Net Worth Ranker
What Is Bob Barker’s Net Worth?
At the time of his passing on August 26, 2023, at the age of 99, Bob Barker’s net worth was reported to be $0. This aligns with his well-known intention to donate his entire fortune to animal charities. At his peak, Bob Barker’s fortune topped $70 million. Bob Barker was a legendary American TV game show host and animal activist.
Bob Barker’s Generous Donations and Animal Activism
Throughout his life, Bob Barker was a dedicated advocate for animal rights. He concluded each episode of “The Price Is Right” with a plea to viewers to spay or neuter their pets. Bob donated at least $30 million to animal charities and causes. Some of his most significant contributions include a $2.5 million donation to PETA in 2012, leading the organization to name its West Coast headquarters the “Bob Barker Building” in his honor.
Furthermore, he allocated $25 million of his personal funds to establish the “DJ&T Foundation,” which provides financial support to clinics offering spaying and neutering services. The foundation’s name is a tribute to his late wife, Dorothy Jo (“DJ”), and his mother, Matilda, known as “Tilly.” Another notable donation was $5 million to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which facilitated the purchase of an anti-whaling ship that was christened the “S.S. Bob Barker.” In 2010, Bob Barker donated $5 million to the animal activist group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The money was used to purchase a ship, which is now used to intercept and interrupt Japanese whaling boats. Bob Barker subsequently purchased a helicopter for the Sea Shepherd Society.
In 2014, he spent $700,000 to move three elephants from a Toronto zoo to a wildlife preserve in California. He has participated in several protests against circuses for keeping animals trapped in cages and forcing them to perform tricks, often while under heavy sedation.
Bob Barker’s Career Highlights and Salary Details
Bob Barker is best known for his role as the longest-running host of “The Price Is Right,” a position he held from 1972 to 2007. His contributions to the television industry have been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the 1995 Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the title of Greatest Game Show Host of All-Time by Time magazine. Before his tenure on “The Price Is Right,” Barker hosted “Truth or Consequences” from 1956 to 1974.
For the last decade of his time hosting “The Price is Right”, Bob Barker’s salary was $10 million per year. His distinctive hosting style and genuine connection with contestants played a crucial role in the immense popularity of “The Price Is Right.” The show received multiple Daytime Emmy Awards under his guidance, and Barker himself won 19 Daytime Emmys for his hosting roles across various shows.
Before hosting The Price Is Right, in 1971, while he was still the host of “Truth or Consequences,” he was selected to host an NBC pilot called “Simon Says.” Then, in early 1972, CBS became interested in a revival of “The Price Is Right” that was being proposed by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. The network agreed to pick it up on the condition that Barker was selected as the host. Thus, on September 4, 1972, Barker began hosting the new modernized version of “The Price Is Right” on CBS. He continued in this role until he announced his retirement from the show on October 31, 2006, and officially stepped down as host in 2007. His last episode, which aired on June 15, was taped earlier that month on June 6, 2007. After retiring from the show, Barker made three return appearances: once in April 2009, to promote his new autobiography; once in December 2013, to celebrate his 90th birthday; and once in April 2015, for an April Fools’ Day joke where he briefly took over hosting duties from the current host at the time, Drew Carey.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Robert William Barker was born in Darrington, Washington, on December 12, 1923. He spent a significant portion of his childhood on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, South Dakota, and is officially recognized as a member of the Sioux tribe on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940. He is one-eighth Sioux. His mother worked as a school teacher, and his father was an electrical high-line foreman. Barker received a basketball scholarship to Drury College (now called Drury University) in Missouri, where he joined the Epsilon Beta chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity. During World War II, he served as a fighter pilot in the US Navy, but the war ended before he was assigned to a seagoing squadron. After the war, he returned to Drury College and graduated with a degree in economics.
Barker gained early experience in broadcasting while at Drury College, working at the KTTS-FM radio station in Springfield. Later, he moved to Florida and worked as a news editor and announcer at WWPG 1340 AM in Palm Beach (now called WPBR in Lantana). In 1950, he relocated to California and created “The Bob Barker Show,” a radio program in Burbank that lasted six years. It was while he was hosting an audience participation show in California that he was discovered by game show producer Ralph Edwards. This led to his transition from radio to television, where he began hosting “Truth or Consequences” in 1956.
Other notable work and appearances
Bob Barker made a memorable cameo in the movie “Happy Gilmore” (1996) alongside Adam Sandler. In the movie, Sandler and Barker get into a fistfight on a golf course. Additionally, Barker and his wife Dorothy Jo were semi-regular panelists on the game shows “Tattletales” and “Match Game.”
He has appeared on talk shows like “Dinah!,” “Larry King Live,” “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and “The Wayne Brady Show.” He has appeared in commercials for brands like State Farm Insurance and also filmed an ad endorsing the Republican Party Congressional candidate David Jolly. He provided the voice of the character Bob Barnacle on the Nickelodeon animated series “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Barker’s autobiography, “Priceless Memories,” was published on April 6, 2009. It features stories and anecdotes from his 50-year career in television, as well as his early life.
Bob Barker’s Real Estate Holdings
For over 50 years, Bob lived in the same home in the Hollywood Hills. The home, which is just 15 minutes from the studio where he filmed “The Price is Right,” was listed for sale by his estate in March 2024 for a little under $3 million. Before being listed in 2024, the home was moderately renovated with new paint and fixtures. Bob’s estate sold the home in April 2024 for $3.8 million, $800,000 over asking. Bob’s recent companion of nearly 40 years is his girlfriend, Nancy Burnet. The couple lives in a Spanish Colonial-style home in California that was built in 1929 and is worth around $2.3 million.
“Bob Barker Studio” at CBS Television City was named in his honor.
Personal Life and Relationships
Bob Barker was married to his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Jo Gideon, from 1945 until her death from lung cancer in 1981. He never remarried but maintained relationships with several women, including Dian Parkinson, one of the “Barker’s Beauties,” for three years. His companion for nearly 40 years was Nancy Burnet, with whom he shared a Spanish Colonial-style home in California valued at approximately $2.3 million.
