David Kohan Net Worth

What Is David Kohan's Net Worth?

David Kohan is an American television writer and producer who has a net worth of $100 million.

David Kohan is best known for co-creating "Will & Grace" with his longtime writing partner Max Mutchnick. The NBC sitcom originally aired from 1998 to 2006 before returning for a three-season revival from 2017 to 2020. Across both runs, "Will & Grace" received 96 Primetime Emmy nominations and won 18, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 2000. Kohan's success on the series also translated into lucrative production and profit-participation arrangements, including a four-year, $16 million Warner Bros. Television development deal he and Mutchnick signed in 1999.

Through their KoMut Entertainment production company, Kohan and Mutchnick also created or produced shows including "Boston Common," "Good Morning, Miami," "Twins," "Four Kings," "$#*! My Dad Says," "Partners," and "Clipped." In 2025, they returned with the Hulu comedy "Mid-Century Modern," starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, Nathan Lee Graham, and Linda Lavin. The series ran for one 10-episode season.

Early Life

David Sanford Kohan was born on April 16, 1964, in New York City. He grew up in an entertainment family. His father, Buz Kohan, became an Emmy-winning television writer and producer whose credits included major awards shows and television specials, while his mother, Rhea Kohan, was a novelist.

David's younger sister, Jenji Kohan, also became a major television writer and producer, creating "Weeds" and "Orange Is the New Black." David also has a twin brother named Jono.

Kohan's family eventually relocated to Los Angeles, and he became friends with Max Mutchnick while the two were students at Beverly Hills High School. The relationship would eventually become one of television comedy's longest-running creative partnerships.

Kohan attended Wesleyan University, where he studied English and philosophy and graduated in 1986.

Early Television Career

Kohan and Mutchnick began establishing themselves as television writers during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their early work included writing assignments on shows such as "Dream On," "The Wonder Years," and "The Dennis Miller Show."

Kohan later wrote for the CBS sitcom "Good Advice" and worked as a writer and co-producer on NBC's "The Single Guy."

Their first major opportunity to create their own network series came with "Boston Common." The sitcom premiered on NBC in 1996 and starred Anthony Clark as a Virginia man who moves to Boston after accompanying his sister to college. Traylor Howard and Hedy Burress were also members of the cast.

Kohan and Mutchnick wrote for and executive-produced the series, which ran for 32 episodes over two seasons. Its success put the pair in a stronger position to develop another sitcom for NBC.

That show became "Will & Grace."

"Will & Grace"

The original concept for "Will & Grace" was broader than the series that ultimately reached television. Kohan and Mutchnick initially envisioned an ensemble comedy about several different couples, with gay lawyer Will Truman and his straight female best friend Grace Adler as just one part of the show.

NBC executives were particularly interested in Will and Grace's relationship and asked the creators to build the series around them.

The friendship was partly inspired by Mutchnick's real-life relationship with his longtime friend Janet Eisenberg. Rather than treating Will's sexuality as a temporary storyline or revelation, Kohan and Mutchnick created a sitcom in which an openly gay man was simply one of the central characters from the beginning.

"Will & Grace" premiered on NBC in September 1998. Eric McCormack played Will Truman, while Debra Messing played Grace Adler. Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally completed the central ensemble as Jack McFarland and Karen Walker.

The show became one of the defining sitcoms of NBC's late "Must See TV" era. While earlier programs such as "Ellen" had already broken important ground for gay representation on network television, "Will & Grace" became one of the first long-running mainstream American sitcoms built around openly gay lead characters.

Rather than structure every episode around sexuality, Kohan and Mutchnick largely used traditional sitcom stories about friendship, dating, careers, families, and romantic disappointment. That approach helped the series reach a broad audience while gradually normalizing gay characters in American primetime television.

In 2012, then-Vice President Joe Biden famously credited the series with helping change public attitudes toward gay Americans.

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Awards and Success

The original run of "Will & Grace" lasted eight seasons from 1998 through 2006.

Across its original run and later revival, the series earned 96 Primetime Emmy nominations and won 18 awards. In 2000, Kohan shared the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series with Mutchnick, director James Burrows, and the show's other producers.

Each of the show's four principal actors eventually won an Emmy for their performance. That made "Will & Grace" one of the relatively small number of television comedies whose entire primary cast received individual acting Emmys.

For Kohan and Mutchnick, the success also created significant financial leverage. In 1999, only a year after "Will & Grace" premiered, the pair signed a four-year development agreement with Warner Bros. Television valued at $16 million. KoMut Entertainment became the vehicle through which they developed additional comedies while continuing to work on "Will & Grace."

"Will & Grace" Profit Lawsuit

The economics of "Will & Grace" eventually led to a major legal battle between Kohan and Mutchnick and NBC.

In 2003, the creators sued NBC Studios, alleging that the studio had licensed "Will & Grace" to its sister network, NBC, for less than the show's fair market value. Because Kohan and Mutchnick participated in the show's profits, they argued that the arrangement reduced the amount they were owed.

Their lawsuit claimed that they had been deprived of at least $65 million in profits.

The case eventually went to trial in 2007. A Los Angeles jury reached a $49 million verdict against NBC Universal, but the amount was initially kept sealed while the judge considered whether to remove the jury foreman over statements he had made about corporate media.

Before the dispute over the jury could be resolved, Kohan, Mutchnick, their agent, and NBC reached a confidential settlement. The amount of the final settlement was never disclosed.

The litigation provides an unusual public glimpse into the enormous financial value that successful television creators can accumulate through backend ownership and profit participation, beyond their salaries as writers and executive producers.

KoMut Entertainment

Kohan and Mutchnick continued developing sitcoms through KoMut Entertainment after "Will & Grace" became a hit.

Their NBC comedy "Good Morning, Miami" premiered in 2002 and starred Mark Feuerstein as a television producer who accepts a job at a struggling morning show. Ashley Williams, Matt Letscher, Jere Burns, and Constance Zimmer were among the cast. The series ran for two seasons.

Kohan and Mutchnick also produced the short-lived CBS comedy "The Stones," which was created by Jenji Kohan. They followed with the WB sitcom "Twins," starring Sara Gilbert, Molly Stanton, Melanie Griffith, and Mark Linn-Baker.

In 2006, they created NBC's "Four Kings," centered on four childhood friends living together in New York. Seth Green was among its stars.

None of those programs approached the longevity of "Will & Grace," but Kohan and Mutchnick remained active television producers with the ability to repeatedly sell series to major networks.

"$#*! My Dad Says," "Partners" and "Clipped"

In 2010, Kohan and Mutchnick joined Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker to develop "$#*! My Dad Says" for CBS.

The series was inspired by Halpern's enormously popular Twitter account chronicling things said by his father. William Shatner starred as the outspoken father, Ed Goodson.

The show ran for one season but won the People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy.

Kohan and Mutchnick returned to CBS in 2012 with "Partners," starring David Krumholtz, Michael Urie, Sophia Bush, and Brandon Routh. The series drew elements from Kohan and Mutchnick's own long professional partnership but was canceled during its first season.

Their next series was the 2015 TBS comedy "Clipped," about former high school classmates working together at a Boston barbershop. It also lasted one season.

"Will & Grace" Revival

More than a decade after "Will & Grace" ended, Kohan and Mutchnick unexpectedly found themselves returning to the show that had defined their careers.

In 2016, the original cast reunited for a short online video. The enthusiastic response convinced NBC that there was still substantial demand for the characters, and the network ordered a revival.

"Will & Grace" returned in September 2017 with McCormack, Messing, Hayes, and Mullally all reprising their roles. James Burrows returned as director, while Kohan and Mutchnick again served as creators and executive producers.

What began as a limited return expanded into three additional seasons. The revival ran for 52 episodes and concluded in April 2020, bringing the series' combined total to 11 seasons.

"Mid-Century Modern"

Kohan and Mutchnick returned to the multi-camera sitcom format with Hulu's "Mid-Century Modern."

The project brought together an unusually experienced comedy team. Kohan and Mutchnick created the series, Ryan Murphy executive-produced, and veteran "Will & Grace" director James Burrows directed the episodes.

The show starred Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham as three longtime gay friends who decide to live together in Palm Springs after the death of another member of their friend group. Linda Lavin played Lane's character's mother, Sybil.

Lavin died in December 2024 while the season was still being produced. "Mid-Century Modern" became her final television role.

Hulu premiered all 10 episodes in March 2025. Despite generally positive attention for the cast and its old-fashioned multi-camera comedy format, Hulu canceled the series in September 2025 after one season.

Personal Life

Kohan is married to Blair Kohan, a longtime Hollywood talent agent and partner at United Talent Agency. Blair has represented major actors and filmmakers during her career and has also served on UTA's board.

David has two daughters, Olivia and Nora, including one daughter from a previous marriage. He and Blair live in Los Angeles.

Kohan has occasionally joked that in addition to his television credits, he is the "co-creator and producer" of his daughters.

Awards and Nominations

Kohan received six Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series as an executive producer of "Will & Grace," winning the category in 2000.

The series itself ultimately accumulated 96 Emmy nominations and 18 wins across its two runs. Kohan was also nominated for an Online Film & Television Association Award for writing and received three Producers Guild of America Award nominations for his work producing the series.

More broadly, "Will & Grace" became one of the most culturally significant television projects of its era, giving Kohan and Mutchnick a combination of creative influence, long-term syndication value, backend participation, and development leverage that few sitcom creators achieve.

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