Carl Bernstein Net Worth

What is Carl Bernstein's Net Worth?

Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist and author who has a net worth of $16 million. Carl Bernstein is best known for his partnership with Bob Woodward at the Washington Post in the 1970s, specifically for the landmark original reporting he and Woodward did on the Watergate scandal. The pair also co-wrote the books "All the President's Men" and "The Final Days," both about their Watergate investigation.

Early Life and Education

Carl Bernstein was born on February 14, 1944, in Washington, DC to Jewish parents Sylvia and Alfred. Both of his parents were civil rights activists and members of the Communist Party USA. As an adolescent, Bernstein attended Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he worked on the school's newspaper Silver Chips. He went on to attend the University of Maryland, College Park, where he did reporting for the school's independent student newspaper the Diamondback. However, Bernstein was dismissed from the school in late 1964 on account of poor grades.

Career Beginnings

When he was 16, Bernstein began his journalism career as a copyboy at the Washington Star. Although he quickly rose up the ladder there, he eventually had to leave due to the paper's requirement that its writers have a college degree. Bernstein subsequently became a full-time reporter for the Elizabeth Daily Journal in New Jersey. After about a year working there, he became a reporter at the Washington Post.

Watergate

Bernstein rose to national fame in 1972 when he and fellow Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward were assigned to report on the break-in at Watergate, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Working under editor Ben Bradlee, the duo uncovered mass corruption in President Richard Nixon's reelection committee, including not only the Watergate burglary but numerous attempts by the committee to cover up the events and their aftermath. This led to further investigations of the president, and ultimately resulted in Nixon's resignation from office on August 9, 1974. Just prior to that, Woodward and Bernstein co-authored a book about the scandal and their investigation entitled "All the President's Men." It was a bestseller, and was later adapted into an acclaimed film in 1976 starring Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein and Robert Redford as Woodward.

(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Books

Following the seminal "All the President's Men" in 1974, Bernstein co-authored a second book with Woodward about Watergate, entitled "The Final Days." Chronicling Nixon's last months in office, it was published in 1976. Bernstein's next book, "Loyalties: A Son's Memoir," didn't come out until 1989. It covers his Communist family's experiences during McCarthyism. Bernstein went on to co-write the papal biography "His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time" with Italian journalist Marco Politi. Bernstein's books since then include the biography "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton" (2007) and "Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom" (2022).

Further Journalism

After he left the Washington Post in 1977, Bernstein expanded into broadcast journalism with work as a political commentator for ABC, CBS, and CNN. He also spent a year researching the collusion between the CIA and the American media during the Cold War, which resulted in a 25,000-word article published in Rolling Stone magazine. Between 1980 and 1984, Bernstein worked for ABC News as a senior correspondent. Bernstein has continued to do political commentary on CNN.

Personal Life

Bernstein married his first wife, fellow Washington Post reporter Carol Honsa, in 1968. They divorced in 1972. Four years later, Bernstein wed writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron. During his marriage to Ephron, he had a highly publicized affair with Margaret Jay, the daughter of UK Prime Minister James Callaghan and the wife of British Ambassador to the US Peter Jay. As this was happening, Bernstein and Ephron already had a son named Jacob, with another, Max, on the way. The pair got divorced in 1980. Bernstein went on to date a number of famous women during the decade, including Elizabeth Taylor and Martha Stewart. He married his third wife, Christine Kuehbeck, in the '00s.

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