Vanna White Net Worth - Pulptastic
What is Vanna White’s Net Worth and Salary?
Vanna White, the American television personality, model, and actress, is worth $85 million, which is $10 million more than her co-host Pat Sajak’s net worth of $75 million. She is most famous for her role as the hostess and puzzle-board turner on the game show “Wheel of Fortune.”
White’s net worth is due in part to her real estate investments with her former husband, George Santo Pietro, a real estate developer and restaurateur. Her salary for “Wheel of Fortune” is $10 million per year, but her largest source of income comes from licensing her image to casino slot machines, which she does with Sajak.
Vanna White’s Wheel of Fortune Salary and Work Schedule
Vanna White earns $10 million per year for her work on “Wheel of Fortune,” while Pat Sajak earns $14 million. They tape four days per month, six shows per day, on two Thursdays and two Fridays. They both arrive at 8:30 am and start shooting at noon. Each audience watches three shows, then there is a break for lunch, and a second audience comes in to watch three more tapings.
Breaking it down, Vanna White earns $208,333 per workday, or $34,722 per show. Pat Sajak earns $312,500 per workday, or $48,611 per show. However, Vanna White’s salary from “Wheel of Fortune” isn’t even her biggest annual paycheck.
Wheel of Fortune Slot Machines Earn Pat Sajak and Vanna White Millions
“Wheel of Fortune” hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White make more money from licensing their images to casino slot machines than they do from the game show itself. The first “Wheel of Fortune” branded slot machines were placed in Las Vegas casinos in 1996 and quickly became extremely successful. Within a decade, they were reported to be the highest revenue generating slot machines in most casinos, with an estimated 20,000 machines on casino floors worldwide. In Las Vegas alone, the machines generate over $1 billion per year in gross revenue, and worldwide they generate over $2 billion.
Pat and Vanna earn at least $15 million per year from licensing their images and likenesses for the slot machines. This includes a base royalty payment, as well as a variety of bonuses and appearance fees.
Vanna White’s Annual Income
Vanna White earns over $25 million per year through her salary from “Wheel of Fortune” and earnings from licensing deals with casinos.
Early Life and Career
Vanna White was born on February 18, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina. Her parents divorced when she was a baby, and she eventually took her stepfather’s last name, White. She graduated from North Myrtle Beach High School and attended the Atlanta School of Fashion and Design. White was a contestant in the 1978 Miss Georgia USA pageant, and in 1979, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She appeared as a contestant on “The Price is Right” in 1980.
History of Wheel of Fortune and Vanna White
“Wheel of Fortune” was created by Merv Griffin in the mid-1970s after playing hangman on a family road trip. Chuck Woolery was the original host, but was replaced by Pat Sajak in 1981. The original hostess was Susan Stafford, who was later replaced by Vanna White after a rigorous audition process. White has worn over 6,700 dresses during her time on the show and holds a Guinness World Record for “most frequent clapper.” In addition to her work on “Wheel of Fortune,” she has made appearances on various television shows.”
Vanna White’s Controversial Past
In 1987, Vanna appeared in Playboy Magazine, shocking middle America. The photos were taken in 1982 by a photographer who wasn’t associated with Playboy. After the photographer sold the photos to Hugh Hefner, Vanna filed a $5.2 million lawsuit against Playboy, claiming they were never intended for mass publication and would tarnish her image. Playboy claimed Vanna knew the magazine was planning to publish the photos and actually wanted them to come out around the same time as her autobiography. The lawsuit was eventually dropped.
Decades later, Vanna admitted to doing the lingerie shots out of financial need. She was too embarrassed to ask her dad for rent money, so she did the photos. She later regretted the decision.
Vanna White’s Lawsuit Against Samsung Electronics
In 1993, Vanna White sued Samsung Electronics over a commercial featuring a robot turning letters on a game show. White claimed the company used her likeness without permission. After several appeals, White won the lawsuit and was awarded $403,000 in damages.
Vanna White’s Life and Career
When Vanna White left North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to pursue her dream of becoming a star, she only had $1,000 to her name. In the 1980s, she dated “Playgirl” centerfold and Chippendales-dancer-turned-actor John Gibson. However, Gibson was killed in a plane crash in 1986 before they got married.
White returned briefly to South Carolina in the summer of 1980 to be with her mother as she battled ovarian cancer. Her mother lost her battle with the disease. She married restaurant owner George Santo Pietro in December 1990 and they had two children together, son Nicholas and daughter Giovanna. White and Santo Pietro divorced in November 2002.
White’s grandmother taught her how to crochet when she was five, and she continues this hobby to this day. She even has her own line of yarns called Vanna’s Choice, which she developed for yarn manufacturer Lion Brand Yarns. White is also a patron of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and has donated $1.8 million to date to the organization. She plans to continue her philanthropic works after her retirement from “Wheel of Fortune.”
Vanna White’s Real Estate Portfolio
In the past, Vanna White and her ex-husband George Santo Pietro lived in the gated community of The Mulholland Estates next to Hollywood legends Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. Their 15,000 square-foot spec house in Beverly Park was listed for sale in 2017 for $47.5 million, and eventually sold for $19.3 million in June 2020. They also owned another nearby property which sold for $22 million.
White’s primary residence has been a 10,000 square-foot mansion in the hills above Beverly Hills, which she purchased for $3.4 million in the early 2000s and is now worth over $10 million. She also owns a home in Sherman Oaks, California that she listed for rent in May 2020 for $20,000 per month.
Aside from owning luxurious properties, White is also known for investing in apartment buildings and flipping houses.
