Gayle King has an estimated net worth of $50 million, built over more than four decades as a television journalist and talk show host. King is best known as co-anchor of CBS Mornings, a position she has held since 2012. Her salary at CBS has risen from approximately $5.5 million per year in the mid-2010s to a reported $13–15 million per year under her most recent contract, making her one of the highest-paid morning television anchors in the United States.
Updated March 2026: According to Reuters, King signed a new contract with CBS News in March 2026, ending months of speculation about her potential departure. Variety confirmed the renewal, noting it secured her continued co-anchor role on CBS Mornings under the network’s restructured news division.
Gayle Patrice King was born on December 28, 1954, in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to Emmett Scott King, an electrical engineer, and Peggy Tucker. Her father’s career in government contracting led the family abroad during her childhood: Gayle lived in Ankara, Turkey, from approximately ages 5 to 11, an experience she has cited as shaping her comfort with diverse environments and cultures. She returned to the United States for high school and went on to attend the University of Maryland at College Park, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.
King’s entry into television came through a formative early connection: while working as a production assistant at WJZ-TV in Baltimore in 1978, she met Oprah Winfrey, who was at the time a news anchor at the same station. That friendship, which began more than four decades ago, has been one of the most publicly noted personal relationships in American media — Winfrey is godmother to King’s children.
After her position at WJZ-TV, King worked as a reporter at WUSA in Washington, D.C., then as a weekend anchor at WDAF in Kansas City. In 1981, she joined WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut, where she remained as a news anchor and reporter for 18 years — an unusual tenure for a local television journalist and a foundation of credibility she carried into national broadcasting.
King made two early national television attempts before CBS: she co-hosted Cover to Cover on NBC in 1991, a short-lived magazine program, and hosted the syndicated The Gayle King Show in 1997, which ran for one season. Neither became a long-running franchise, but each provided national exposure.
In 1999, King became Editor-at-Large of O, The Oprah Magazine, a role she maintained for more than two decades. The position established her as a publishing presence alongside her television work. She also hosted a show on XM Satellite Radio beginning in 2006 and an OWN network series in 2011.
In November 2011, CBS News announced King would join the revamped CBS This Morning (later renamed CBS Mornings) as a co-anchor alongside Charlie Rose and Erica Hill. The broadcast debuted in January 2012. Following Charlie Rose’s dismissal in November 2017 amid misconduct allegations, King helped stabilize the broadcast alongside new co-anchors Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil. The show maintained strong ratings through the transition.
In 2023, King expanded her profile by co-hosting CNN King Charles alongside Charles Blakey. That program ended in 2024. In early 2025, Variety reported that King was expected to depart CBS Mornings under changes tied to CBS News’s restructuring under new ownership. King and her representatives denied the reports. In March 2026, Reuters and Variety confirmed she had signed a new multi-year deal to remain at CBS, ending the speculation.
King’s most-viewed interview in recent memory was her February 2020 conversation with WNBA player Lisa Leslie about Kobe Bryant, which generated significant controversy and widespread media discussion. She was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2018 and named to Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list in 2019.
King was married to attorney William Bumpus from 1982 to 1993. The marriage ended after Bumpus admitted to infidelity. King has spoken publicly about the impact of the marriage’s end, noting she chose to remain in a friendship with Bumpus for the sake of their children. They have two children: daughter Kirby Bumpus, born 1986, and son William Bumpus Jr., born 1987.
Kirby Bumpus married Virgil Miller in 2021, and King became a grandmother to Luca Miller, born 2021, and Grayson Miller, born 2024. King has described her grandmothering role as one of the most significant aspects of her personal life in recent years.
King’s friendship with Oprah Winfrey — spanning more than 45 years since they met at WJZ-TV Baltimore in 1978 — has been a prominent feature of her public identity. Winfrey serves as godmother to King’s children. The two speak regularly and have been photographed together throughout decades of public life. King has three siblings.
King has been single since her 1993 divorce. She has spoken in interviews about the difficulty of maintaining relationships given the demands of her career and the high public profile she shares with Winfrey. She has noted that she does not currently prioritize romantic relationships and finds her family and professional life fulfilling.
Gayle King’s net worth is estimated at $50 million as of 2026. The majority of her wealth derives from her salary as co-anchor of CBS Mornings, which is reported to be approximately $13–15 million per year. She signed a new contract extension with CBS in March 2026, confirming her continued role at the network, as reported by Reuters.
King’s CBS annual salary has grown substantially over her tenure. She earned approximately $5.5 million per year from 2014 to 2019. A 2019 contract negotiation raised her salary to $11 million annually. More recent reporting has placed her current salary at approximately $13–15 million per year, placing her among the highest-paid anchors in American morning television. Variety confirmed her March 2026 contract renewal without disclosing specific financial terms.
Yes. King and Oprah Winfrey have maintained a close friendship since meeting at WJZ-TV Baltimore in 1978, where King worked as a production assistant and Winfrey was a news anchor. The friendship has spanned more than four decades. Winfrey is the godmother of King’s two children, Kirby and William Bumpus Jr. Both women have spoken extensively about the relationship in interviews, and King served as Editor-at-Large of Winfrey’s O, The Oprah Magazine from 1999 through its print run.