What was Lou Dobbs' Net Worth and Salary?
Lou Dobbs was an American former television personality, author and radio host who had a net worth of $20 million. Lou Dobbs began working at CNN at the network's inception in 1980 and stayed there until 1999. He re-joined CNN in 2001 but then left again in 2009. From 2011 to 2021 he hosted "Lou Dobbs Tonight" which eventually became the highest-rated show on the Fox Business Network. The show was canceled in February 2021.
Dobbs is infamous for perpetuating a number of false conspiracy theories, including birtherism and the Big Lie that the 2020 US presidential election was stolen. Fox canceled Lou Dobbs in the wake of a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed by election technology company Smartmatic against Fox Corporation and Fox News. Dobbs and two other anchors, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro were also named as defendants in the suit. The lawsuit specifically cited a claim made made on an episode of Dobb's show by a guest in November 2020 that Hugo Chavez, the deceased president of Venezuela, was involved in creating Smartmatic's technology.
Salary
At the time of his cancellation, Lou Dobbs was earning a salary of $5 million per year.
Early Life and Education
Lou Dobbs was born on September 24, 1945 in Childress County, Texas to bookkeeper Lydia and propane business owner Frank. When Dobbs was 12, his father lost his business and the family relocated to Rupert, Idaho. There, Dobbs attended Minico High School. He went on to attend Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1967 with a degree in economics. Dobbs later briefly attended the University of Idaho College of Law.
Career Beginnings
After graduating from college, Dobbs worked in Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, DC for federal anti-poverty programs. Later, he served as a cash-management specialist in Los Angeles for Union Bank of California. In the early 70s, Dobbs moved to Yuma, Arizona and worked for the local radio station KBLU as a police and fire reporter. Working his way up the news media ranks in Arizona, he eventually became a television anchor and reporter in Phoenix. Dobbs subsequently joined the station KING-TV in Seattle, Washington.
CNN, 1980-1999
In 1980, Dobbs joined CNN upon the launch of the network. He originally served as its chief economics correspondent and executive vice president, and also as the host of its business news program "Moneyline." Additionally, Dobbs founded the financial news arm CNNfn, serving as its president and anchoring its program "Business Unusual." Things started to get heated in 1997 when Rick Kaplan became CNN's new president. Dobbs and Kaplan repeatedly clashed, often over coverage of President Clinton, whom Dobbs accused Kaplan of treating with partisan favor. Eventually, in 1999, Dobbs left CNN to launch the astronautical news website Space.com.
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CNN, 2001-2009
Following Kaplan's departure from CNN, Dobbs returned to the network in 2001. He became the host and managing editor of the new program "Lou Dobbs Reporting," later rebranded as "CNN News Sunday Morning." Moreover, Dobbs resumed his position as host of "Moneyline," which became "Lou Dobbs Tonight" in 2003. It was during this time that he began more heavily propagating his far-right views, particularly his anti-immigration stance. This extremist tack led him to trouble in 2009 when he perpetuated the birther conspiracy theory about President Obama. Numerous advocacy groups called for Dobbs' termination from CNN; ultimately, he left on his own accord in November of 2009.
Fox Business Network
In late 2010, Dobbs joined Fox Business Network, and early the next year began hosting his program "Lou Dobbs Tonight" for a second tenure. On the program, he ramped up his far-right rhetoric and eventually became an outspoken proponent of Donald Trump. In 2020 and through early 2021, Dobbs got into hot water for perpetuating the Big Lie that the 2020 US presidential election was stolen. He advanced the conspiracy theory that voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic had colluded to rig the election in favor of Joe Biden. Along with two other Fox television hosts, Dobbs was sued in a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit by Smartmatic. He was later sued by Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, who claimed he had been falsely implicated in rigging voting machines. Amid the scandal, which saw the departure of many advertisers, "Lou Dobbs Tonight" was abruptly canceled by Fox in early 2021.
(Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images)
Other Appearances
On the radio, Dobbs has hosted the shows "Lou Dobbs Radio" and "Lou Dobbs Minute" for United Stations Radio Networks. In 2021, he began hosting "The Great America Show" on his personal website. Dobbs has also appeared as a guest on a number of television programs, including "The Kudlow Report" and "The O'Reilly Factor."
Personal Life and Real Estate
After divorcing his first wife in 1981, Dobbs married former CNN sports anchor Debi Lee Segura. Together, they have four children. They live on a 300-acre horse farm in Wantage Township, New Jersey. In 2005 they paid $2 million for a 5,100-square-foot house in West Palm Beach, Florida. They listed this home for sale in April 2024 for $3.1 million.
