How Bret Baier Achieved a Net Worth of $16 Million

Bret Baier is an American TV news anchor that is best known for his show on Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, and he has had a long career in the media industry. He currently has a net worth of $16 million dollars. This article will look at how he has achieved this wealth.

His Income

He currently earns around $7 million per year for his show on the Fox News Channel. This makes him one of the highest paid earners on the whole channel. He has been the host of Special Report for almost ten years and this remains one of the most watched shows on the channel. This role has made him one of the most recognizable faces in the industry. He began his career as the anchor on a local station in Rockford, Illinois before moving to WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina. He got his first job at Fox in the Atlanta bureau after sending in an audition tape.

He has shown a lot of initiative throughout his career and this has led to the quick progression he has enjoyed. An example of this was after the September 11 attacks which occurred when he was still working in Atlanta. He drove from Georgia to the Pentagon to report on the events and the work that he did impress the bosses at Fox so much that he never returned to work in Atlanta. According to Wikipedia, he was immediately tapped as the Pentagon correspondent and this is a position that he held for five years. In 2007 he was named as the White House correspondent and he covered the last year of the Bush administration.

When he accepted the role as the host of Special Report in 2009 he was given a signing bonus of $3 million and this was a record for the channel. He had a tough act to follow as the previous host, Brit Hume, was in the role for more than ten years. During this time, the show was the most viewed on the East Coast in the time slot for several years. Brit Hume was one of the most recognizable faces on the network, having worked in the media industry for over thirty years. However, he did have some experience as he had covered for Hume as the host on a number of occasions before he was promoted to the role of host.

His Reputation

One of the reasons that he commands such a high salary is that he has a reputation for gaining exclusives with high profile guests, as stated on his bio page on the Fox website. It is these kinds of interviews that really bring in the viewers and this gives Fox an edge over other news channels. As one of their stars, Fox would be prepared to offer him a very generous salary and benefits package in order to keep him. Even if he left Fox it is not likely that this would affect his net worth too much. He would be able to name his price at almost any other station, and they may even be prepared to offer him a higher salary in order to tempt him away.

He has invested some of the money he has earned into real estate and this has helped him to increase his net worth. He lives in Washington, D.C. and purchased his house for $3.2 million when he first began working as the anchor for Special Report. The value of the house would have increased somewhat over the years and this increase in value will have contributed to his total net worth. According to Wiki Net Worth, the value of his home was $3.5 million in 2013 and it is likely to be worth closer to $4 million today.

He also takes on public speaking engagements which he earns money for. The fee that he earns depends on how high profile the event is and the length of time that he is required to speak. He also carried out these speaking engagements for charities from time to time for which he is not paid a fee. He is very busy in his roles for Fox news and so he does not always have the time to speak at every event that he is invited to. He is more likely to choose the causes that are close to his heart.

His Career

There are also several ways that his career could branch off in different directions which would provide him with additional sources of income. He has interviewed a lot of controversial characters over the years and details of his interactions with them would make for an interesting book. He already has some experience of writing, after publishing a book about the journey the family has been on since discovering their eldest son had five congenital heart defects when he was just a few days old. All of the proceeds from the sale of this book were donated to organizations that help pediatric heart causes, as reported by Charity and Life.

There seems to be no reason why Bret Baier will not continue to be the host of Special Report for the foreseeable future. He is doing well in the role and he has proved to be a very popular host. As his career in the TV industry continues to progress, it is likely that his net worth will increase. Even if he left Fox, he would almost certainly go on to be a host of his own show on another network which would command a similar salary. At the moment he has a young family and so a good part of his income is spent on the education of his two sons. He also works hard to ensure that his eldest son has access to the very best medical care for his heart condition. Providing for his family is important to him and he is lucky that he is a position to do so, thanks to the money he earns from his job as a political correspondent and host of his own news show.

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