Daisuke Ono
$5 million
Jimmy Kimmel has a net worth of $50 million. Born James Christian Kimmel on November 13, 1967, in Brooklyn, New York, he is a television host, comedian, producer, and writer who has spent more than two decades as the face of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! — one of the longest-running late-night talk shows in American broadcast history. His career spans radio, Comedy Central, the Oscars stage, and a production company with credits ranging from The Man Show to Crank Yankers.
Updated March 2026: According to Forbes, Kimmel ranks #24 on the list of the highest-paid TV hosts of 2025, earning an estimated $16 million annually as host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! In December 2025, Deadline confirmed he signed a one-year extension with ABC that will keep the show running through May 2027, widely expected to be his final contract.
James Christian Kimmel was born on November 13, 1967, in the Mill Basin neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He is the eldest of three children of Joan (née Iacono), whose family emigrated from Ischia, Naples, and James John Kimmel, an IBM executive. The family has German roots on the paternal side — the surname was originally Kümmel. Kimmel was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy. When he was nine years old, the family relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he attended Ed W. Clark High School and befriended Cleto Escobedo III, who would later become the bandleader on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Kimmel enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), hosting a Sunday night interview program on the college station KUNV. He subsequently transferred to Arizona State University for the 1985–86 academic year but left without earning a degree. UNLV awarded him an honorary degree in 2013. His brother Jonathan has directed segments on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and his cousin Sal Iacono is a writer and performer on the show.
Kimmel’s career began in radio. In 1989, he co-hosted The Me and Him Show at KZOK-FM in Seattle alongside Kent Voss. After stops at WRBQ-FM in Tampa and KCMJ in Palm Springs — where he recruited a then-unknown Carson Daly as an intern — he landed at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles as “Jimmy The Sports Guy” on the Kevin and Bean morning show, a position he held for five years. There he befriended comedian Adam Carolla.
Television opportunities followed. In 1996, Kimmel appeared in on-air promos for the Fox Network and served as a football analyst on Fox NFL Sunday for four years. In 1997, he joined Comedy Central’s Win Ben Stein’s Money as co-host alongside Ben Stein, a run that earned him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1999. In 1999, Kimmel and Carolla co-created and co-hosted The Man Show on Comedy Central, which ran 112 episodes through 2003. Their production banner, Jackhole Productions, also produced Crank Yankers for Comedy Central and The Andy Milonakis Show for MTV2.
In January 2003, Kimmel launched Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC as a permanent replacement for Politically Incorrect. Now in its 23rd season, the show has aired more than 3,000 episodes, making Kimmel the longest-tenured current late-night host in the United States — second only to Johnny Carson’s 30-season run on The Tonight Show. Notable recurring segments include the annual “I Told My Kids I Ate Their Halloween Candy” prank, the long-running mock feud with actor Matt Damon, and emotional monologues including his 2017 speech about his son Billy’s open-heart surgery, which catalyzed congressional debate over healthcare coverage — a standard journalists dubbed the “Jimmy Kimmel test.”
Kimmel has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards three times (2012, 2016, 2020) and the Academy Awards four times (2017, 2018, 2023, 2024), including the chaotic 2017 ceremony during which the Best Picture envelope was famously misread live on air. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He launched a second production company, Kimmelot, in November 2018. In December 2025, Kimmel and ABC finalized a one-year extension expected to keep Jimmy Kimmel Live! on air through May 2027.
Kimmel married his first wife, Gina Maddy, in 1988. The couple had two children — daughter Katharine (“Katie,” born August 1991) and son Kevin (born 1993) — before divorcing in 2002. Kimmel subsequently dated comedian Sarah Silverman from 2002 until March 2009. In 2013, he married Molly McNearney, an executive producer and co-head writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, in a ceremony in Ojai, California. The couple has two children together: daughter Jane (born July 10, 2014) and son William John “Billy” (born April 21, 2017). Billy was diagnosed at birth with tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia, a rare congenital heart defect; he underwent open-heart surgery at three days old. Kimmel’s emotional on-air monologue about Billy’s condition drew national attention and sparked a bipartisan healthcare debate. In May 2025, Kimmel became a grandfather when his eldest daughter Katie gave birth to a girl named Patti Joan. He obtained Italian citizenship in 2025, citing his maternal grandparents’ roots in Ischia, Naples.
Kimmel and McNearney reside in a Hollywood Hills compound near the Château Marmont, consisting of two adjoining properties that together span more than 7,500 square feet. The primary home, purchased in 2008 for $6 million, has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and 4,800 square feet; a second adjacent parcel was added in 2010 for $11 million and renovated in 2015. The family also owns multiple properties in Hermosa Beach, California, and a fly-fishing lodge along the Snake River in eastern Idaho, which is open to visitors. In 2025, Kimmel was briefly suspended by ABC following comments about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk; he returned to air on September 23, 2025. He co-founded the LA Feast of San Gennaro and his name graces the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl, a college football bowl game sponsored by the City of Los Angeles.
Jimmy Kimmel’s net worth is estimated at $50 million. His wealth reflects more than two decades of late-night television hosting, production company revenues, real estate investments, and recurring awards show hosting fees. His primary income source has consistently been his role as host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC since 2003.
Jimmy Kimmel’s wife is Molly McNearney, whom he married on July 13, 2013, in Ojai, California. McNearney is an executive producer and co-head writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live! — she joined the show’s writing staff in 2004. Together they have two children, Jane (born 2014) and Billy (born 2017). Kimmel was previously married to Gina Maddy from 1988 to 2002.
Jimmy Kimmel was born on November 13, 1967, in Brooklyn, New York, making him 58 years old as of March 2026. He grew up in Las Vegas after his family relocated there when he was nine. He has the longest-running tenure of any current late-night host in the United States, having hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! since January 2003.
Jimmy Kimmel stands approximately 6 feet tall (1.83 m), as listed by IMDb. Other sources, including Dimensions.com, list his height at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m). His height is occasionally the subject of light-hearted conversation on his show. He carries a commanding on-screen presence that has helped establish him as one of television’s most recognizable late-night personalities.
According to Forbes, Jimmy Kimmel earns approximately $16 million per year from ABC for hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ranking #24 on Forbes’s 2025 list of the highest-paid TV hosts. With roughly 170 episodes per season, this equates to approximately $94,000 per episode before factoring in bonuses, royalties, or income from his production companies and game show duties.
Jimmy Kimmel lives in a Hollywood Hills compound in Los Angeles, California, located near the Château Marmont hotel. The estate consists of two adjoining properties purchased in 2008 ($6 million) and 2010 ($11 million), totaling more than 7,500 square feet with five bedrooms, a pool, and post-and-beam architecture, according to Architectural Digest. He also owns multiple residences in Hermosa Beach, California, and a fly-fishing lodge (Fork Lodge) along the Snake River in eastern Idaho.
Jimmy Kimmel has four children. His two eldest, daughter Katie (born August 1991) and son Kevin (born 1993), are from his first marriage to Gina Maddy. With his current wife Molly McNearney, he has daughter Jane (born July 10, 2014) and son Billy (born April 21, 2017). Billy was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect requiring surgery at three days old. In May 2025, Kimmel became a grandfather when Katie gave birth to a daughter named Patti Joan, as reported by ABC News.