Imagine chatting with famed individuals like Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Mike Tyson, etc., and earning nearly $100 million out of it? It sounds like a fantasy, right? Well, that’s the dream Howard Stern is living!
Childhood Dream
The American radio and television host, Howard Allan Stern has been dominating the radio world since 1976. At the age of five, Stern already figured the path he wanted to take, and that is to be part of the radio world. Luckily, his father was very supportive of his dream.
He remembers recording his fictitious radio shows in the basement of their house, where his father arranged a microphone, tape machine, and turntable for him. His father, who was a recording engineer, was Stern’s biggest influence. He made several trips to his recording studio, where he met radio hosts, Don Adams and Larry Storch. He promised himself that when he grows up, he would do his own radio show.
Howard Stern Almost Threw Away His Future
He almost broke that promise when he turned down a job offer from WRNW, a progressive rock station in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Stern said he got nervous and doubted his capabilities to succeed in the field. Stern desperately hopped from different jobs to another until he came to his senses and contacted WRNW.
From the moment he accepted WRNW’s offer, he began building his on-air personality and started doing more shows with WCCC in Hartford, CN, WWWW in Detroit, and WWDC in Washington D.C. He also did afternoon shows at WNBC in NY City for three years.
The Power of Stern's Voice
Stern got his big break in his morning show at WXRK in New York City that aired for 20 years. He received numerous awards, including Billboard’s Syndicated Air Personality of the Year for insanely 8 consecutive times.
In 2004, Stern signed a five-year contract with Sirius XM where he became the highest-paid personality in the field. Stern is currently gaining a $90 million annual salary with Sirius. He built quite a reputation that opened more doors of opportunities for him. He has also been one of the judges on Americas Got Talent from 2012 to 2015.
As if television and radio aren’t yet producing plenty of cash for him, he is also dominating the publishing world. He published his first book, Private Parts with Simon & Schuster who recently helped him released his recent masterpiece; Howard Stern Comes Again in May 2019.
With an estimated net worth of $650 million, Stern not only accomplished his childhood dream but also made plenty of money out of his passion.