Fox News is currently entangled in a major lawsuit, and this legal battle has exposed a series of surprising revelations about the network’s internal operations. Among the most eye-catching disclosures is the staggering amount of money paid to longtime anchor Maria Bartiromo. According to documents revealed during the proceedings, Bartiromo has earned more than $70 million from Fox News since 2014—an amount so large that even seasoned media observers were taken aback. The information surfaced during Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, and the financial details came directly from deposition transcripts obtained by TheWrap.
During her deposition, Bartiromo was questioned about her earnings since joining the network. The attorney conducting the examination asked if it was accurate that between her start at Fox and her upcoming contract in 2025, she would have been compensated more than $70 million. Bartiromo simply answered, “Yes,” confirming the enormous figure without hesitation. Her acknowledgment set off an immediate ripple across the media landscape, as industry analysts, critics, and even loyal Fox viewers attempted to process the sheer scale of her salary.
To put the number into perspective, many compared Bartiromo’s compensation to that of other major Fox personalities. Sean Hannity, one of the network’s most recognizable faces, reportedly makes around $25 million per year, while Jesse Watters earns approximately $5 million annually, and Greg Gutfeld makes around $9 million. Taken together, these comparisons showed just how massive Bartiromo’s cumulative earnings have been. They also underscored her long-standing importance within the network, where she has been a fixture for more than a decade.
Bartiromo joined Fox in 2014 after spending two decades at CNBC, where she established herself as a prominent financial reporter. Her move to Fox Business and Fox News marked a significant shift in her career and further elevated her profile. Over the years, she became known for her coverage of financial markets and her interviews with major political figures. One of her most notorious interviews was with former President Donald Trump shortly after the 2020 presidential election. During that conversation, Trump claimed without evidence that the election had been “rigged” and that widespread fraud had occurred. He alleged that voting machines—specifically those associated with Smartmatic—had malfunctioned or been manipulated.
