Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, 49, is best known for his hit television series Jimmy Kimmel Live!. However, he has seemed to grow his business into every aspect of pop culture today. On top of his well-known television show, he is also the executive producer of shows such as Sports Show with Norm Macdonald, Cousin Sal’s Sure Thing, and Big Fan.
As we all wait anxiously for the 2018 Oscars to bring more of his infamous sense of humor and fun antics, you might be asking yourself how much Kimmel is worth?
Jimmy Kimmel’s Net Worth as of 2017: $35 Million
How is it that this gut-busting comedian managed to garner such a value? Let’s take a closer look.
1997 – 1998
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After spending most of his college career commentating for his school’s radio show, Kimmel made the leap of faith to television. He began as the co-host of Win Ben Stein’s Money, a game show that aired on Comedy Central. The show was similar to Jeopardy and showed people answering questions for the purpose of, you guessed it, winning Ben Stein’s money. The success of the show led to Kimmel and his co-host, Ben Stein, to win a Daytime Emmy for Best Game Show Host in 1999.
1999 – 2002
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After leaving Win Ben Stein’s Money Kimmel, with the help of Adam Carolla and Daniel Kellison, created a production company by the (incredibly classy) name of Jackhole Industries. The three created and pitched ideas to various networks and eventually caught the attention of Comedy Central with The Man Show. The show itself featured beer chugging and scantily-clad models. One of their most well-known segments included setting up a booth at a farmer’s market and asking people to sign a petition to “end women’s suffrage.” The skit was meant to highlight the political ignorance of society in a humorous manner.
Following the success of The Man Show, Kimmel and his production company created Crank Yankers. Crank Yankers is a show featuring fairly unnerving puppets and showed various “crank calls.”
2003 – 2011
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After creating multiple successes, ABC took an interest in Kimmel as a late-night talk show host. Thus, Jackhole Productions in association with ABC created Jimmy Kimmel Live! Shockingly enough, the show was met with mediocre reviews and took its time getting off its feet. However, we’re pretty glad it did. The show is currently ABC’s longest running talk show, beating out The Dick Cavett Show and Politically Incorrect.
Fun fact: Jimmy Kimmel Live! is not actually aired live, despite its misleading title. It is recorded earlier in the day. However, the show will occasionally air live for major events.
Within a year the show gained momentum and eventually moved from its midnight slot to an 11:35 slot in 2013 in order to compete with The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It now features A-list celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Chris Pine, and Kristin Chenoweth. However, he never seems to have enough time for Matt Damon. Sorry, Matt!
2012 – Present
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After a successful decade of Jimmy Kimmel Live! as well as various voice acting jobs including Spanky from Garfield: The Movie, Kimmel hosted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C. He brought the same humor to the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California. His success led him to return in 2016, and then go on to host the 2017 Academy Awards.
Kimmel will return to host the 2018 Academy Awards as well.
