Alex Trebek Net Worth

Alex Trebek was just another young broadcaster during his lifetime trying to find out what he wanted to accomplish and who he wanted to be long before he was a seven-time Emmy winner with a net worth of $75 million.

In this post, we’ll talk about Alex Trebek’s net worth, profession, and life in general.

What was Alex Trebek’s Net Worth and Salary?

Alex Trebek was an American game show host who was born in Canada and had a net worth of $75 million when he died. His most famous role was as the host of the syndicated game show “Jeopardy!” From 1984 till his death in November 2020, he presented the show. 

Trebek died at the age of 80 on November 8, 2020, after a year-long struggle with pancreatic cancer.

Trebek was paid $18 million per year on “Jeopardy!” He shot five episodes per day on the show, which was taped 46 days a year. To put it another way, he made about $391,000 per taping day or $78,000 per episode.

Trebek appeared on a wide range of shows as a panelist or player in addition to his hosting positions. 

In 1980, he competed in a week-long round-robin competition on NBC’s “Card Sharks” alongside numerous other game show hosts, including Allen Ludden, Bill Cullen, Wink Martindale, Jack Clark, and Gene Rayburn, for charity. 

In the end, he was victorious in the event. He starred on NBC’s “The Magnificent Marable Machine,” in 1975, and in 1978, he appeared on “To Say the Least.” Trebek appeared on “Celebrity Bowling” in 1976 with Jim McKrell, and the two won their match against Dick Gautier and Scatman Crothers.

All these earned him the record for hosting the most episodes of a single game show, beating out “The Price is Right” host Bob Barker.

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More about Alex Trebek Earnings

His illustrious career garnered him not just a prestigious reputation and a slew of prestigious honors, including seven Daytime Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (according to the show’s website), but also a tidy sum of money. You might be astonished to learn how much Trebek was worth when he passed away.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Alex Trebek worked on a variety of Canadian and American game shows before landing his role on “Jeopardy!” including “High Rollers” on NBC, “The $128,000 Question,” CBS’s “Double Dare,” and NBC’s “Battlestars.” 

He shot two episodes for a possible “Jeopardy!” comeback in 1984, and the show was picked up again soon after. After Trebek took over as host, the show’s popularity skyrocketed.

Trebek was paid $18 million a year for filming five “Jeopardy!” episodes every day for 46 days a year (equivalent to about $391,000 per tape day, or $78,000 per actual episode). According to Celebrity Net Worth, Pat Sajak from “Wheel of Fortune” earns roughly $312,500 per workday, and Vanna White earns $208,333.

Trebek’s major source of income was “Jeopardy!” but he also received a sizable salary for film and television appearances (he has appeared in cameo roles on dozens of popular television shows), as well as speaking engagements and seminars. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Trebek was worth $75 million at the time of his death.

At the time of his death, Alex Trebek had a net worth of $75 million. He died in November 2020 from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He, like Steve Harvey, made the most of his money from television, specifically Jeopardy! From 1984 to 2020, Alex Trebek hosted Jeopardy! for 36 seasons. Trebek was not only financially successful, but he also became a well-known and well-liked television personality.

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Who is Alex Trebek?

George Alexander Trebek was a game show host and television personality who was Canadian-American. From its revival in 1984 until he died in 2020, he hosted the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show Jeopardy! for 37 seasons. 

Trebek also hosted The Wizard of Odds, Double Dare, High Rollers, Battlestars, Classic Concentration, and To Tell the Truth, among other game shows. He also appeared in several films and television series, generally as himself.

Trebek was born in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, on July 22, 1940, to George Edward Trebek (born Terebeychuk), a chef who moved from Ukraine as a kid, and Lucille Marie Lagacé (April 14, 1921 – 2016), a Franco-Ontarian. 

Trebek’s maternal grandmother was born in Mount St. Patrick, near Renfrew, in Renfrew County, Ontario. He grew up in a family that spoke both French and English. Trebek was on the verge of being expelled from the boarding school where his parents had sent him. 

He went to military college shortly after but dropped out when he was asked to chop his hair. Trebek’s first employment was as a bellhop at the hotel where his father worked as a cook when he was 13 years old. 

Trebek went to the University of Ottawa after graduating from Sudbury High School (now Sudbury Secondary School). Trebek earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Ottawa in 1961. 

He was a member of the English Debating Society while in university. He was considering a career in broadcast news at the moment.

How Many Wives did Trebek Alex have in his Life?

During his lifetime Trebek Alex married two wives although he divorce the first one before taking the second. In 1974, Trebek married businesswoman Elaine Callei. They divorced in 1981 and never had children together. 

He married real estate project manager Jean Currivan in 1990, and they have two children together. In 1998, he was granted naturalization as a US citizen.

He was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in March 2019 and received extensive therapy. 

He had been cancer-free for one year as of March 2020. Unfortunately, Alex died of cancer on November 8, 2020, at the age of 80, much to the surprise of the world.

How Did He Begin His Career?

Trebek began working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961, before finishing his degree. “I went to school in the mornings and worked at night; I did everything,” Trebek says. “At one point, I replaced every announcer in every possible job.” He’d go on to read the national radio news for CBC and cover a variety of special events for CBC Radio and Television, including curling and horse racing.

Trebek’s first hosting position was in 1963 on Music Hop, a Canadian music show. He hosted the high school quiz program Reach for the Top in 1966. He was a host for the CBC from 1967 to 1970, introducing classical music programs that included performances by Glenn Gould.

Trebek was one of several candidates to succeed Ward Cornell as presenter of Hockey Night in Canada in 1971. 

Despite executive producer Ralph Mellanby’s preference for Trebek based on his audition and prior CBC appearances, Mellanby revealed in 2020 that he eventually chose Dave Hodge because his boss did not want someone with a mustache to host Hockey Night in Canada.

Trebek traveled to the United States in 1973 to work for NBC as the host of The Wizard of Odds, a new game show. He went on to host the Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley game show High Rollers, which aired on NBC for two seasons (1974–76 and 1978–80) and had a syndicated season (1975–76). 

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More about his early career

Trebek presented the CBS game program Double Dare[25] in between stints as presenter of High Rollers (not to be confused with the 1986 Nickelodeon game show of the same name). Double Dare was his only game show on the CBS network (he returned in 1994 to host the Pillsbury Bake-Off until 1998), and it was also the first show he hosted for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions.

Since the second season of High Rollers debuted while The $128,000 Question was still airing and taping episodes, Trebek has become one of only two hosts to emcee shows in both the United States and Canada, joining Jim Perry, who hosted Definition and Headline Hunters in Canada and Card Sharks, which debuted on the same day as High Rollers in the United States in 1978. In 1978.

Trebek’s francophone side was showcased in a bilingual edition of Reach for the Top and its Radio-Canada counterpart, Génies en herbe. Trebek seamlessly switched between French and English throughout the event.

How Did Trebek Alex Spend his Income?

Real Estate: Trebek lived in a 10,000-square-foot house in Studio City, California, that he bought for $2.15 million in 1991. Alex’s widow placed this home for sale in January 2022 for just under $7 million. 

Emily Trebek, Alex’s real estate agent daughter, was in charge of the listing

Charity: Alex Trebek is a philanthropist who stated in a podcast interview in 2014 that he donates a big amount of his annual income to charity. He gave the Santa Monica Conservancy 74 acres of land in the Hollywood Hills. 

In the year 1998, The gift is more than twice the size of the public parkland. Hikers and cyclists have already made extensive use of the trails. He gave $5 million to the University of Ottawa’s Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue in 2016. He has given the school, which is his alma mater, a total of $7.5 million.

Where is the Alex Trebek Studio Located?

The estate is around 1.5 acres in size and is located in Fryman Estates, a celebrity enclave in the Santa Monica Mountains’ foothills. It takes roughly 30 minutes to get to Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, where “Jeopardy!” is filmed, depending on your route.

A 99-year-old Mediterranean-style home with enormous public spaces and personalized accents lies in the center. The tone is set by a two-story entryway with dual sweeping staircases and a spectacular dome with painted pergolas draped in ivy at the top.

A gold-and-white wet bar, a library with a stone fireplace, and a movie theater with plush red carpet and crimson-colored draperies are among the other attractions. The 10,000-square-foot floor plan has four bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

He spent $4.1 million in the mid-1990s to purchase a 724-acre horse ranch in Creston, California. In 2005, he sold the ranch for $10 million. His 30-acre lake estate in Nacimiento, California, was advertised for $1.4 million in 2019. He sold this house for $1.3 million in just a few months.

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Conclusion

Alex has played the roles of husband and parent throughout his hosting career. Alex married businesswoman Elaine Trebek Kares just as his career on Wizards of Odds was about to take off. In the early 1980s, the two divorced, and Alex remarried real estate project manager Jean Currivan Trebek in 1990.

Trebek has also hosted several other programs, including ‘Pitfall’ and ‘The Wizard of Odds.’ Before relocating to the United States to advance his career, he hosted the Canadian quiz show ‘Reach for the Top’ for seven years. He won several ‘Daytime Emmy Awards’ after hosting ‘Jeopardy’

Alex’s wit, charm, and iconic mustache will forever be a part of Jeopardy! and television history, as those who have watched him over the years know.

Frequently Asked Questions

Trebek earn an estimated sum of $18 million per year on “Jeopardy!” a show where he shot five episodes per day, which was taped 46 days a year. To put it another way, he made about $391,000 per taping day or $78,000 per episode.

Alex Trebek has three children; 2 girls and a boy with the name Nicky Trebek, Emily Trebek, and Matthew Trebek respectively.

Trebek said his final words on the show would be, “And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.”

The final episode of Jeopardy! with Alex Trebek aired on Friday night. On November 8, 2020, the longtime presenter passed away, just 10 days after that program was taped. Viewers were forewarned of what was to come.

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