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Given the numbers, Stephen Colbert is currently regarded as the king of Late Night. In truth, the host has enjoyed plenty of memorable moments since taking over from David Letterman, including an emotional segment alongside Keanu Reeves.It was quite the climb for Colbert and nowadays, he's out-earning the likes of David Letterman. We'll take a look at how that came to be, and how far the Late Night host is from topping Letterman's overall fortune.
Stephen Colbert Had Turned Down His First Ever Offer To Work With David Letterman Due To The Pay
Way back in 1986, Stephen Colbert received his first offer to work alongside David Letterman, however, the gig came out of nowhere, as he was simply accompanying his girlfriend to what was supposed to her interview at the time.
Colbert ended up getting a chance himself, but it was not meant to be when he found out the internship was unpaid.
“In 1986, my girlfriend in college got an appointment to interview for an internship at the old show [Late Night with David Letterman] over at NBC,” Colbert explained. “She came here for the internship, and she was in the room, getting the interview, and I’m just waiting in the hallway, like a boob.”
Continued Colbert: “And the person at the next door opens up and says, ‘Are you the next guy, for the thing?"
Colbert made light of the situation, mentioning that his relationship did not last following that particular moment...
Little did Colbert know at the time, he would be offered to take over the show completely almost three decades later. Though this time, there was definitely money on the table.
Stephen Colbert Ended Up Out-Earning David Letterman By $1 Million Per Year
David Letterman saw quite the rise in pay during his time on the Late Show. At one point, the legendary host was at $7 million per year, but this number would later double to $14 million by the end.
Letterman made a fortune thanks to TV, his current net worth is sitting at $400 million, still bringing in an average salary per year of $50 million, thanks to his ongoing various projects and residual pays.
As for Stephen Colbert, he isn't quite at David Letterman's fortune yet, with still a significant amount of wealth, valued at $75 million.
However, following his latest contract negotiations, Colbert did manage to bring in more than Letterman per year, at a rate of $15 million annually. The deal is set to expire soon and it'll be interesting to see how much Colbert brings in, surely, it'll be a higher number, at least slightly.
Although Colbert is making a fortune in terms of numbers, things did not get off to the best of starts. Colbert worried at the beginning that fans were going to tune out before they got an understanding of what the show was going to be about.
Taking David Letterman's Place Did Not Start Of Well For Stephen Colbert
It was quite the adjustment for both David Letterman and Stephen Colbert. Dave struggled with the fact that he'd be off TV, while Colbert realized he had big shoes to fill, especially when it came to expectations in such a slot.
According to Colbert alongside Cinema Blend, it was a tough transition, especially given that he had to be himself, without a gimmick behind him.
"It was the first time I had to be me, I didn’t know if I could do that, so I had to learn to do something I’d never done before with a camera in front of me, on live television, in front of a massive audience."
With that in mind, Colbert revealed that the first few months were not an easy process, "Those first six months felt terrible because you’re having to reinvent a new way to do the show, I had never my entire life done anything as myself, I had always done something in character, I was an actor."
Looking back, we can safely say that it all worked out for Stephen Colbert.