Jimmy Kimmel | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Jimmy Kimmel is best known as the creator and host of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," which debuted in 2003 and has grown into one of the longest-running late-night programs in American television history. He began his career in radio before becoming nationally known on Comedy Central as the co-host of "Win Ben Stein's Money" and then co-creator and co-host of "The Man Show" with Adam Carolla. Over more than two decades in late night, Kimmel developed recurring segments including "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets," "Lie Witness News," and his elaborate fake feud with Matt Damon.

Kimmel has also become one of Hollywood's most experienced live-event hosts, presiding over the Academy Awards four times and multiple Emmy ceremonies. In 2025, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was temporarily suspended by ABC following controversy over comments Kimmel made after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, but the show returned six days later. Kimmel subsequently signed a one-year extension with Disney that keeps him under contract through May 2027. Despite years of publicly considering retirement, the program entered 2026 with some of its strongest ratings in its history.

Jimmy Kimmel Salary

Jimmy Kimmel earns approximately $16 million per year from his television work.

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

That compensation covers his broader relationship with ABC and Disney, centered on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" but also encompassing projects such as the celebrity edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," which Kimmel hosts and executive produces.

Kimmel's previous contract was scheduled to expire in 2026. In December 2025, he signed a one-year extension keeping him at Disney through May 2027. Financial terms of the extension were not publicly disclosed.

Forbes estimated Kimmel's television earnings at $16 million for 2025, placing him among the highest-paid hosts on television.

Real Estate, Luxury Assets & Personal Investments

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Early Life

James Christian Kimmel was born on November 13, 1967, in Brooklyn, New York. He is the eldest of three children born to Joan and James Kimmel.

Jimmy spent his early childhood in the Mill Basin neighborhood of Brooklyn before his family moved to Las Vegas when he was nine years old. He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for one year before transferring to Arizona State University. He did not graduate but later received an honorary degree from UNLV.

Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections

Kimmel became interested in broadcasting largely because of David Letterman, whose career had also begun in radio.

Radio Career

Kimmel began working at a college radio station while attending Arizona State.

His first full-time professional radio job came as a morning co-host on KZOK-FM in Seattle. Kimmel and co-host Kent Voss became known for elaborate on-air stunts, some of which were expensive enough to irritate station management. Both men were fired in 1990.

Kimmel moved through several other radio markets before landing in Palm Springs, California. While there, he hired his childhood friend Carson Daly as an intern.

After additional jobs in Tucson and Phoenix, Kimmel landed at Los Angeles radio institution KROQ. He spent five years as "Jimmy the Sports Guy" on the popular "Kevin and Bean" morning show.

Radio also helped shape the sensibility he later brought to television. Kimmel has cited both Letterman and Howard Stern as major influences, combining Letterman's absurdist comedy with Stern's willingness to speak candidly on the air.

"Win Ben Stein's Money"

Kimmel initially resisted moving into television.

His breakthrough came in 1997 when Comedy Central cast him alongside Ben Stein on "Win Ben Stein's Money." Stein played the intellectual authority figure while Kimmel served as the wisecracking everyman.

The unusual pairing worked. Kimmel and Stein won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1999.

The series gave Kimmel national exposure and established him as a television personality rather than simply a Los Angeles radio performer.

"The Man Show" and "Crank Yankers"

In 1999, Kimmel and Adam Carolla created "The Man Show" for Comedy Central.

The program mixed sketches, interviews, audience participation, and deliberately juvenile comedy centered around stereotypes of male behavior. It became one of Comedy Central's biggest programs while also attracting criticism for its treatment of women and reliance on crude humor.

Kimmel and Carolla's partnership subsequently produced "Crank Yankers," a puppet-based series built around recordings of real prank telephone calls. Kimmel also voiced several characters.

The success of the two programs gave him enough leverage to pursue a much bigger opportunity: his own network late-night show.

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"Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" premiered on ABC on January 26, 2003.

The show initially struggled against entrenched late-night competitors and went through several format changes. Over time, Kimmel developed a more relaxed interviewing style and a collection of recurring comedy segments that translated particularly well to the internet and social media.

"Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" became one of the show's most recognizable segments, placing famous people on camera while they read insulting social-media posts written about themselves. "Lie Witness News" sent correspondents onto the street to ask people about fictional news events, while Kimmel's annual Halloween candy prank invited parents to tell their children they had eaten all their candy and record the reaction.

One of the show's longest-running jokes is Kimmel's supposed feud with Matt Damon. The gag began when Kimmel jokingly apologized at the end of a bad episode for running out of time for Damon despite the actor not actually being scheduled. Damon eventually joined the joke, resulting in increasingly elaborate segments involving Sarah Silverman, Ben Affleck, and other celebrities.

Kimmel gradually incorporated more political material and personal commentary into his monologues. After his son Billy was born with a congenital heart defect in 2017, Kimmel delivered emotional monologues about his family's experience and healthcare policy.

2025 Suspension

Kimmel became the center of a national controversy in September 2025 following comments about the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.

ABC suspended "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on September 17 after major station owners Nexstar and Sinclair said they would stop airing the program. Disney said the company believed Kimmel's comments were ill-timed and insensitive and paused production while executives held discussions with him.

The decision triggered a broader argument over political speech, corporate pressure, broadcast regulation, and the role of the Federal Communications Commission. Public figures from across the entertainment industry criticized the suspension.

Kimmel returned on September 23, six days after the show was pulled. During his first monologue back, he became emotional while saying that he had never intended to make light of Kirk's killing. He also thanked people who had defended his right to remain on the air, including Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Howard Stern, and David Letterman.

The controversy ultimately did not end Kimmel's relationship with Disney. Less than three months later, he signed his contract extension through May 2027.

Record Ratings and Future of the Show

Despite the long-term decline in traditional late-night television audiences, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" experienced an unusually strong period in 2026.

Before Kimmel began his customary summer hiatus, the program averaged 3.15 million viewers in June 2026, its largest monthly average in the show's 23-year history at that point. The audience was up sharply from May.

During Kimmel's summer break, ABC used a rotating group of guest hosts that included Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson, Ike Barinholtz, Colman Domingo, Jelly Roll, and Rosie O'Donnell.

Kimmel returned to the program in September 2026.

His future beyond May 2027 remained uncertain. A September 2026 report claimed ABC had decided not to renew him, but the network publicly called that report inaccurate and said any conclusions about the show's future were speculative. Kimmel himself has spent years suggesting that each contract might be his last, only to repeatedly sign another one.

Oscars and Major Hosting Jobs

Kimmel has become one of the Academy Awards' most frequently used modern hosts.

He hosted the Oscars in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024. His first ceremony became particularly memorable because of the infamous Best Picture mix-up in which "La La Land" was mistakenly announced as the winner before producers revealed that "Moonlight" had actually won.

Kimmel helped manage the confusion live onstage as the mistake was corrected.

He has also hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards and the American Music Awards.

Kimmel did not host the Oscars in 2025 or 2026; those ceremonies were hosted by Conan O'Brien. Kimmel did return to the ceremony as a presenter in 2026.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"

Kimmel took over hosting duties for ABC's revival of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in 2020.

The revived version eventually shifted toward celebrity pairs competing to win money for charity. Kimmel also serves as an executive producer through his Kimmelot production company.

ABC brought the show back for a fifth season in July 2026. Guests included Larry David, Ben Affleck, Jason Alexander, Wayne Knight, Brad Paisley, and Jesse Eisenberg.

His work on the program earned Kimmel a 2026 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Host for a Game Show, while "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" was nominated for Outstanding Game Show.

Other Ventures

Kimmel has produced numerous television programs and specials through his production companies.

He released the children's book "The Serious Goose" in 2019 and has provided voice work for animated projects including "Robot Chicken," "The Smurfs," and several films.

During the 2023 Hollywood writers' strike, Kimmel joined fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver to create the podcast "Strike Force Five." Proceeds were used to support their out-of-work staff members.

Kimmel has also been closely involved with the Los Angeles Bowl college football game, which was initially branded the "Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl."

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Personal Life

Kimmel married Gina Maddy in 1988. They had two children, Katie and Kevin, before divorcing in 2002.

From 2002 until 2009, Kimmel was in a relationship with comedian Sarah Silverman.

Kimmel began dating "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" writer Molly McNearney in 2009. They married in July 2013 and have two children, Jane and William "Billy" Kimmel. McNearney eventually became a head writer and executive producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Billy was born in 2017 with a rare congenital heart defect and underwent surgery when he was only three days old. Kimmel's public discussions of his son's medical treatment became some of the most widely viewed and emotionally resonant monologues of his career.

Kimmel has spoken publicly about having narcolepsy. He is also an avid cook and an enthusiastic fly fisherman.

In 2025, Kimmel revealed that he had obtained Italian citizenship through his mother's ancestry.

Real Estate

Kimmel has assembled a substantial real estate portfolio concentrated in Southern California.

In 2004, he paid $2.175 million for a home one block from the beach in Hermosa Beach.

He expanded his presence in the neighborhood over the following years. In 2014, Kimmel paid approximately $2.25 million for another Hermosa Beach property that was later transferred to a family member.

His most ambitious Hermosa acquisition came in 2017, when he spent roughly $8 million to acquire adjoining ocean-view parcels. He subsequently undertook a major custom construction project on the combined property, creating the coastal home where he and McNearney have primarily lived with their children.

Kimmel has also owned several homes in the Hollywood Hills. In 2002, he bought a Hollywood Regency-style property for $925,000 and sold it in 2014 for $2.178 million.

He later assembled another Hollywood Hills compound through adjoining properties. Architectural Digest estimated the principal residence at roughly $6 million and noted that Kimmel expanded the compound by acquiring neighboring land.

South Fork Lodge

In 2020, Kimmel and professional angler Oliver White acquired South Fork Lodge in Swan Valley, Idaho.

The roughly 25-acre luxury fly-fishing resort sits on the South Fork of the Snake River, one of the country's best-known trout-fishing destinations. The property includes guest accommodations, cabins, a river house, restaurant, fly shop, and access to guided fishing.

Kimmel and White subsequently renovated and expanded the lodge. Kimmel has incorporated personal fishing memorabilia and artwork throughout the property and regularly spends time there.

Unlike his private homes, South Fork Lodge is also an operating hospitality business available to paying guests, giving Kimmel an unusual real-estate asset that combines his personal passion for fly fishing with a commercial venture.

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