Vanna White has an estimated net worth of $85 million dollars. She is an American television personality, model, and actress. She is most known as the hostess of the long-running game show “Wheel of Fortune” and the puzzle-board turner.
Vanna’s net worth of $85 million puts her $15 million ahead of her co-host Pat Sajak (net worth $70 million) as of this writing.
The discrepancy is due in part to real estate investments made with her former husband, George Santo Pietro, a real estate developer and restaurateur. Alex Trebek was valued at $75 million at the time of his death in 2020. As a result, Vanna is/was the wealthiest of the three.
Vanna White’s annual “Wheel of Fortune” compensation is $10 million, but as we’ll see later in this piece, it’s not even her primary source of income. Every year, she and Pat Sajak make more money licensing their images to casino slot machines than they do from the game show itself.
Early Life
Vanna Marie Rosich was born in Conway, South Carolina, on February 18, 1957. Joan Rosich is her mother, and Miguel Rosich is her father. When she was a baby, her parents divorced. Herbert White, Jr. was her mother’s second husband. Vanna adopted his surname.
She was born and raised in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and attended North Myrtle Beach High School. She relocated to Atlanta to pursue a degree in fashion design at the Atlanta School of Fashion and Design.
She competed in the Miss Georgia USA pageant in 1978 while still in college. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1979 to seek a career as an actress. She was a participant in “The Price Is Right” in June 1980.
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Career
Vanna White’s had a small role in the film “Looker” and also starred in the horror-thriller “Graduation Day” in 1981. White was hired as one of three substitute hosts for “Wheel of Fortune” in October 1982.
On December 13, 1982, White became the show’s regular hostess, and she has remained the show’s lead hostess ever since. She was chosen by over 200 other young women for the position. White and Pat Sajak continue to co-host the evening edition of the show.
Her contract is up in 2022. During her time on “Wheel of Fortune,” White has worn almost 6,700 dresses, with no repetitions. Her attire from the exhibition is not hers to keep. White generally borrows outfits from designers and returns them after the performance is taped.
On the May 24, 2013, episode of “Wheel of Fortune,” White was awarded a Guinness World Record.
“Most frequent clapper” is her world record. As of January 31, 2013, she had clapped at least 3,480,864 times during the show’s 30 seasons.
“Wheel of Fortune” tapes six episodes every day, which means White and Sajak will only be on set four times per month.
“Just Shoot Me,” “Married With Children,” “The King of Queens,” and “The A-Team” are among the television shows in which she has appeared.
Playboy Lawsuit
Vanna White graced the cover of “Playboy” magazine in 1987. A semi-nude White was depicted in a pictorial inside the pages.
Hugh Hefner acquired images she had posed for as a struggling actress in 1982 instead of forcing her to shoot for “Playboy.”
Her rent had to be paid. She sued Hefner and the magazine for $5.2 million, claiming that the photo had ruined her image as a family-friendly entertainer. She decided to drop both lawsuits.
Sony Lawsuit
Vanna successfully sued Samsung Electronics for a commercial in 1993 after the firm ran a commercial featuring a smiling robot turning letters on a game show.
White claimed that the firm was exploiting her image without her consent. Vanna miraculously prevailed in the lawsuit and was given $403,000 in damages after multiple appeals.
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Personal Life
Vanna White had only $1,000 when she left North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to pursue her dream of becoming a star.
She waited tables and posed while in college in Atlanta and in her early days in Los Angeles when she was striving for fame and money.
Vanna dated “Playgirl” centerfold and Chippendales dancer-turned-actor John Gibson throughout the 1980s.
They were engaged in the 1980s, but Gibson was killed in an aircraft crash in 1986 before they could marry.
She went to South Carolina briefly in the summer of 1980 to be with her mother, who was battling ovarian cancer. Her mother died as a result of the sickness.
In December 1990, Vanna married George Santo Pietro, the proprietor of a restaurant. Santo Pietro was born into a rich Beverly Hills family. In the early 1980s, he opened his first restaurant.
He followed up with a successful sushi restaurant named Sushi-Ko, which became a celebrity hangout. Nicholas, born in 1994, and Giovanna, nicknamed Gigi, born in 1997, were their two children. In November 2002, White and Santo Pietro divorced.
When she was five years old, her grandmother taught her how to crochet. She continues to like this pastime to this day.
The yarn producer Lion Brand Yarns contacted her when she spoke on the “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” about her love of crocheting. Vanna’s Choice, her own brand of yarns, was created under contract with the company.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a patron of White. To date, she has given $1.8 million to St. Jude’s. After leaving “Wheel of Fortune,” she intends to continue her charity activities.
Wheel of Fortune Salary Highlights
Vanna White earns $10 million per year on “Wheel of Fortune.” Pat Sajak, for example, earns $15 million every year. That’s 48 days of work each year to earn $10 million and $15 million, respectively.
Vanna gets a total of $208,333 per workday. Pat’s daily wage is $312,500. Pat Sajak gets $52,083 per show while Vanna White earns $34,722 per show when broken down per episode.
Wheel of Fortune tapes six shows every day, four days per month. Two Thursdays and two Fridays are set aside for taping.
They both come at 8:30 a.m. on tape days and begin shooting around noon. Three shows are shown to one audience, followed by a lunch break. The second group of people arrives to watch three additional tapings.
But! Vanna’s “Wheel of Fortune” salary isn’t even her greatest annual payout, as we’ll explain in the next paragraph!
Casino Licensing Earnings
Vanna White’s paycheck from “Wheel of Fortune” isn’t her primary source of income, contrary to popular belief.
Both Vanna and Pat make more money from licensing their images to casino slot machines than they do from the game show.
The first entertainment property to be licensed for use on slot machines was Wheel of Fortune. The first Wheel of Fortune-branded slot machines was installed at Las Vegas casinos in 1996.
They were quickly licensed to casinos all over the world after proving to be incredibly popular. Within a decade, most casinos stated that the Wheel of Fortune branded slot machines were the highest revenue-generating slot machines. On casino floors around the world, there are an estimated 20,000 “Wheel” slot machines.
Wheel of Fortune slot machines alone earn over $1 billion in annual gross revenue in Las Vegas. Over $2 billion is generated annually by devices around the world.
Pat and Vanna both receive at least $15 million per year in exchange for licensing their individual photos and likenesses for slot machines, with the majority of their earnings coming from a base royalty payment as well as a range of incentives and appearance fees.
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Annual Income
When you add it all up, Vanna White’s annual income certainly exceeds $25 million, thanks to her “Wheel of Fortune” salary and casino licensing profits.
Real Estate
George Santo Pietro and Vanna used to live in The Mulholland Estates, a private enclave. They shared a house with Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson.
They eventually erected a 15,000-square-foot spec house in Beverly Park’s gated enclave. Until their divorce in 2002, the couple lived in the house.
After their divorce, they both moved out of the house and rented it for $175,000 per month for several years. They put the house up for sale in 2017 for $47.5 million.
They also had a home on an adjacent street. The two properties were later sold individually. The second parcel was purchased for $22 million. The main parcel, which included Vanna’s residence, sold for $19.3 million in June 2020. A video tour of their former mansion may be found here:
White invests her earnings in apartment buildings and enjoys property flipping.
Her primary property has been a 10,000-square-foot mansion in the hills above Beverly Hills that she purchased for $3.4 million in the early 2000s. This house is probably worth more than $10 million today.
Vanna purchased a property in Sherman Oaks, California for $1.125 million in 2013. She plans to rent this home for $20,000 per month starting in May 2020.