Scott Pelley Net Worth

What is Scott Pelley's Net Worth and Salary?

Scott Pelley is an American television journalist and news anchor who has a net worth of $18 million. His peak "60 Minutes" salary was $7 million per year.

Scott Pelley is best known for his long run as a correspondent on "60 Minutes" and his tenure as anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News." He joined CBS News in 1989 and built his reputation as a serious, field-driven reporter covering wars, politics, national disasters, terrorism, and major world events. Before becoming one of the defining faces of "60 Minutes," Pelley served as CBS News' chief White House correspondent, covering the Clinton administration and the impeachment investigation, and later reported from conflict zones including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

Pelley became a correspondent for "60 Minutes II" in 1999 and joined the flagship "60 Minutes" broadcast in 2004. Over the following decades, he became one of the program's most prominent reporters, known for forceful interviews, international reporting, and investigative pieces on government, war, health care, technology, and social justice. From 2011 to 2017, he anchored and served as managing editor of the "CBS Evening News," a period in which the broadcast gained viewers and sharpened its hard-news identity.

In 2026, Pelley's decades-long run at CBS came to a dramatic end when he was fired from "60 Minutes" after publicly clashing with new CBS News leadership. The firing followed a tense staff meeting in which Pelley criticized the direction of the program and accused management of undermining the values of "60 Minutes." The episode marked one of the most consequential breaks between CBS News and one of its signature correspondents. Pelley is also the author of "Truth Worth Telling," a 2019 memoir about journalism, courage, and accountability. Over his career, he has won numerous major journalism honors, including multiple Emmy, Peabody, and duPont-Columbia awards.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Scott Pelley was born on July 28, 1957, in San Antonio, Texas, and was raised in Lubbock. He attended Coronado High School and began working in journalism as a teenager, landing his first newsroom job at age 15 as a copyboy for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

After high school, Pelley stayed in Lubbock and attended Texas Tech University. Although he did not graduate, the school later named him an Outstanding Alumnus in recognition of his career in journalism. His early work in local news helped shape the reporting style that would define his national career: direct, field-based, and focused on accountability.

CBS News, "CBS Evening News," and "60 Minutes"

In 1989, Pelley joined CBS News in New York City. He later moved back to Texas, reporting from Dallas while covering national and international stories. During the Gulf War, Pelley reported from Baghdad and traveled with the XVIII Airborne Corps during its assault on Iraq and Kuwait. He also covered the 1992 presidential campaign, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

From 1997 to 1999, Pelley served as CBS News' chief White House correspondent. During that period, he covered the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and broke the news that Monica Lewinsky had become a cooperating witness in the Office of Independent Counsel's investigation.

Pelley became a correspondent for "60 Minutes II" in 1999 and joined the flagship "60 Minutes" broadcast in 2004. His work on the program included reporting on the financial crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change, government misconduct, health care, technology, and national security. He conducted the first major television interview with FBI Director James Comey and interviewed one of the Navy SEALs involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In 2022, Pelley made headlines for interviewing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In 2011, Pelley succeeded Katie Couric as anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News." During his first nine months in the role, the broadcast gained more than 820,000 daily viewers. He held the anchor chair until 2017, then returned full-time to "60 Minutes." After leaving the evening news, Pelley told CNN that he had been removed after raising complaints to CBS News management about what he described as a hostile work environment. Several high-profile CBS executives and on-air figures were later dismissed amid workplace misconduct scandals, including "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager and CBS Corporation chairman Les Moonves.

2026 Firing from "60 Minutes"

In June 2026, CBS News fired Pelley after a highly public clash over the future of "60 Minutes." The firing came during a turbulent period for the program, following the removal of its leadership team and multiple on-air correspondents. Nick Bilton, a journalist and author with no prior broadcast television management experience, had been hired as the new executive producer of "60 Minutes" under CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss.

At a staff meeting, Pelley sharply criticized the changes, questioned Bilton's qualifications, and accused network leadership of damaging the identity and independence of "60 Minutes." CBS later terminated Pelley for cause. In response, Pelley defended his decades of work for the broadcast and said that new management had created an untenable situation at the network.

The firing ended Pelley's formal relationship with CBS News after nearly four decades. It also turned him into a central figure in a broader debate over the future of "60 Minutes," the role of editorial independence inside legacy news organizations, and the direction of CBS News under new leadership.

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Awards and Recognition

Pelley has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards for his work in broadcast journalism. One of the most awarded correspondents in the history of "60 Minutes," he has won more than 30 Emmy Awards over the course of his career.

In 2007, Pelley and his reporting team won a Peabody Award for their coverage of civilian deaths during a Marine engagement in Haditha, Iraq. In 2009, his team won another Peabody for a report on Remote Area Medical, a medical relief organization that operates free clinics for uninsured Americans. That same year, Pelley's team won the George Polk Award, the Gerald Loeb Award, and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for an investigation into American recycling companies covertly sending toxic waste to China.

In 2011, Pelley's team won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for its investigation into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. In 2013, he and his team won another Peabody Award for an investigation into a fraudulent medical study at Duke University. Additional duPont-Columbia awards followed for coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, a nerve gas attack in Syria, and the separation of migrant children from their families at the U.S. border during the Trump administration.

Personal Life

Pelley married his wife, former television reporter and advertising executive Jane Boone, in 1983. The couple has two children, a son named Reece and a daughter named Blair.

Real Estate

In 2007, Scott and Jane paid $4 million for a 2.4-acre property in Darien, Connecticut. They listed the home for sale in July 2017 for $3.985 million, later lowered the asking price to $3.25 million, and eventually sold it in September 2020 for $2.75 million.

In 2016, Scott and Jane paid $1.25 million for a 24-acre ranch in Kendalia, Texas. That same year, they paid $2.25 million for an apartment in New York City's Flatiron district.

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