Hoda Kotb has amassed a fortune from her work on ‘Today’ and the multiple books she’s penned

Hoda Kotb attends the 27th Annual Webby Awards on May 15, 2023 in New York City. Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Hoda Kotb has built her wealth through her work on Today and her other business ventures. Now, she’s focusing on her family.

The longtime Today host announced her exit from the show after 17 years on Sept. 26. “My broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie,” she wrote in a letter to her staff.

Kotb will leave the morning show on Jan. 10 and sign off for the last time alongside her longtime co-anchors and friends. She added in her goodbye note that she “plans to remain a part of the NBC family.”

While it is unclear exactly what Kotb’s net worth is, the anchor’s annual salary was discussed when she took over for Matt Lauer, who was fired in November 2017 for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.”

Shortly after, Kotb was announced as the new co-anchor alongside Savannah Guthrie in January 2018. Per Page Six, she was offered a $7 million annual salary, though Lauer was previously reportedly earning $20 million yearly, according to Fortune.

“The answer is no — that’s not happening,” Kotb told PEOPLE of whether she’d be earning a similar amount as Lauer.

From her storied career at NBC to her book deals, here’s everything to know about how Kotb has amassed her net worth.

How much does Hoda Kotb get paid on Today?

Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb appeared on the Today Show on Tuesday, September 3, 2019.Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

According to Page Six, Kotb’s Today salary was $7 million per year when she took over as co-anchor in 2018, which was reportedly the same as her co-anchor, Guthrie. A Today rep told the outlet they don’t comment on employees’ salaries.

The contract was allegedly worth at least $10 million less than the one Lauer reportedly signed with NBC in 2016 (Page Six claimed that her predecessor made $25 million a year, while Fortune reported that his two-year contract was worth $20 million per year).

Kotb had been with NBC since she started at Dateline in 1998, and began hosting on Today in 2007. She assumed Lauer’s position after he was ousted in November 2017, while also continuing her role as the co-host alongside Kathie Lee Gifford (later Jenna Bush Hager in 2019) for the 10 a.m. Today slot.

A source told Page Six that Kotb wasn’t “complaining about the money,” and was happy to accept the deal.

“Matt’s salary reflected the long time he was on the show — 25 years,” they said. “If things go well, Hoda could ask for more next time if she re-ups her contract. But the figures underline the huge wage disparity at NBC News.”

What has Hoda Kotb said about her salary?

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager accept the award for Best On-Air Talent – Lifestyle/Entertainment at the 46th Annual Gracie Awards on October 5, 2021.Alliance for Women in Media Foundation/Getty Images

Kotb confirmed to PEOPLE shortly after she was announced as co-anchor in January 2018 that she was making less than Lauer had, with Guthrie chiming in that she was also paid less than her former co-host.

However, Kotb said she was perfectly okay with that as long as her job continued to fill her with joy.

“I think the whole money thing for me, I’ve always been sort of — I know it sounds ridiculous that I’m going to say this, but I really have done jobs I liked for the job I liked because I never wanted to be happy every other Friday on pay day,” she said. “Like, I didn’t want that to be the happy day. I wanted to feel good throughout. So no, I’m not making Matt Lauer money. Not even close.”

In September 2023, Kotb opened up on an episode of Today about how, while she was a correspondent for Dateline, she thought she might have been “the lowest paid correspondent” and that the pay disparity between herself and others was “pretty clear at the time.”

“I think it’s one of the hardest things for women to do,” she said of asking for a raise. “I know for years I was definitely making a fraction of what my male co-anchors were making. I actually never asked because I didn’t want to be difficult.”

She added that she remembered thinking she couldn’t pay off all her expenses. “I couldn’t pay all my bills at the same time. So I was like, ‘I’ll pay this one, and then pay that one,’ ” Kotb reflected.

What are Hoda Kotb’s other business ventures?

Hoda Kotb autographs copies of her latest book “Where We Belong” on January 11, 2016 in Ridgewood, New Jersey.Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

In addition to anchoring a morning show, Kotb has also become a New York Times best-selling author, penning everything from memoirs to children’s books. She started her writing journey in 2010 with the publication of her memoir, Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee.

Kotb followed the success of her memoir with four more nonfiction books: 2013’s Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives, 2016’s Where We Belong: Journeys That Show Us The Way, 2019’s I Really Needed This Today: Words to Live By and 2020’s This Just Speaks to Me: Words to Live By Every Day, with the latter two being books full of a collection of quotes.

In addition to her inspirational books — some of which became instant New York Times bestsellers — Kotb has also written three children’s stories. Her first one, 2018’s I’ve Loved You Since Forever, was inspired by the birth of her older daughter Haley, while her latest is named after her younger daughter, Hope, titled Hope Is a Rainbow.

In yet another gig, Kotb is also the host of her own podcast, Making Space, where she celebrated her milestone 50th guest in November 2024.

Her post-Today plans are already in the works as well. During a January 2025 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Kotb told host Kelly Clarkson that getting “hooked in the wellness space” a couple of years earlier has led her to her next venture: a wellness app and company that will include retreats and a podcast. She plans to make her new endeavor public in the spring.

“We can get together, do things that I love, and when you’re done, it’s not like going to Mexico with your girls, which is fun, but this is something that when you leave, you’ll go like, ‘Oh my gosh. I feel transformed. I feel different,’ ” she said. “So I’m in the building process of that.”

Why is Hoda Kotb leaving Today?

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on ‘Today’ on Nov. 1, 2021.Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Kotb cited her two young daughters as the main reason why she’s departing from her longtime role as a co-host and anchor of Today.

“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she shared on the show. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”

However, she also revealed her plans to continue working with the network in some capacity in her letter to staff, writing, “Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart.”

“I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine,” Kotb said.