Award-winning host Pat Sajak’s turn of fortune after Wheel of Fortune
The contestants and Pat Sajak, the host of syndicated game show Wheel of Fortune, made big bucks from the show. Belonging to a middle-class family, Pat served as a desk clerk at Palmer House Hotel, and his father worked as a factory worker, but now he is worth millions.
Pat managed to lead a very successful career. Similarly, he leads a happy life. Please find out more about his return to the beloved TV show, Wheel of Fortune.
Pat Sajak’s life-changing moment almost didn’t happen
After his successful career in NBC as a news anchor and a part-time weatherman, Pat Sajak was offered to host Wheel of Fortune in 1981. He accepted the offer but was rejected by the then CEO, Fred Silverman. Due to repeated programming failures, Silverman was replaced from the position, ultimately making it possible for Pat to fill in as the host of the daytime and evening versions of Wheel of the Fortune in December 1981.
Along with the daytime show, Sajak also hosted its syndicated evening version of the same name since 1983. He left the daytime show in January 1989 and was replaced by Rolf Benirschke.
Prior to this, Sajak worked briefly as a newsman in a local radio station, WEDC. He made his TV debut in the early 70s when he worked as a voice-over artist in WSMV. He also worked as a news anchor for NBC’s Today Show and a part-time weatherman.
Wheel of Fortune made Sajak one of the most loved television hosts of America
Pat Sajak remains the host of the syndicated evening version of the program alongside his close friend, Vanna White. Loved for his odd sense of humor, he has racked up three Emmy awards for Outstanding Game Show Host, the first of which came in 1993.
Sajak had also won the People’s Choice award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1987 and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.
Pat has received admiration not only as a host but as an actor too. He made his debut as a film actor in 1982 by playing a newscaster. Moreover, Pat appeared in Buffalo, New York, in the comedy film Airplane II. Likewise, he later appeared on NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and CBS sitcom The Kings of Queens.
4 decades of career has helped Pat accumulate an immense amount of net worth
Pat Sajak holds an estimated net worth of $55 million. He appeared in various television series and movies. But, Sajak became renowned for appearing on Wheel of Fortune. On the one hand, the show has given away more than $200 million in prizes. And it has helped Pat build an immense net worth.
Pat earns an annual salary of $12 million. His properties include two lavish homes, one in Severna Park, Maryland, in L.A., California. Reports suggest that Sajak paid $1.275 million to buy his Severna Park-based house from its previous owners Edward L. and Carol F. Smith.
Sajak’s co-host Vanna White earns an annual salary of $8 million from the show, and she has already accumulated a net worth of several million.
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