Stephen A smith's net worth 2021: How much does the sports commentator make?
Stephen A Smith is a familiar face in the American sports and media sector. He is a well-recognized sports TV personality, sports radio host, sports journalist, and actor. How much is Stephen A Smith's net worth in 2021?
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Stephen A Smith is famous for being a commentator on ESPN First Take alongside Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim. He also appears as an NBA analyst in Sports Center on various occasions.
What is Stephen A Smith's net worth?
Stephen A Smith's net worth is estimated to stand at $16 million as of 2021. He has earned such a massive sum of money from his career as one of the most successful personalities in the sports journalism sector. His family has also been at the forefront in supporting his dream and career.
Stephen A. Smith's sources of income
Stephen has become one of the wealthiest sportscasters in several distinctive ways. He has made vast sums of money from journalism (TV and radio) and acting. His career highlights are as follows:
Early journalism career
The journalist began his career after completing his higher learning studies. He had his first major job with the Winston-Salem Journal, working as a clerk in the sports department. This marked the beginning and gateway to his success later on in life.
Soon afterwards, he started landing more lucrative jobs at different publications such as Greensborough News and Record and New York Daily News. Then, finally, he landed another great opportunity after being hired by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia inquirer
After joining The Philadelphia Inquirer, his sole focus was on the Philadelphia 76ers, where he worked as an NBA writer. However, his role eventually diversified by becoming more substantial. Over the years of his career there, he received two promotions, eventually becoming the general sports columnist.
While working at the Philadelphia Inquirer publications, he earned a considerable following thanks to his excellence and expertise. But, unfortunately, even with all that success, his employment was brought to an end in 2008.
To continue with his passion for sports journalism, Smith started a personal blog. Two years later, the writer won a court case against his former employer. The court ruling demanded that the former employer should rehire him. On the other hand, he was obliged to eliminate all political and personal views from his content.
ESPN
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In early 2003, he started his career at the ESPN Network. His first role at the sports media giant was as an analyst for the NBA Shootaround pregame show known as the NBA countdown. After working for two years, he started hosting his show, titled, Quite Frankly with Stephen A Smith. Unfortunately, it was cancelled in 2007.
ESPN also gave him his daily show under the name, The Stephen A Smith Show. But, even after hosting all those shows, he rose to fame in 2012 after joining ESPN's First Take. Over the years, he appeared on several ESPN shows such as:
- Dream Job
- Pardon the Interruption
- Jim Rome is Burning
Sportscenter
At the beginning of 2014, Smith signed a deal with ESPN valued at $3 million. However, between 2015 and April 2019, he received an annual salary of $5 million. In April, it was reported that his new contract with ESPN dated till 2021 would pay him between $8 and $10 million every year.
Acting career
Away from journalism, he has appeared in several films and TV shows as an actor. He made his debut with his appearance in General Hospital. He admired the show for a long time, and luckily enough, he appeared in cameos on more than one occasion.
In 2007, he made his film debut by starring Allan in I Think I Love My Wife by the renowned standup comedian, actor, writer, producer and director, Chris Rock. Over the years, he has appeared in a range of beef jerky commercials for Oberto.
Radio career
Even though he has had his presence essentially felt in the sports TV shows, he has also been heavily involved in Talk Radio. He began his career in radio in 2005 with WEPN radio in New York City. In the end, the second half of the show was broadcast on ESPN Radio.
In 2009, he became one of the contributors to Fox Sports Radio and was eventually promoted to being the morning show host. In 2013, he left ESPN Radio and joined Mad Dog Sports Channel on Sirius/XM by Chris Russo.
In 2017, Stephen moved back to ESPN with the show hosted in Sirius/XM. From 2015 to 2019, Stephen earned roughly $1 million every year from Sirius/XM radio show.
Stephen A Smith's salary
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How much does Stephen A Smith make a year? For quite many years, the commentator made $5 million. Eventually, his annual salary increased in mid-2019 after signing a new contract with ESPN.
So, how much does Stephen A Smith make? At the moment, he takes home $12 million per year, making him one of the highest-paid sportscasters in the world. However, this changed later on after he was topped by Tony Romo's massive $17 million per year CBS contract in March 2020.
House and cars
The player has not offered any information about his house. However, he has mentioned his rides on numerous occasions. During an interview with Motor Trend, he was delighted to talk about his Mercedes Benz S Class and his 2015 Range Rover SUV Autobiography.
It's the best SUV I've ever had in my life. It's black, it's got a British tan interior, and it is a driving machine, to say the least. I've driven in every SUV you can imagine. But, I've never been in anything like the Range Rover.
In 2021, he bought a brand new car, a Lamborghini Urus valued at $300,000. As per Stephen A Smith's Twitter account, where he shared the news, he had consulted his best friend TJ - Millionaire Mentor before making the purchase.
Stephen A. Smith is known for his frank and no-nonsense commentary. As a result, he has become a majority's favourite in the United States and beyond. With loads of consistency, hard work and discipline, Stephen A Smith's net worth has continued to grow over the years.
Yen.com.gh shared LeBron James net worth, salary, endorsements, cars, and houses. He is one of the most celebrated players in basketball. He made his professional debut in 2003 playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The NBA MVP has accumulated his wealth from years of earning a salary as a professional basketball player, businessman, investor, and ambassador to leading brands.
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