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Pat Sajak
Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage
Category:
Celebrities
TV

Pat Sajak says goodbye to massive ‘Wheel of Fortune’ salary

The longtime host is finally saying goodbye to 'Wheel of Fortune.'
Nahila Bonfiglio
Nahila Bonfiglio
|

Published: Jun 7, 2024 11:59 am

Pat Sajak and Wheel of Fortune have been synonymous since 1981, and fans are feeling lost following news that the longtime host is set to depart the series.

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Sajak’s given a lot of his life to Wheel of Fortune, so he absolutely deserves the opportunity to retire, but he’s become so intertwined with viewers’ enjoyment of the show they’re terrified for the future. Who will replace this absolute staple of the fan-favorite series? How will they maintain the quality and charm that he lent to the show for decades? Will the series even continue without its longtime host?

All these questions and more are crowding the minds of nearly every Wheel of Fortune fan as they prepare to officially say goodbye to the 77-year-old host. He’ll be massively missed, but at least the last 40 years — and then some — of work he’s put in paid off. Sajak’s been earning high dollars for his work on Wheel of Fortune for a good few years now, leaving him with a nice cozy cushion to retire on.

How much did Pat Sajak make per episode of Wheel of Fortune?

For a full 43 years, Pat Sajak was the face of Wheel of Fortune. He began his career as the show’s host in the early ’80s, just six years after the show aired its first episode, and he was good enough in the role to maintain for decades. Just under four and a half decades after first stepping up as host, Sajak officially announced his intention to retire back in 2023, and his final days on the show have come.

His final episode is set to air on June 7, leaving fans with little time to enjoy the treasured host. His replacement has already been tapped, Sajak is likely planning out his retirement with delight, and he’ll have plenty of flexibility given the sky-high salary he enjoyed during his time on the show.

By the time he reached the latter years of his tenure on Wheel of Fortune, Sajak was pulling in a whopping $15 million per season, according to Forbes. That equals out to around $77,000 per episode, at least during the most recent seasons of the series, which provides the 77-year-old with more than enough to step down from his longtime position and relax in style with the well-earned fruits of more than 40 years of labor.

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Author
Image of Nahila Bonfiglio
Nahila Bonfiglio
Nahila carefully obsesses over all things geekdom and gaming, bringing her embarrassingly expansive expertise to the team at We Got This Covered. She is a Staff Writer and occasional Editor with a focus on comics, video games, and most importantly 'Lord of the Rings,' putting her Bachelors from the University of Texas at Austin to good use. Her work has been featured alongside the greats at NPR, the Daily Dot, and Nautilus Magazine.