Vanna White Net Worth

What is Vanna White's Net Worth and Salary?

Vanna White is an American television personality, model, and actress who has a net worth of $85 million. Vanna White's salary for hosting "Wheel of Fortune" is $10 million. Shockingly, Vanna's salary was "just" $3 million for 18 years between 2005 and 2023. She demanded a massive raise after her longtime co-host Pat Sajak retired in the middle of 2023. As we detail in the next sections below, Vanna works just 34 days a year to earn that salary. And, as we explain later in this article, that's not even her largest source of income every year. Vanna makes more every year licensing her image to casino slot machines than she does from hosting the actual game show.

Vanna has been the hostess of "Wheel of Fortune" since 1982. Before "Wheel," she worked as a model and appeared in several television commercials. Her big break came when she was selected from among 200 applicants to replace Susan Stafford on "Wheel of Fortune."

Beyond her game show career, White has made cameo appearances in television shows and films, including "The King of Queens" and "Double Dragon." She also voiced a character in the animated film "Goddess of Spring."White earned a place in the Guinness World Records as "Television's Most Frequent Clapper," and has become known for her elegant evening gowns worn on the show.

Vanna White Salary History

Vanna White's salary is $10 million per year. That covers her co-hosting duties on "Wheel of Fortune" and hosting duties on "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune."

Several intriguing details about Vanna's salary were revealed in the wake of Pat Sajak's retirement in the middle of 2023. When Pat was hosting "Wheel," he was making $15 million per year. When he announced he was stepping down and would be replaced by Ryan Seacrest, Vanna's team let it be known that she was making just $3 million per year. Furthermore, her salary had not changed in 18 years since 2005, when she signed a contract that apparently came with no opportunities for raises or renegotiations.

Her lawyer reportedly demanded that Sony raise Vanna's salary to at least 50% of Pat's $15 million salary before she would return for the 42nd season (when Ryan Seacrest was to take over ). That would have increased Vanna White's salary from $3 million per year to $7.5 million per year. However, within a few weeks, one of Vanna's reps denied they ever suggested 50%, explaining:

"50 percent of Pat's salary is so outrageous that no one in their right mind could say that it's fair. The negotiation is asking for much more than 50% of his salary. It's asking for the same pay, if not more… Vanna was told, 'If you fight this, you will lose your job. You're lucky to have the job.' And when people tell you for so long, you believe it. She's really a sweet person. She deserves so much more."

Thankfully for everyone involved, the situation was resolved within a few weeks when Vanna signed a new contract related to her work as the host of "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" that reportedly came with a significant pay increase. The new deal increased her salary to $10 million per year.

Vanna White's Salary Per Episode

Regardless of the final salary amount, Vanna White has an objectively amazing job. Consider the taping schedule:

Wheel of Fortune tapes 34 days a year. On taping days, she arrives around 8:30 am and starts shooting at noon. One audience watches three shows, then there is a break for lunch. A second audience comes in to watch three more tapings.

Making $10 million to work 34 days per year works out to $294,117 per working day. And amazingly, as we explain in the next section, Wheel of Fortune isn't even Vanna's biggest annual paycheck!

Casino Licensing Earnings

Believe it or not, Vanna White's salary from "Wheel of Fortune" isn't actually her largest source of annual income. Vanna actually makes more money licensing her image to casino slot machines than she does from the game show itself.

Wheel of Fortune was the FIRST entertainment property to be licensed for use on slot machines. In 1996, the first Wheel of Fortune branded slot machines were placed in casinos in Las Vegas. They quickly proved to be extremely successful and were licensed to casinos around the world. Within a decade, the Wheel of Fortune branded slot machines were reported to be the highest revenue-generating slot machines in most casinos. There are an estimated 20,000 "Wheel" slot machines on casino floors around the world. In Las Vegas alone, Wheel of Fortune slot machines generate over $1 billion per year in gross revenue. Worldwide, the machines generate over $2 billion.

In exchange for licensing their respective images and likenesses for the slot machines, Pat and Vanna both earn a minimum of $10 million per year, mostly from a base royalty payment and also from a variety of bonuses and appearance fees.

Total it all up, and between her "Wheel of Fortune" salary and casino licensing earnings, Vanna White's annual income easily tops $20 million every year.

(David Becker/Getty Images)

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Vanna Marie Rosich was born on February 18, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina. She is the daughter of Joan and Miguel Angel Rosich. Her father was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and her mother was born in Syracuse, New York. Her parents divorced when she was a baby, and her father soon abandoned the family. Her mother eventually remarried a man named Herbert White, Jr., and Vanna took his last name. Herbert White was a real estate agent and broker in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

She was raised in North Myrtle Beach and graduated from North Myrtle Beach High School. She moved to Atlanta to attend the Atlanta School of Fashion and Design. During college, she was a contestant in the 1978 pageant for Miss Georgia USA. She finished as the fourth runner-up.

When Vanna White left North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to pursue her dream of becoming a star, she had only $1,000 to her name. She waited tables and modeled while in college in Atlanta and while looking for fame and fortune in her early days in Los Angeles.

In 1979, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. On June 20, 1980, Vanna was a contestant on "The Price is Right." Here's footage of that episode:

Also in 1980, Vanna appeared in a movie called "Gypsy Angels," which was actually not completed and released until 1990.

In 1981, she had small roles in the films "Looker" and "Graduation Day."

In 1982, Vanna was struggling for money and did not want to ask her father for help to pay the rent. To make some cash, she agreed to pose for a series of lingerie photos for a photographer. As we detail in a moment, those photos were published in Playboy in 1987. Vanna unsuccessfully sued both Playboy and Hugh Hefner personally over the photos.

Playboy Lawsuit

In 1987, Vanna appeared in Playboy Magazine to the shock of middle America. The photos were actually taken in 1982, a few months before she landed the Wheel gig, by a photographer who wasn't even associated with Playboy. Five years later, the photographer sold the photos to Hugh Hefner and Playboy.

When she caught wind of Playboy's plans, Vanna reached out directly to Hefner, whom she considered a friend. She could not persuade him not to publish the photos.

After the photos were published, Vanna filed a $5.2 million lawsuit against Playboy, claiming that they were never intended for mass publication and that publishing them would "tarnish her image as a modest, wholesome, attractive and innocent all-American girl."

She also sued Hefner personally. Playboy claimed that Vanna was aware the magazine was planning to publish the photos and actually wanted them to come out around the same time as her autobiography was hitting bookstores. The lawsuit was eventually dropped.

Decades later, she would explain:

"I did something I shouldn't have done. When I first moved to Hollywood, I was too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent money. I was young and I wanted to do it on my own. So, I did these lingerie shots, and from the moment I said I would do them, I thought, 'I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm not going to ask my dad for money, so I'm just going to do it!'" – Vanna White

Wheel of Fortune

"Wheel of Fortune" was conceived by game-show genius Merv Griffin in the mid-1970s while he was on a family road trip, spending his days playing the word game hangman. With the help of executives at his production company, they tweaked Hangman to create what became "Wheel of Fortune."

The game debuted on January 6, 1975. The original host was Chuck Woolery. Woolery was replaced in 1981 after demanding a large pay raise that Merv rejected. When Woolery's contract was not renewed, Merv chose a local NBC Los Angeles weatherman named Pat Sajak to be the new host.

Wheel of Fortune's original hostess was Susan Stafford. Stafford worked on the show from its debut in 1975 until October 1982, when she left to become a humanitarian worker.

An audition for her replacement was held, and over 200 of LA's most beautiful and talented models tried out for the gig. In the end, the choice came down to two women: Playboy centerfold Vicki McCarthy and Vanna White. As you know, Vanna got the gig.

Vanna White debuted as the show's regular hostess on December 13, 1982, and has remained as the show's primary hostess ever since.

White has worn more than 6,700 dresses with no repeats during her tenure on "Wheel of Fortune." She does not get to keep her wardrobe from the show. White's dresses are usually borrowed from designers and returned once she's done taping the show.

White was presented with a Guinness World Record on the May 24, 2013, episode of "Wheel of Fortune." Her world record is for "most frequent clapper." She clapped at least 3,480,864 times across the show's 30 seasons as of January 31, 2013.

She has made appearances on a number of television shows, such as "Just Shoot Me," "Married With Children," "The King of Queens," and "The A-Team."

Sony Lawsuit

In 1993, Vanna successfully sued the Samsung Electronics corporation over a commercial after the company aired a commercial that featured a smiling robot that turned letters on a game show. White asserted that the company was using her likeness without permission. Incredibly, Vanna ended up winning the lawsuit after several appeals and was awarded $403,000 in damages.

(Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

Personal Life

In the 1980's Vanna dated "Playgirl" centerfold and Chippendales-dancer-turned-actor John Gibson. They got engaged at some point in the 80s. Tragically, Gibson was killed in a plane crash in 1986 before they got married.

In the summer of 1980, she returned briefly to South Carolina to be with her mother as she battled ovarian cancer. Her mother lost her battle with the disease.

Vanna married restaurant owner George Santo Pietro in December 1990. Santo Pietro was born to a wealthy family in Beverly Hills. He launched his first restaurant in the early 1980s.  He followed up with a successful sushi place called Sushi-Ko, which became a hot spot for celebrities. They had two children together: son Nicholas, born in 1994, and a daughter Giovanna, nicknamed Gigi, in 1997. White and Santo Pietro divorced in November 2002. From 2004 until 2006, White was engaged to Southern California businessman Michael Kaye, but the two never got married.

In 2012 Vanna been dating contractor John Donaldson. They met when one of Vanna's friends brought him to a BBQ at her house. They are still together today despite not ever legally marrying. John is the founder of JDC Construction + Development Group. JDC, which was founded in 1992, builds custom single-family homes and apartment communities (ranging from 100 to 600 units) throughout Northern and Southern California. JDC has built homes for many wealthy individuals and celebrities, including Richard Dreyfus, Dan Aykroyd, and Martin Mull.

Her grandmother taught her how to crochet when she was five. She continues this hobby to this day. After talking about her love of crocheting on the "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," she was contacted by the yarn manufacturer Lion Brand Yarns. The company contracted with her to create her own line of yarns called Vanna's Choice.

White is a patron of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She has donated $1.8 million to date to St. Jude's. She plans to continue her philanthropic works after she retires from "Wheel of Fortune."

(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Real Estate

At one point, George Santo Pietro and Vanna lived in a gated community called The Mulholland Estates. They lived next door to Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. They eventually built a 15,000-square-foot spec house in the gated community of Beverly Park. The couple lived in the home until their divorce in 2002. After their divorce, they both vacated the property and for several years, they rented it for $175,000 per month. In 2017 they listed the house for sale for $47.5 million. They also owned another house nearby. They eventually sold the two properties separately. The second lot sold for $22 million. The primary lot that featured Vanna's mansion sold in June 2020 for $19.3 million. Here's a video tour of their former mansion:

White uses her income to invest in apartment buildings, and she likes flipping houses. Her longtime primary residence has been a 10,000 square-foot mansion in the hills above Beverly Hills which she bought in the early 2000s for $3.4 million. Today, this home is likely worth north of $10 million. In 2013, Vanna paid $1.125 million for a home in Sherman Oaks, California. She listed this home for rent in May 2020 for $20,000 per month.

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