What is Mo Rocca's Net Worth?
Mo Rocca is an American humorist, writer, television and radio personality, and actor who has a net worth of $2 million. Mo Rocca is best known for being a correspondent on "The Daily Show," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and "CBS Sunday Morning." He is also the host and creator of the former Cooking Channel program "My Grandmother's Ravioli," the host of the podcast "Mobituaries with Mo Rocca," and a regular panelist on the NPR radio panel show "Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!" Among his many other gigs, Rocca moderated the National Geographic Society's National Geographic Bee from 2016 until the final competition in 2019.
Early Life and Education
Mo Rocca was born as Maurice Rocca on January 28, 1969 in Washington, DC to Colombian immigrant mother Maria-Luisa Villar Borda and third-generation Italian-American father Marcel Rocca. He has two brothers named Larry and Frank. Rocca was educated at Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit boys' school in North Bethesda, Maryland. He went on to attend Harvard University, from which he earned his BA in literature in 1991. While a student there, he was president of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, and performed in four of the company's burlesque shows. Additionally, Rocca played Seymour in a production of the musical "Little Shop of Horrors."
Career Beginnings
Rocca began his professional career acting on stage in the Southeast Asia tour of the musical "Grease" in 1993. The following year, he toured with the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of "South Pacific." Rocca subsequently got his start on television writing for and producing the children's television series "Wishbone." He then wrote for some other children's television shows, including Nickelodeon's "The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss" and ABC's "Pepper Ann."
Television Correspondent
After working for many years behind the scenes, Rocca began appearing in front of the camera in 1998 as a correspondent on the satirical news program "The Daily Show." During his tenure on the show, which lasted until 2003, he had a regular feature called "That's Quite Interesting." Following his time on "The Daily Show," Rocca became a satirical correspondent on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," where he worked from 2004 to 2008. Later, he transitioned to more serious correspondent work on "CBS Sunday Morning," doing cover stories, profiles, and features focused on presidential history.
Other Television Work
In his other work on television, Rocca created and hosted the Cooking Channel program "My Grandmother's Ravioli," which ran from 2012 to 2015. On the show, he traveled across the US learning to cook from grandparents in their kitchens. Rocca hosted another Cooking Channel program called "Food(ography)," and served as a judge on the Food Network cooking show "Iron Chef America." Elsewhere, he served as a commentator on VH1's "I Love the '70s" and "I Love the '80s"; hosted the Animal Planet show "Whoa! Sunday"; and helped write the 64th Annual Tony Awards, for which he won an Emmy. Since 2014, Rocca has hosted "The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation," a weekly program airing as part of the CBS Dream Team programming block. He also served as the moderator of the National Geographic Bee finals from 2016 until the competition ended in 2019.
Rocca has also acted on some television shows. In 2008, he made guest appearances in episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." Later, in 2014, he played an accountant named Milton on the daytime soap opera "The Young and the Restless," a role he later reprised for the show's 50th anniversary in 2023. Among his other acting appearances on television, Rocca played a conservative morning TV show host in the second season of the CBS legal drama "The Good Fight" in 2018.
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Film Appearances
Rocca has appeared in a few films. In 2005, he showed up in Nora Ephron's big-screen adaptation of "Bewitched," and in 2007 acted in the science-fiction comedy "I'll Believe You." Rocca later narrated the 2012 documentary "Electoral Dysfunction," about the American voting system.
Radio and Podcasts
On the radio, Rocca serves as a regular panelist on the NPR weekly news panel show "Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!," which features both panelists and contestants being quizzed in humorous ways about the news of the week. Rocca also hosts the podcast "Mobituaries with Mo Rocca," which centers on his fascination with obituaries.
Books
In 2004, Rocca published his satirical book "All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter Who Refused to Roll Over." Later on, in 2019, he adapted his "Mobituaries" podcast into a book of the same name.
Broadway
In 2005, Rocca served as a replacement actor in the Broadway musical comedy "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." He played the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch, originally played by Jay Reiss.
Personal Life and Real Estate
Rocca is openly gay, having come out publicly in a 2011 episode of the podcast "The Six Pack." In August 2012 Mo paid $1 million for a two-bedroom co-op on West 9th Street in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.
