Leno I have yet to touch a dime of my Tonight Show salary. I live off the money I make as a comedian- I live off the money I make as a comedian, Jay Leno frugal parents Depression, Jay Leno flashy car collection. The Tonight Show at the top of the nighttime talk show heap, NBC pays host Jay Leno $27 million a year. Still, after 17 years, he's on his way out. But don't feel too badly for him. He's being actively courted by competitors like ABC and Fox, and will likely land an even bigger payday.
Then there's the income he makes from appearances. Fortune magazine estimated in 2004 that he was bringing home about $15 million a year. Despite his multi-millionaire status, the only flashy thing about him is his collection of cars and motorcycles. "When I was a kid, I always had two jobs. I had one job which the money went in the bank and the other job that I lived off of," he said back in 2004. "I still do that to this day. I have yet to touch a dime of my Tonight Show salary. I live off the money I make as a comedian...Maybe it comes from having parents who grew up during the Depression." Yet, his penny-pinching ways got him into hot water with his writers during the writers' strike. While Conan O'Brian promised staffers who were pink-slipped by NBC that he would cover their salaries out of his own pocket, Leno only did so, and on a week-by-week basis, after being shamed by all the bad press.
Then there's the income he makes from appearances. Fortune magazine estimated in 2004 that he was bringing home about $15 million a year. Despite his multi-millionaire status, the only flashy thing about him is his collection of cars and motorcycles. "When I was a kid, I always had two jobs. I had one job which the money went in the bank and the other job that I lived off of," he said back in 2004. "I still do that to this day. I have yet to touch a dime of my Tonight Show salary. I live off the money I make as a comedian...Maybe it comes from having parents who grew up during the Depression." Yet, his penny-pinching ways got him into hot water with his writers during the writers' strike. While Conan O'Brian promised staffers who were pink-slipped by NBC that he would cover their salaries out of his own pocket, Leno only did so, and on a week-by-week basis, after being shamed by all the bad press.
