Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM, was born on the 29th July 1938, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was one of the most prominent TV news anchors, probably best known for hosting “World News Tonight” from 1983 until his death. His career began in the late ’50s and ended in 2005.
Have you ever wondered how rich Peter Jennings was at the time of his death? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Jennings’ net worth was as high as $50 million, earned through his successful career as a journalist and news anchor, during which he won 16 Emmy Awards and two George Foster Peabody Awards. Peter passed away in 2005.
Peter Jennings Net Worth $50 Million
Peter was the son of Charles Jennings, who was also a journalist and radio broadcaster working for the CBS, and his wife Elizabeth; he has a younger sister named Sarah. Since his father was one of the major contributors on CBC, Peter easily got his five minutes on television, hosting the CBC Radio show for kids, Peter’s People. However, his father was against nepotism and was angry with the station. However, Peter was never quite in love with school, and dropped out in 10th grade, although he eventually enrolled at the University of Ottawa, but didn’t graduate.
Instead of pursuing a career in journalism like his father, he took the position of a bank teller for the Royal Bank of Canada, however, dissatisfied with his place in the industry, Peter started pursuing a career in broadcasting. He was hired as a member of the news department for CF JR, a local radio station, then two years later he joined CJOH-TV as an interviewer and co-producer of “Vue”, a late-night news program. Little by little his name was becoming better known in Canada, and he was hired by CTV as co-anchor of its late-night national newscast. While working for the CTV, he became the first Canadian reporter on the scene to cover the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The next year he covered the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he met Elmer Lower, who at the time was president of ABC News. Elmer proposed that Peter join the ABC News, however, he rejected his offer, but changed his mind just three months later, and moved to the USA.
He joined ABC News’ New York bureau, and in 1965 he was appointed as host of the “Peter Jennings With the News”, nightly newscast, lasting 15 minutes. For the next three years he fought against the other two news stations CBS and NBC, but then quit his position and became a foreign correspondent.
During his work as foreign correspondent he covered such events as the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972, then the Yom Kippur War in 1973, among other Arab-Israeli conflicts, only to return to USA in 1974 and become Washington correspondent and news anchor for ABC’s new morning show “AM America”. Unfortunately the show was cancelled after ten months, after which he again took the role of foreign correspondent, this time as chief foreign correspondent and became the first reporter from America to interview Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, who at the time was in exile and had residency in Paris.
As early as 1978 he became one of the anchors of the program “World News Tonight” reporting from London, alongside Frank Reynolds from Washington and Max Robinson from Chicago. In 1983 his luck turned back on him, as he fell ill with myeloma, but managed to recover the same year. During his battle against cancer, ratings of the show declined, and so after his return, he became the sole anchor of the show, serving in the position until his death and during which time he reported on such events as the Gulf-War, War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, September 11 attacks, among many other major events. His net worth benefited too.
Apart from 16 Emmy Awards, Peter also received the Paul White Award in 1995, in recognition of his lifetime contributions to journalism, and in 2004 was the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting from Washington State University, among many other awards and honors.
Regarding his personal life, Peter married four times; his first wife was Valerie Godsoe(1963-70). Three years later he married Anouchka Malouf, but they divorced in 1979. The same year he married Kati Marton, with whom he was married until 1995 and had two children with her.
In 1997 he married Kayce Freed; the couple stayed married until his death from lung cancer on the 7th August 2005.
