Matt Lauer is a popular American TV journalist. He has worked as a news anchor and host for some of the most renowned TV stations in his country. He is most famous for hosting NBC’S Today Show for two decades, starting from 1997 to 2017. In the course of his career, Lauer established a reputation as one of TV’s greatest interviewers. He interviewed prominent personalities such as Prince Williams, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Hilary Clinton, and Charlie Sheen. In fact, it was during an interview with Lauer that Sheen revealed that he was HIV positive. Get to know more about Lauer here including his wife, kid, divorce, salary, net worth and the scandal that ended his time at the Today Show.
Matt Lauer Bio
Matthew Todd Lauer was born on the 30th of December 1957 in New York City. His mother’s name was Marilyn while his father’s name was Jay Robert Lauer. There is no indication that he has other siblings and his parents divorced in his youth. Lauer had his college education at Ohio University where he studied media arts. He, however, dropped out at the age of 22 (he would later return and complete his studies at the age of 39).
Matt Lauer began his TV career as a producer and a reporter at a TV station in Huntington, Virginia known as WOWK-TV. From there, he went on to work for other local TV stations in far-flung places such as Boston, Philadelphia, Virginia, Rhode Island and New York. This was between 1979 and 1992. Matt Lauer joined NBC News in 1992. He initially worked as a fill-in anchor for the Today Show until January 1994 when he was made a full-time anchor. Lauer continued to work his way up the ladder and his hard work paid off when he was made a co-anchor of the Today Show in 1997. His stint as co-anchor lasted for twenty years during which he became a TV star.
He also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of several Olympics Games. Lauer, however, fell from his Olympian heights in November 2017 when he was fired from the Today Show. He was dismissed as a result of allegations of improper sexual behavior brought by several of his past and present colleagues. Lauer apologized for his actions but this was not enough to save his job.
Family (Wife and Kids), Divorce
Matt Lauer has been married on two occasions. He first got married in 1981 to a fellow journalist, Nancy Alspaugh. The marriage lasted for seven years as they divorced in 1988. The union did not produce any kids.
Lauer got married again in 1998, this time to Dutch model, Annette Roque. They reportedly met on a blind date in July 1997 and got engaged five months later. The couple tied the knot on the 3rd of October 1998 in New York. The union produced three children; two sons and a daughter. They are Jack (born in 2001), Romy (born in 2004) and Thijs (born in 2006).
Matt Lauer’s wife, Annette, filed for divorce in 2018 following the wave of allegations against him. It must be stated that this is not the first time she is filling for divorce. She had earlier filed for divorce in 2006 while pregnant with their last child. She asked for a divorce on the ground of mental abuse, humiliation, emotional distress after discovering that he was cheating on her.
Many sources claim that Lauer had to pay her millions of dollars not to divorce him. This was in order to protect his public image. However, following his last scandal, the lady decided that she has had enough and filed for divorce again. As part of their divorce agreement, the couple would share joint custody of their kids. Lauer’s wife is also set to receive $20 million as well as the family home in the Hamptons.
Salary and Net Worth
At the time of his dismissal from NBC, Matt Lauer was on a two year contract which paid him a salary of $20 million a year. The contract had a pay-out clause of $25 million but Lauer did not receive a cent when he was fired. This was because the firing was due to his own fault. With regard to net worth, Matt Lauer is worth between $60 and $80 million. He owns several choice properties including an Upper East Side apartment, a six-bedroom mansion in Sag Harbour, a 12-bedroom mansion in North Haven and a 16,000-acre ranch in New Zealand. The ranch alone is worth $9.2 million.