In addition to being a television personality, model, actress, and businesswoman, Vanna White is worth an estimated $85 million. “Wheel of Fortune” hostess and puzzle board turner is her most famous role.
According to Vanna’s net worth of $85 million, she has a net worth of $15 million more than her co-host Pat Sajak. Part of the difference can be attributed to real estate investments made with her ex-husband, George Santo Pietro, a real estate developer, and restaurateur. Alex Trebek will be worth $75 million when he dies in 2020. Therefore, Vanna is/was the most well-off of the three.
Mary J Blige’s Net Worth, Early Life, Music Career & More Details!
Table of Contents
Vanna White
| Net Worth: | $85 Million |
| Salary: | $10 Million |
| Date of Birth: | Feb 18, 1957 (65 years old) |
| Gender: | Female |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 in (1.67 m) |
| Profession: | Presenter, Actor |
| Nationality: | United States of America |
Even though Vanna White makes $10 million a year from her “Wheel of Fortune” gig, it isn’t even her primary source of income, as we’ll discuss further down the page. Both she and Pat Sajak make more money each year from licensing their image to casino slot machines than they do from the actual game show they appear in.
Bet You Can’t Guess ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Host Vanna White’s Net Worth https://t.co/HDon0BWApM pic.twitter.com/PAtW02yp9Q
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) February 6, 2019
Early Life
She was born on February 18th, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina to Vanna Marie Rosich and her parents. Joan Rosich and Miguel Rosich have a daughter, named after them. When she was a baby, her parents divorced. An elderly man by the name of Herbert White Jr. was her mother’s new husband. Vanna adopted his surname. A native of North Myrtle Beach, she attended North Myrtle Beach High School, where she graduated in 2010. At the Atlanta School of Fashion and Design, she is studying fashion and design. She competed in the Miss Georgia USA pageant in 1978 while she was a student at the University of Georgia. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue a career in acting. She was a contestant on “The Price Is Right” in June 1980.
- Earns $10 million per year from Wheel of Fortune
- Has been on Wheel since 1982
- Beat out 200 other models for the job
- Earns $34,722 per show taping
- Earns $208,33 per work day thanks to multiple tapings
- Earns $15 million per year from casino image licensing
- Has donated millions to St. Judes
- Previously owned $50 million worth of Beverly Hills real estate
Career
When Vanna was in her early twenties, she booked small roles in films like “Looker” and “Graduation Day.” When “Wheel of Fortune” needed a replacement host in October 1982, White was selected as one of three candidates. On December 13, 1982, White became the show’s regular hostess and has been the show’s primary host ever since. To get the job, she had to beat out over 200 other women her age. White and Pat Sajak continue to co-host the nightly version of the show. They have her until 2022. During her time on “Wheel of Fortune,” White wore more than 6,700 dresses without reusing any of them. She doesn’t get to keep the clothes she wore on stage. Once the taping of the show is complete, White’s dresses are returned to the designers.
On the May 24, 2013, episode of “Wheel of Fortune,” White was presented with a Guinness World Record. “Most frequent clapper” is her world record. By the end of the show’s 30th season, she had clapped at least 3,480,864 times.
Wheel of Fortune” tapes six shows a day, so White and Sajak are only expected to be on set four days a month.
As a television star, she has appeared on shows like Just Shoot Me, Married with Children, The A-Team, and The King of Queens.
Playboy Lawsuit
Even though they’ve had 30 years of fame and fortune, they’ve also had their share of difficulties. Vanna made her Playboy Magazine debut in 1987, to the surprise of most Americans. When she was just a few months away from landing her role on the Wheel of Fortune, she was photographed by a photographer who wasn’t affiliated with Playboy. Five years later, Playboy and Hugh Hefner purchased the photographs from the photographer.
It was revealed that Vanna sued Playboy for $5.2 million, claiming that the photos were never meant for public consumption and that their release would “tarnish her image as a modest, healthy and attractive all-American girl.” She also sued Hefner on an individual basis. When Vanna heard the magazine was going to publish her photos, Playboy claimed, she wanted them to coincide with the release of her autobiography. Finally, the case was dismissed.
“A mistake was made, and I apologize. As a newcomer to Hollywood, I was afraid to approach my father about helping me pay my rent. I wanted to do it all on my own when I was a kid. That’s why I did these lingerie shots. I knew it wasn’t a good idea before I even said I would, but I wasn’t going to ask my dad for money, so I went ahead and did it anyway.”
Sony Lawsuit
When Samsung Electronics ran a commercial featuring a robot that turned letters on a game show in 1993, Vanna successfully sued the company for defamation. Her likeness was being used without permission, White claimed. After several appeals, Vanna won the case and was awarded $403,000 in damages.
Personal Life
Vanna White left North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with just $1,000 in her bank account when she set out to pursue her dream of becoming a pop star. While attending college in Atlanta, she worked as a waitress and a model to supplement her income, and when she first arrived in Los Angeles, she continued to do so in an attempt to make it big in the entertainment industry.
The “Playgirl” centerfold and Chippendales dancer-turned-actor John Gibson dated each other in the 1980s. The couple became engaged in the 1980s, but Gibson tragically died in a plane crash in 1986, before they could wed.
As her mother battled ovarian cancer, she briefly returned to South Carolina in the summer of 1980. Her mother succumbed to the illness.
In December 1990, Vanna married restaurant owner George Santo Pietro. Santo Pietro was born in Beverly Hills, the son of a wealthy family. In the early 1980s, he opened his first restaurant. He went on to open a sushi restaurant called Sushi-Ko, which quickly became a popular destination for celebrities. Nicholas was born in 1994, and Giovanna, affectionately known as Gigi, was born in 1997. In November 2002, White filed for divorce from Santo Pietro.
When she was five, her grandmother taught her how to crochet. She’s still into it today. Lion Brand Yarns contacted her after she appeared on the “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” to talk about her love of crocheting. To create Vanna’s Choice, the company signed a contract with her.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a favorite charity of White. St. Jude’s has received $1.8 million from her so far. After she retires from “Wheel of Fortune,” she plans to continue her philanthropic work.
Wheel of Fortune Salary Highlights
The yearly salary of Vanna White from “Wheel of Fortune” is ten million dollars (USD).
An estimated $15 million a year is paid to actor Pat Sajak.
During March, Wheel of Fortune tapes six shows per day for four days. Two Thursdays and two Fridays are set aside for filming. During filming days, they both arrive at 8:30 am and begin filming at noon. After three shows and a lunch break, a single audience member takes a break. Tapings 3 and 4 are shown to a second group.
When it comes to earning $10 and $14 million a year, Vanna and Pat put in 48 days of work each calendar year to make their money. Vanna White makes $208,333 per workday. Pat makes $312,500 per day working for himself. Pat Sajak makes $48,611 per show and Vanna White makes $34,722 per show if you break it down that way.
But! According to the following paragraph, Vanna doesn’t even make the most money from “The Wheel of Fortune.”
Casino Licensing Earnings
It’s hard to believe, but Vanna White’s annual salary from “Wheel of Fortune” isn’t her biggest source of income. Both Vanna and Pat make more money from licensing their images to casino slot machines than they do from the game show itself.
To our knowledge, Wheel of Fortune is the FIRST entertainment brand to be granted a slot machine license. The first Wheel of Fortune-branded slot machines was installed in Las Vegas casinos in 1996. They were quickly licensed to casinos around the world and proved to be a huge success. According to most casino resorts within a decade, the Wheel of Fortune branded slot machines were the top-earning slots in most establishments Approximately 20,000 “Wheel” slot machines can be found in casinos around the world. Wheel of Fortune slot machines in Las Vegas generated more than $1 billion in gross revenue each year. Over a year, the machines make more than $2 billion.
There are at least $15 million a year in royalties and appearance fees that are paid out to the two actors in exchange for licensing their respective images and likenesses for use in the slot machines.
Annual Income
Vanna White’s annual earnings from her “Wheel of Fortune” salary and casino licenses easily top $25 million each year.
Real Estate
Mulholland Estates was the gated community where George Santo Pietro and Vanna once lived. Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty used to live right down the street from them. For their final project, they built a Beverly Park gated community home with a 15,000-square-foot spec house. In 2002, the couple divorced and sold the house. Both left the house after their divorce, and it was rented out for $175,000 per month for several years. They put the house on the market for $47.5 million in 2017. On the other side of town, they owned a house. Both properties were eventually sold on their own. An additional $22 million was fetched for the second parcel. There will be a $19.3 million sale in June 2020 of the primary lot that featured Vanna’s house. Check out this video of their former home:
Investing in apartment buildings and flipping houses are two of White’s favorite hobbies.
To date, her primary residence has been a $3.4 million mansion in the hills above Beverly Hills, which she purchased in the early 2000s. This house is probably worth over $10 million today.
Vanna spent $1.125 million on a Sherman Oaks, California, home in 2013. In May 2020, she put this house on the rental market for $20,000 a month.
Read Also:-