Conan O’Brien’s Shocking Oscars Salary Revealed After Past Host Complained the Job ‘Cost’ Them ‘Money’ Instead of Making It

With more than two decades on late-night television, Conan O’Brien is a household name, and he has the bank account to prove it.

O’Brien, whose full name is Conan Christopher O’Brien, was born on April 18, 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard University, O’Brien moved to Los Angeles, where he took his first comedy writing job on the sketch series, Not Necessarily News. He took improvisation classes at The Groundlings, the comedy troupe that also boasts alumni like Kathy Griffin and Lisa Kudrow, before he found his big break as a writer on Saturday Night Live. In 1993, O’Brien, after a stint as a writer on The Simpsons, made his late-night debut as the host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The talk show marked the start of O’Brien’s late-night career. But how much does O’Brien make, including as the host of the Oscars?

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What’s Conan O’Brien’s net worth?

O’Brien’s net worth is $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which primarily accounts for what he made from his late-night talk shows, including Late Night with Conan O’Brien, which ran from 1993 to 2009; The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, which ran from 2009 to 2010; and Conan, which ran from 2010 to 2021. Per Celebrity Net Worth, he made $12 million per season on Conan.

O’Brien’s net worth also accounts for his other TV jobs, including as a writer on Saturday Night Live from 1988 to 1991, a writer on The Simpsons from 1988 to 1991, and the host of his podcast series, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, which debuted in 2018. He also had his own travel show on HBO Max titled Conan O’Brien Must Go in 2024.

Along with his other hosting jobs, which includes hosting events like the Oscars, Emmys and White House Correspondents’ dinner, O’Brien’s honors include one Primetime Emmy Award and the record for the longest-serving host in the history of the Late Night franchise at 16 years.

How much does Conan O’Brien make from the Oscars?

At the time of writing, O’Brien has hosted the Oscars twice in 2025 and 2026. He’s also hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2002 and 2006. While O’Brien’s exact pay to host the Oscars hasn’t been revealed, Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted the Oscars in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024, revealed to Entertainment Weekly in 2024 that he was paid $15,000 to MC the awards show.

“It’s hard and it’s a lot of work and [Jimmy Kimmel Live] suffers a little bit, to be honest,” he said at the time. “When I’m focused on the Oscars, I’m less focused on the show. And I just decided I didn’t want to deal with that this year. It was just too much last year. You wind up pushing everything off till after the Oscars, then you have to do everything you promised to do after the Oscars after the Oscars.”

The Hollywood Reporter also reported in 2013 that the host fee was between $15,000 to $25,000, which is much less than how much the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences spends on the rest of the show. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy spent around $38.3 million on the show and its associated events in 2012, but made $89.6 million in Oscars-related revenue. Some of its most expensive fees were $100,000 on a producer’s honorarium, $45,000 on statues, and $10,000 on winners’ envelopes.

Wanda Sykes, who hosted the Oscars in 2022, also confirmed the low pay to Kimmel in an interview that same year. “I realized that out of all the jobs that I have, this one is actually gonna cost me money,” she said before describing her salary as “scale probably,” which suggests that she was paid the minimum that SAG-AFTRA union members earn.