Net Worth: $350 Million
With so much of ongoing discussions about his replacement with Jimmy Fallon in one of the NBC’s marquee television programme called The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; Jay Leno is still one of the richest celebrities with an estimated net worth of a whooping $350 million and an annual salary of $15 million. Let us have an insight about the man, his life, works and his achievements.
His personal life:
Born on April 28, 1950 in New Rochelle, New York, U.S.; James Douglas Muir Leno, popularly known as Jay Leno, is an American comedian, actor, voice actor, writer, producer and a television host. His mother Catherine was a homemaker and father Angelo was an insurance salesman. His Grandfather had immigrated from Flumeri, Italy. He grew up in Massachusetts and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in speech therapy from Emerson’s College. He has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno and has no children by mutual agreement. He is known for his prominent jaw described as mandibular prognathism. He is also dyslexic. He is also the co author of his biography titled Leading with My Chin. Apart from television, he spends most of his time working in his private garage owing to his passion for cars.
Career:
Leno was the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992- 2009. Beginning in September 2009, he started a talk show , titled The Jay Leno Show and after this show was cancelled due to controversy, he returned to host the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2010. Leno hosted his last episode of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on February 6, 2014. Apart from these, he has also appeared in minor roles in several television series and movies like Silver Bears(1978), Polyester(1981), The Flintstones(1994), Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King(2008) and many more. On April 3, 2013 NBC announced Jimmy Fallon as his designated successor in the Tonight Show.
Automobiles- his passion:
Jay Leno has a passion for everything automotive and he owns a private garage in south California where his car collection spans two centuries from 19th century’s steam cars to 21st century’s Porsche, Jaguar etc. He is a car enthusiast and a big fan of long gone engineering marvels- Howards Hughes’ Doble steam car. The list includes Baker Electric car, the Chrysler Turbine car etc. They are not supposed to exist anymore but he has an undying wish to share them with others. When not found in garage, he is at Pebble beach or someplace alike where he can celebrate engineering ingenuity.
His assets, associations and worth:
Estates and homes:
Beverly Hills Home: It is spread in 6399 square foot. It is a single family home with five bedrooms and six bathroom located in 1151 Tower Rd Beverly Hills. Jay bought it in May, 1987.
Autos and Cars:
Jaguar CX75: It is one of the most luxurious cars he owns.
Lamborghini Countach: Rosewood colored Lamborghini is another feather in his cap to his car collections.
Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren: Leno is the very first customer in the United States to receive this limited production super car. He retailed it for $450,000.
McLaren MP4 12C: Leno believes that this car can compete with Ferrari.
2011 Chevrolet Volt: This car has the achievement of passing 10000 electric miles.
Eco Jet Car:It runs on biodiesel and at the same time has 750 horse power from its Honeywell LT 101 jet turbine engine.
V12 Jaguar KKE: He owns a brick red colored Jaguar and this is one of the most beautiful cars ever manufactured by Jaguar. Leno has extensively modified it and given it the look of series1 sports car.
His causes and charity works:
Lance Armstrong Foundation: He is associated with the Armstrong’s foundation that supports people with cancer through education, advocacy, public health and research programmes.
Starkey Hearing Foundation: he is associated with this organization that delivers 50000 hearing aids annually through hearing missions in 86 countries.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: This is America’s third largest charity that raises fund for seriously ill children.
Apart from these associations, in 2001, he donated $100,000 to the Feminist majority’s campaign to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan. In 2009, he donated $100,000 to a scholarship fund at Salem State University in the honor of Lennie Sogoloff, who gave Leno his start at his jazz club. In August 2012, he auctioned his Fiat 500 which was sold for $385,000 which was given to charity. Apart from this since 1985, he has been the marshal for the Love Ride, a motorcycle charity event which raises nearly $14 million for charities benefitting autism, muscular dystrophy.
His collectibles:
Exotic cars- Situated in Southern California; Leno owns a 17000 square feet Big Dog garage. He has a collection of cars, bikes and on weekends he is seen picking up some random people and offering them free rides in his limited edition possessions. His most special one is 1955 Buick which is the first car he purchased and was his apartment on wheels during his struggling days.
All said and done, it has been estimated that his car collections solely costs US $15 million which is more than what most Hollywood stars make in their lifetime. He once quoted that since his childhood he used to spend the money from his one job and used to save the money from the other one similarly now as well he spends only the money which he earns from his stand up comedy show and “have never spent a dime of TV money ever.” Also, he had received a sign off bonus of $15 million from NBC to cut the contract short from its original September, 2014. Normally, NBC has average viewers of 3.9 million but his last episode of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno aired on February 6, 2014 drew an average of 5 million viewers. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Charlie Sheen, Jim parson, Kim Kardashian, President Obama bade him farewell. He was associated with this show for the last 22 years.
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