An American actress, model, and television personality named Vanna White has an estimated net worth of $85 million. She is well recognised for her work as the long-running game show “Wheel of Fortunehostess “‘s and puzzle board turner.
With a personal worth of $85 million as of this writing, Vanna is almost $15 million wealthier than her co-host Pat Sajak, who has a net worth of $70 million. The discrepancy is mostly attributable to investments she made in real estate with her ex-husband, restaurateur/real estate developer George Santo Pietro. In the year 2020, Alex Trebek had a net worth of $75 million. Vanna is/was thus actually the wealthiest of the three.
Vanna White makes $10 million a year from her “Wheel of Fortune” paycheck, but as we’ll see later in this piece, that’s not even her main source of income. She and Pat Sajak each earn more money each year by licencing their likeness to slot machines at casinos than they do from the real game show.
Early Life
In Conway, South Carolina, on February 18, 1957, Vanna Marie Rosich was born. She is Miguel and Joan Rosich’s child. She was a baby when her parents got divorced. Herbert White Jr. was the new husband of her mother. He gave his last name to Vanna. She was born and reared in North Myrtle Beach and went to high school there. To enrol in the Atlanta School of Fashion & Design, she relocated there. She competed in the Miss Georgia USA pageant in 1978 while still in college. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1979 in order to pursue an acting career. She competed on “The Price is Right” in June 1980.
Career
Both the horror film “Graduation Day” and a tiny part in the movie “Looker” were booked for Vanna in 1981. White was one of three replacement hostesses hired for “Wheel of Fortune” in October 1982. On December 13, 1982, White took over as the show’s regular hostess, and she has served in that capacity ever since. She won the position over more than 200 other young women. White and Pat Sajak continue to co-host the evening edition of the programme. Her contract is valid until 2022. During her time on “Wheel of Fortune,” White has worn more than 6,700 dresses, never wearing the same one again. Her attire from the exhibition is not hers to keep. Usually, White borrows outfits from designers and returns them after the show is finished being taped.
In the “Wheel of Fortune” show from May 24, 2013, White received a Guinness World Record. She holds the “most frequent clapper” world record. As of January 31, 2013, she had clapped at least 3,480,864 times across the 30 seasons of the programme.
White and Sajak are only anticipated on set four days a month because “Wheel of Fortune” tapes an amazing six shows per day.
Her television credits include “Just Shoot Me,” “Married with Children,” “The King of Queens,” and “The A-Team.”
Playboy Lawsuit
However, 30 years of success haven’t been without their share of setbacks. To the amazement of ordinary America, Vanna featured in Playboy Magazine in 1987. The pictures were originally taken by a photographer who was not even connected to Playboy in 1982, a few months before she was offered the Wheel role. Hugh Hefner and Playboy purchased the photographs from the photographer five years later. Vanna sued Playboy for $5.2 million when the images were released, alleging that they were never meant for widespread distribution and that doing so would “tarnish her image as a humble, decent, gorgeous and innocent all-American girl.” In addition, she personally sued Hefner. Vanna, according to Playboy, wanted the images to be released at the same time that her autobiography reached bookstores and was aware that the magazine planned to publish them. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.
Many years later, she would clarify:
“I made a mistake in what I did. I was too ashamed when I first moved to Hollywood to seek my father for help with my rent. I wanted to handle everything on my own because I was young. Since I wasn’t going to ask my dad for money, I decided to just go ahead and shoot these lingerie photographs even though I shouldn’t have.”
Sony Lawsuit
In 1993, Vanna filed a successful lawsuit against Samsung Electronics after the business ran a commercial showing a smiling robot changing letters on a game show. White claimed that the business was unauthorizedly utilising her likeness. After numerous challenges, Vanna miraculously prevailed in the lawsuit and was given a $403,000 damage compensation.
Personal Life
Vanna White had just $1,000 when she left North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to follow her ambition of becoming a celebrity. While attending college in Atlanta and in her early years of striving for fame and wealth in Los Angeles, she worked as a waitress and a model.
In the 1980s, Vanna dated actor and “Playgirl” centrefold John Gibson, a former Chippendales dancer. They got engaged at some point in the 1980s, but they weren’t able to get married since Gibson perished in a plane crash in 1986.
She made a brief trip back to South Carolina in the summer of 1980 to be with her mother as she fought ovarian cancer. Her mother succumbed to the illness after a battle.
In December 1990, Vanna wed George Santo Pietro, the proprietor of a restaurant. Santo Pietro was born in Beverly Hills to a prosperous family. He opened his first restaurant at the beginning of the 1980s. After that, he opened Sushi-Ko, a popular sushi restaurant frequented by celebrities. Together, they gave birth to a son named Nicholas in 1994 and a daughter named Giovanna, also known as Gigi, in 1997. In November 2002, White and Santo Pietro got divorced.
When she was five years old, her grandma taught her how to crochet. She still indulges in this pastime. She was contacted by Lion Brand Yarns after discussing her love of crocheting on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” She entered into a contract with the company to develop her own yarn brand, Vanna’s Choice.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is supported by White. She has given St. Jude’s so far $1.8 million. She intends to carry on her charitable endeavours after leaving “Wheel of Fortune.”
Wheel of Fortune Salary Highlights
The “Wheel of Fortune” pays Vanna White a $10 million yearly wage.
Pat Sajak earns $15 million annually.
Six shows on Wheel of Fortune are taped each day, four days per month. Two Thursdays and two Fridays are taped. They both arrive at 8:30 am on the day of the tape and begin shooting at noon. Three performances are seen by one audience, followed by a lunch break. Three further tapings are being watched by a second audience.
In other words, Vanna and Pat put in 48 days of labour per year to bring in $10 and $14 million, respectively, in income. Vanna White receives a daily salary of $208,333. Pat makes $312,500 every every day. Vanna White and Pat Sajak both make $48,611 per episode when broken down per show.
But! Vanna’s “Wheel of Fortune” salary isn’t even her largest annual payout, as we’ll reveal in the paragraph after this one.
Casino Licensing Earnings
Contrary to popular belief, Vanna White’s money from “Wheel of Fortune” isn’t her main source of income. Vanna and Pat each earn more money from the game show itself than they do from the licencing of their images to slot machines at casinos.
Actually, the FIRST entertainment brand to be granted a slot machine licence was Wheel of Fortune. The first slot machines bearing the Wheel of Fortune logo were installed at Las Vegas casinos in 1996. They rapidly demonstrated their great success and received licences from casinos all around the world. Within a decade, most casinos’ highest-grossing slot machines were said to be those bearing the Wheel of Fortune brand. There are 20,000 “Wheel” slot machines on casino floors worldwide, according to estimates. Wheel of Fortune slot machines alone bring in more than $1 billion in gross revenue annually in Las Vegas. Over $2 billion is generated by the machines globally.
Pat and Vanna both make at least $15 million year from the licencing of their individual likenesses and pictures for the slot machines, largely from a base royalty payment as well as from various bonuses and appearance fees.
Annual Income
When everything is added up, Vanna White’s annual income easily exceeds $25 million per year thanks to her “Wheel of Fortune” salary and casino licencing profits.
Real Estate
Vanna and George Santo Pietro formerly resided in The Mulholland Estates, a private neighbourhood. Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson shared a residence with them. In the end, they constructed a 15,000 square foot model home in Beverly Park, a gated neighbourhood. Until their divorce in 2002, the couple resided at the house. They both left the house after their divorce and rented it out for several years for $175,000 a month. They put the mansion up for sale for $47.5 million in 2017. They also had a home in the neighbourhood. The two properties were finally sold individually. $22 million was paid for the second lot. Vanna’s mansion’s original lot was sold for $19.3 million in June 2020. Here is a tour of their previous home in video form:
White enjoys flipping houses and invests her income in apartment buildings.
She has lived in a 10,000 square foot mansion in the hills above Beverly Hills since the early 2000s, paying $3.4 million for it. This house is probably worth more than $10 million right now.
