What is Jenji Kohan's Net Worth?
Jenji Kohan is an American television writer, producer and director who has a net worth of $25 million. Jenji Kohan is best known as the creator and showrunner of the acclaimed series "Weeds" and "Orange is the New Black." "Orange is the New Black" was a huge hit on Netflix. It aired 91 episodes over seven seasons between 2013 and 2019. Earlier in her career, she wrote for and produced the sketch comedy series "Tracey Takes On…," starring Tracey Ullman. Among her other endeavors, Kohan owns the historic Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Her brother David Kohan co-created the television show "Will & Grace", and Jenji was a writer on the show for a time.
Early Life and Education
Jenji Kohan was born on July 5, 1969 in Los Angeles, California as the youngest of three children of Jewish parents Rhea and Alan. Her mother is an author, and her father is an Emmy-winning television writer, producer, and composer. She has twin siblings named Jono and David, the latter of whom also became an Emmy-winning television producer. Kohan grew up in Beverly Hills and went to Beverly Hills High School, from which she graduated in 1987. She went on to attend Brandeis University in Massachusetts before transferring to Columbia University as a sophomore. Kohan graduated from Columbia with a degree in English and literature in 1991.
Television Career, 1994-2004
Kohan landed her first television job in 1994 when she wrote an episode of the NBC sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Two years later, she penned an episode of another NBC sitcom, "Boston Common." Kohan also began writing for, and producing, the HBO sketch comedy series "Tracey Takes On…," starring Tracey Ullman. She wrote a total of 18 episodes during the show's run until 1999, and was a producer or supervising producer on 47 episodes. For her work, she took home the Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series. Meanwhile, Kohan also had credits on episodes of "Mad About You" and "Sex and the City."
At the dawn of the new millennium, Kohan wrote one episode and produced 12 episodes of the series "Gilmore Girls." After that, she wrote an episode of "Will & Grace," and also wrote the television film "My Wonderful Life." In 2004, Kohan created her first show, the CBS sitcom "The Stones," starring Judith Light, Robert Klein, Lindsay Sloane, and Jay Baruchel. She co-produced the show with her brother David. Ultimately, "The Stones" was canceled after just three episodes.
Weeds
Coming off of the failure of "The Stones," Kohan had much greater success with the next show she created, "Weeds." The Showtime dark dramedy series stars Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin, the widowed mother of two sons who sells marijuana to keep her family afloat. "Weeds" was a major hit, running for eight seasons from 2005 to 2012 and winning several industry awards. Kohan served as showrunner of the series for its entire run, and also penned 21 episodes.
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Orange is the New Black
Less than a year after the end of "Weeds," Kohan created the Netflix dramedy series "Orange is the New Black," inspired by Piper Kerman's memoir "Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison." The show features a large ensemble cast with actors including Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Kate Mulgrew, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, and Dascha Polanco, among many others.
"Orange is the New Black" quickly turned into a phenomenon for Netflix, reportedly becoming the streamer's most-watched original series. It also became the longest-running, lasting for seven seasons through mid-2019. Kohan served as head writer for the whole run. During that time, the series earned numerous accolades, including the PGA Award for Best Episodic Comedy for Kohan.
Other Television Work
In her other television work, Kohan wrote the television films "Ronna & Beverly" and "Tough Trade"; she also created the latter. In 2015, she created and wrote the pilot episode of "The Devil You Know." Since then, Kohan has had executive producing credits on the Netflix series "GLOW" and "Teenage Bounty Hunters" and on the Lifetime series "American Princess."
Personal Life
Kohan married writer Christopher Noxon in 1997. They had three children named Charlie, Eliza, and Oscar before divorcing in 2018. On New Year's Eve in 2019, Charlie was killed in a skiing accident.
Kohan owns the historic Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles. She purchased the building in late 2013 and converted the second floor to production offices for writers and editors of her television shows. Other floors are used for postproduction.
Real Estate
In 1996 Jenji paid $520,000 for a large Spanish-style home in LA's Los Feliz neighborhood. She and Christopher listed this home for sale in June 2009 for $1.6 million. They accepted $1.55 million in August 2009.
Around the same time their previous home sold, they paid $4 million for a 6,000 square foot mansion in Los Feliz. Today this home is likely worth $6 – 8 million.
