Joe Rogan Tops Forbes’ Inaugural List Of The Highest-Earning Podcasters, Making $30 Million A Year

In Forbes' list of the highest-paid podcasters, Joe Rogan named the richest podcast host after he made $30 million.

Getty Image / Jeff Bottari / Contributor


Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the late 1980s, then became a sitcom star NewsRadio and Hardball in the mid-1990s. Rogan became the color commentator for the UFC in the late 90s, and then was named the host of the incredibly popular Fear Factor TV show. However, Rogan might be best known for his paramount podcasting career.

Joe Rogan has been podcasting for 10 years, and the iconic Joe Rogan Experience YouTube channel was first established on January 11, 2013. The JRE YouTube account has over 1.8 billion views. All those views have made Joe Rogan a ton of money.

Forbes released their inaugural list of the highest-earning podcasters, and on the top of the heap is Joe Rogan. The online business magazine said that Joe Rogan made a whopping $30 million over the past year.

RELATED: Joe Rogan Shows Off Weight Loss And Reveals Benefits Of The Carnivore Diet, Plus His Explosive Diarrhea Is Gone

Tom Webster, senior vice president at Edison Research, told Forbes that Rogan is “delivering scale and engagement” and he is the “no. 1 in terms of reach in the U.S.”

Rogan had a stupendous 2019, with standout JRE podcasts that featured Bernie Sanders, Mike Tyson, UFO believer and alleged Area 51 worker Bob Lazar, Kevin Hart, Robert Downey Jr., and his most-viewed interview of the year with Alex Jones.

The 52-year-old Rogan is reported to have a net worth of $40 million.

Also on Forbes’ highest-paid podcasters list, My Favorite Murder podcast hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark came in second place after making $15 million between January 1, 2019, through January 1, 2020. Dave Ramsey, of The Dave Ramsey Show, is a terrestrial radio host from Nashville who also podcasts made $10 million in the last year.

Archair Expert podcast host Dax Shepard, who is the actor from Parenthood, made $9 million off of 20 million monthly views. Sports podcaster Bill Simmons was paid $7 million last year for his Bill Simmons Podcast.

Forbes determined the wealthiest podcast host by using “earnings figures include revenue from advertising on a host’s flagship program only, as well as ancillary revenue from touring, paid memberships and other media (like books and YouTube videos) derived from it.” The Forbes “estimates are based on data from Apple, Stitcher, Magellan AI, Edison, and Pollstar, as well as interviews with industry insiders.”

Here’s what lavish purchases that Joe Rogan spends some of that money on.

RELATED: Joe Rogan Explains How He Became ‘Fear Factor’ Host And Nauseating Stunt That Canceled The Reality TV Game Show

[Forbes]