Joe Rogan may still be merely known to some fans as the former host of the hit dare competition series Fear Factor, but over the past decade, his work as a Comedian, Mixed Martial Arts Color Commentator and Podcast Host has helped the 52-year-old media mogul become a multi-millionaire.
Rogan reportedly rakes in several million dollars every year solely through his popular podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience," which gets over 140 million views per month on just YouTube alone. Many podcasters have joined with media service provider Spotify to expand their follower base, but Rogan refuses to work with Spotify because he believes they don't adequately pay artists and has instead found more creative and profitable ways to fill his wallet.
"The Joe Rogan Experience" Is A Huge Cash Cow
As the UFC's lead Color Commentator, Joe Rogan has become one of the most well-known personalities in the world of mixed martial arts. However, he actually makes more money talking on his podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" than he does working for the UFC.
In 2009, when podcasts were still a fairly unknown medium, Rogan launched "The Joe Rogan Experience" and waited to see what would happen.
“When we first started it out, it was just for fun. It was just to goof. It was a silly thing to do, we thought it would just be fun to hang out and talk,” he admitted on Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons in 2016.
"The Joe Rogan Experience" quickly became one of the Top 5 most-downloaded podcasts in the world and has maintained that status for years. Rogan doesn't brag about how much he makes on the podcast, but Michael Bisping, Joe's friend, and a former UFC Middleweight Champion, accidentally revealed on his own podcast called "Believe You Me" that Rogan pulls in $75,000 per episode.
That figure is a couple of years old now, so adjusting for inflation alone, Rogan would make $78,373 per episode and he's done over 1,300 episodes of the podcast thus far.
Why Joe Rogan Made It So Big In The Podcasting World
There are countless celebrities, media personalities and aspiring influencers with podcasts right now, and it's difficult to say why Rogan has performed so well and so consistently over the past 11 years. However, after analyzing the data behind "The Joe Rogan Experience," entrepreneur and fellow YouTuber Mike Vestil believes he understands Rogan's path to success.
Vestil accredits Rogan's large fan following to the media mogul's authenticity, saying that Joe's long podcasts reveal his genuine self to his listeners.
"You cannot fake who you are in three hours. When you bring in an audience that is listening to your conversation for 3 hours long, listening to your needs, your wants, your desires, your values, what you’re willing to put up it with in your life. Listening about what you stand for, what is your mission, what is your purpose," Vestil. "What happens is, you start attracting a tribe! This is when things start getting fun."
Rogan Thinks Spotify Has Nothing To Offer Artists
Rogan's fans have been asking him to put "The Joe Rogan Experience" on Spotify for years so they could listen to it without having to download different podcast platforms or use cellular data watching "JRE" on YouTube. Rogan has thus far refused these requests, and he provided his followers with the reasoning behind this decision during a Joe Rogan Experience interview with musician Steven Tyler featured on Player Fm in 2018.
When Tyler complained that Spotify fails to properly compensate their artists, Rogan agreed with the Aerosmith frontman and revealed that he had similar concerns with the media service.
"We're not on Spotify, and the reason why we're not on it is because it didn't make any sense. They were like 'We want to put you on it, it's gonna be great for you.' And I was like, how is it great? You guys are gonna make money," Rogan stated. "You guys are making money and you don't give us any."
Rogan went on to complain that streaming platforms like to give their artists a "weird smoke and mirrors song and dance" and try to convince them that they're "going to be a part of something big." In reality, he says, all services like Spotify have to sell is other artists' work, and don't actually provide anything useful.
"The artists get paid so little, so where is the money going?"
Joe's Various Business Ventures Have Helped Him Generate A Massive Net Worth
Joe Rogan's career in the entertainment world took off after his role as Frank Valente on Hardball in the early 1990s and his hosting career on Fear Factor in the 2000s. He now regularly sells out packed auditoriums for his stand-up comedy shows and has netted significant sums through various hour-long Netflix specials. He also earns an unknown yet undoubtedly significant salary from his role as UFC commentator.
His net worth has been estimated to be around $30 million, but this is likely a dramatic underestimation. Since Rogan records approximately 200 episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" annually, it's possible that he earns over $10 million per year just through his podcast and that his true net worth when combining the profits of his various business ventures is far greater than reports claim.