10 million pay cut last year, putting him down in the $20 million range. Letterman is also in the $20 million ballpark after the license fee paid by CBS to his production company, Worldwide Pants, was reduced.

Judy Sheindlin (Judge Judy), is the highest paid television personality ever, earning a reported $47 million a year.

Jason Segel and Max Greenfield made the list in Comedy, with a cool $225,000 per episode for “How I Met Your Mother,” and $75,000 for “New Girl,” respectively. Ashton Kutcher (honorary Jew), is the highest paid actor in prime time with $750,000 an episode for “Two and a Half Men.”

Other members of the tribe included Andy Cohen ($2 million a year for “Watch What Happens Live”) and Howard Stern ($15 million a year for “America’s Got Talent”).

For the full list, pick up the August 22nd issue of TV Guide.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO