Matt Lauer is a former television news anchor from the United States. His work with NBC News is what he is best known for. His first national exposure came as the news anchor for The Today Show from 1994 to 1997, following a stint as a local news presenter on WNBC in New York City. From 1997 to 2017, he was the co-host of NBC’s Today show, moving from the news desk to the host’s chair.
Lauer was also a regular contributor to Dateline NBC’s evening news magazine. With NBC, Lauer co-hosted the opening ceremonies of numerous Olympic Games and hosted the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. NBC terminated Lauer’s contract in November 2017 after receiving “a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace” and adding that the network had “reason to think this may not have been an isolated incident.”
Early Life and Career Beginnings
On December 30, 1957, Matthew Todd Lauer was born in New York City. His mother, Marilyn Lauer, ran a boutique, while his father, Jay Robert Lauer, worked for a bicycle manufacturer.
He attended Ohio University but dropped out in 1979 after being hired by WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia, to pursue a career in television.
He started off as a producer for the noon newscast and worked his way up to being an on-air reporter for the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts by 1980. Lauer eventually returned to Ohio University to finish his undergraduate degree, graduating in 1997 at the age of 39.
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Matt Lauer’s Salary and Net Worth
Matt Lauer, a former news anchor and TV broadcaster in the United States, has an estimated net worth of $80 million. From 1997 to 2017, he was the host of NBC’s “The Today Show.” In 2017, he was forced to resign when claims of sexual harassment surfaced. Matt was the highest-paid individual on television at the time of the scandal and subsequent divorce, with a net worth easily exceeding $120-$150 million.
| Net Worth | $80 Million |
| NBC Salary | $8 Million |
| Assets | $44 Million |
| Liabilities & Loans | $3 Million |
| Investments | $17 Million |
Career
At the age of 39, Matt Lauer received his bachelor’s degree from Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication, School of Media Arts and Studies.
He had earlier dropped out of the same college in the spring of 1979 to pursue a career in television after being employed as a producer for WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia’s noon program. He was an on-air reporter for the station’s 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts by 1980.
Lauer then began touring the East Coast, hosting a variety of daily news and chat shows. He co-hosted PM Magazine in numerous places, including Richmond (1980–1981), Providence (1981–1984), and New York City (1984–1986).
After WNYW canceled the New York edition of PM Magazine in 1986, Lauer and co-host Jill Rappaport collaborated on a new show for the station called Made in New York, which lasted fifteen weeks.
Following that, Lauer co-hosted ABC’s short-lived daytime series Fame, Fortune, and Romance, a spin-off of the syndicated Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, with Robin Leach. Between 1987 and 1989, Lauer returned to local television, hosting shows in Philadelphia and Boston for two years, during which time he reported for ESPN and anchored entertainment news segments for HBO.
Matt Lauer returned to New York City in September 1989, this time to WWOR-TV, where he hosted 9 Broadcast Plaza, a three-hour live interview show.
He left that show as it began to book “tabloid” guests and issues, as well as a refusal to live-read Dial-a-Mattress advertising on the broadcast, according to him. Richard Bey took over for Lauer at WWOR-TV, and 9 Broadcast Plaza became The Richard Bey Show.
The Kushner-Locke Company hired Matt Lauer to host a pilot called Day in Court in 1990. It was executive-produced by renowned producer David Sams, who helped launch The Oprah Winfrey Show into national syndication.
When the show moved to series, it was renamed Trial Watch and aired on the NBC network for two seasons. When the show was picked up as a daily series, NBC replaced Lauer with Robb Weller as the host.
Lauer shot a pilot for the World Wrestling Federation’s bodybuilding spinoff, the World Bodybuilding Federation for USA Network, dubbed WBF BodyStars, but WWF owner/chairman Vince McMahon eventually elected to host the show himself. Lauer co-hosted Etc., Etc., a Travel Channel show, with Willow Bay, in 1991.
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Work on Other Projects
In early 2006, Matt Lauer made a live visit on Will & Grace as himself. Lauer and his daughter Romy hosted Sesame Beginnings: Exploring Together, a Sesame Street direct-to-DVD episode, in November 2006.
On the Discovery Channel, Lauer hosted The Greatest American, a show that incorporated internet and telephone voting to determine the winner. Lauer was critical of his own show, claiming that it favored well-known figures over those with less cultural clout.
On June 3, 2009, he was the 2009 Class Day speaker at Harvard University’s undergraduate graduating ceremonies.
Lauer appears in the 2009 film Land of the Lost, the 2011 film The Beaver, and the direct-to-DVD animated sequel Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! as himself.
He also appeared in the 2011 films Drew Peterson: Untouchable and Tower Heist, and archival footage of him may be seen in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton and the 2017 films Lady Bird and I, Tonya. He also appears in the TV movies Sharknado 2: The Second One and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! in the role of himself.
Wife
From 1982 through 1989, Matt Lauer was married to Nancy Alspaugh, a television producer. They did not have any children. He later married Annette Roque, a Dutch model whom he met on a blind date in July 1997. After five months of dating, Lauer proposed to Roque, and the two married on October 3, 1998, in Bridgehampton, New York.
Jack Lauer (b. June 26, 2001), Romy Lauer (b. October 2, 2003), and Thijs Lauer are their three children (b. November 28, 2006). Roque filed for divorce from Lauer in 2006, while pregnant with her son Thijs, claiming that he had subjected her to “mental abuse, great mental and emotional suffering, humiliation, torture, and anxiety.”
They reconciled weeks afterward. Lauer and Roque formally divorced on September 7, 2019, after nearly two years of separation following his 2017 sexual harassment charges.
Personal Life
Matt Lauer was married to television producer Nancy Alspaugh from 1982 to 1988, but their marriage ended in divorce. He was married to Dutch model Annette “Jade” Roque in 1998 after dating another television newscaster, Kristen Gesswein, until 1996. Roque has been featured in Revlon’s “The Most Unforgettable Women in the World Wear Revlon” advertisements.
They split up temporarily during Roque’s third pregnancy in 2006, but they reconciled after Roque filed for divorce. Following sexual harassment charges against Lauer in 2017, the couple divorced. Lauer agreed to pay Roque a $20 million divorce settlement in July 2019, and the couple divorced on September 7, 2019.
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