Hoda Kotb’s Annual Income: Exploring Reasons for Departure After 17 Years on TODAY Show

After more than five years of co-anchoring the morning show, the beloved anchor of NBC’s TODAY, Hoda Kotb, announced on September 26, 2024, that she will be stepping down from her role in early 2025. During Thursday’s episode of TODAY With Hoda and Jenna, she became emotional and stated,

“Saying goodbye to something this amazing is hard.”

She also informed her colleagues about her decision through a letter, as reported by TODAY.com. In her letter, she expressed,

“My time at NBC has been the longest professional love affair of my life. But only because you’ve been beside me on this twenty-six-year adventure.”

According to Page Six, as of 2018, Kotb signed a contract to co-anchor TODAY, earning an impressive $7 million annually. Although it is likely that she has received a raise since then, the exact figure of her 2024 salary remains undisclosed.

Hoda Kotb Shares Her Reasons for Leaving NBC’s TODAY

“It was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new.”

During the same episode, she elaborated,

“I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while — Am I truly ready? But, my sixtieth birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive, joyful YES, you are! I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP9ZzBVwPTw

Hoda Kotb announces she is leaving TODAY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP9ZzBVwPTw)

One of the key factors influencing her decision was her desire to spend more time with her children, Hope, aged five, and Haley, aged seven. She spoke about this, saying,

“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”

Before she joined TODAY, Hoda Kotb embarked on her career as a reporter for NBC News and Dateline NBC in April 1998, having previously worked for several affiliate networks, including an ABC station in New Orleans.

Furthermore, she began co-hosting the fourth hour of TODAY alongside Jenna Bush Hager and Kathie Lee Gifford.

Subsequently, after the former host Matt Lauer resigned due to allegations of s*xual misconduct, Kotb took on the role of co-anchor and collaborated with Savannah Guthrie and other hosts for five years.

As reported by Celebrity Net Worth, Hoda Kotb’s net worth is estimated at $30 million in 2024. This wealth stems from her multiple endeavors beyond hosting TODAY, which include authoring six best-selling books and hosting her own SiriusXM radio show twice a week from 2015 to 2022.

Moreover, in an interview with Forbes on October 6, 2022, as part of their 50 over 50 feature, she described herself as a hard worker and a “grinder.”She acknowledged her self-awareness regarding her limitations in talent and position.

Despite this, she emphasized her strength in resilience, stating that she would always lift herself up, even after facing setbacks countless times.

As of now, no announcement has been made regarding Hoda Kotb’s successor on the TODAY show.

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