Did Howard Stern Underpay His Staff?
Howard Stern has had a lot of scandals — from bashing these celebrities to his staff's complicated personal lives. Still, the self-proclaimed King of All Media managed to turn his sleazy show into a safe space for public figures to open up about their insecurities.
No wonder he's now worth $650 million. But despite that, he once criticized fellow wealthy broadcaster, Oprah Winfrey for "showing off" her lucrative wealth.
"Oprah's not embarrassed by her wealth at all," he said in his show in November 2022. "It's f – – king mind-blowing you when you follow her on Instagram. You see her estates, her gardens, the people who service her and, you know."
His co-host Robin Quivers responded, "Service her? She's not a car," to which Stern said: "Well, she kind of is. She's got servants and like people cooking and it's f – – king wild."
It's a pretty wild take, considering his own issues with how much he pays his staffers...
When Did Howard Stern Get His Own Show?
Stern got his first radio gigs while he was still studying at Boston University. He started out working in morning shows at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, New York; WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut; WWWW in Detroit, Michigan; and WWDC in Washington, D.C.
He also started an afternoon position at WNBC in New York City in 1982. Luckily, after being fired from that in 1985, he got a job at WXRK in New York City where he stayed for two decades.
The following year, The Howard Stern Show (a morning show at that time) entered syndication. It reached up to 20 million listeners. After the crackdown on indecency on radio and TV following the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, his final show on terrestrial airwaves aired on December 16, 2005. His show started airing on Sirius on January 9, 2006.
In 2008, Sirius merged with rival, XM Satellite Radio, forming the now-known SiriusXM station. Stern extended another five years with the network in late 2020. "Fifteen years ago, I joined SiriusXM, a fledgling group of broadcasters. I had been in a toxic relationship with terrestrial radio," the media personality said at that time.
"And no matter how well I treated the medium, no matter how successful I made them, they abused me. Going to SiriusXM liberated me. I felt like Tina Turner freeing myself from Ike," he continued. "And despite the naysayers and the ridicule, we have persevered, and are thriving. I've been proven right about satellite radio over and over again. With this contract renewal, I can't wait to see what else I'll be right about."
How Did Howard Stern Make All His Money?
Stern made all his money, mainly on his radio career. For instance, just his first contract with Sirius was already worth $500 million.
On his first broadcast on Sirius, he and his agent Don Buchwald earned a total of 34.3 million shares of Sirius stock worth $218 million for surpassing the set subscriber count goal when they signed the contract. These days, he reportedly makes $90 million a year.
But prior to that, Stern had also dabbled in other media projects and investments. In 2000, he released his most successful executive production, Son of the Beach. It was a TV parody of Baywatch that aired from March 2000 to October 2002. In late 2022, he also acquired the rights to the movies, Rock 'n' Roll High School and Porky's with Archlight Films.
He wanted to do a remake of the former to introduce a new band. The deal allowed him to add "Howard Stern Presents" to the titles. "If I say to ... my audience, this is 'Howard Stern Presents', it means something to them ... it's going to be crazy," he said of the power move. "It means that it's going to be different, and they know I'm not going to be giving them any schlock."
How Much Does Howard Stern Pay His Employees?
Stern's relationship with his staff has been a subject of controversy for the longest time. So it was truly odd for many when he slammed Winfrey for "showing off" her lifestyle when he's had issues with not paying his employees enough. Although his longtime co-host, Quivers earns $10 million a year and is now worth $75 million, not all of Stern's staffers make big bucks.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Benjy Bronk is only paid $100,00 year; the duo JD and Ronnie Mund get $60,000 each; while Sal Governale and Richard Christy earn $80,000. Reddit fans found this disturbing, with one posting: "Why doesn't stern pay his employees better [...] This is just something I've wondered after listening to some episodes. I remember sal telling Howard how he had to sell items on eBay to pay his bills."
They continued: "Also they're always goofing on JD for spending money on baseball cards when he supposedly doesn't have a lot of cash. And Scott the engineer's wife got cancer and he had to start a go fund me to pay for her medical bills…the list goes on and on."
The Redditor went on to say that "it's really quite preposterous. The guy is the highest paid entertainer of all time and he doesn't pay his workers a wage to even live comfortably."
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