This article will answer every question you have about Shepard Smith. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Shepard Smith do for a living?
- Who are Shepard Smith’s parents and siblings?
- What are Shepard Smith’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Shepard Smith married or does he have a girlfriend/boyfriend?
- DoesShepard Smith have any children?
- Where is Shepard Smith now?
- How tall is Shepard Smith?
- How much money does Shepard Smith earn?
- What is Shepard Smith’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Shepard Smith?
David Shepard Smith Jr is a famous American broadcast journalist for NBC News and CNBC, where he serves as a chief general news anchor and host. The News with Shepard Smith, a daily evening newscast released in late September 2020.
Smith is best known for his 23-year career at Fox News Channel, which he joined at its 1996 inception and where he served as chief anchor and managing editor of the breaking news division. He hosted several programs in his tenure at Fox News, including Fox Report, Studio B, and Shepard Smith Reporting.
Shepard Smith Career
Local television
Smith began his career in television with WCJB-TV in Gainesville, Florida, and then with WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Florida. Following reporting jobs at WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, WSVN in Miami, and WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV) in Orlando, he became a correspondent for A Current Affair
Fox News
Following as a correspondent for Fox affiliate service News Edge, Smith attended Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996. In 1997Smith reported on the death of Princess Diana, at Fox News, president Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial, the 1099 Columbine High School massacre, in 2001 execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy Mc Veigh, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.
2003 to 2013
The Fox Report with Shepard Smith was ranked 3rd among the top 5 U.S. cable news programs, and Smith tied for 2nd with Dan Rather and Peter Jennings as the most-trusted news anchor on both network and cable news in 2003.
Smith signed a 3-year contract for $7-$8 million per year on November 19, 2007. He renewed his contract with Fox for another 3 years on October 26, 2010. He became managing editor for Fox New breaking new division and the host of Shepard Smith Reporting on September 12, 2013.
How old is Shepard Smith
Smith is currently aged 58 years old as of 2022, having been born on January 14, 1964, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S. He shares his birthday with popular people such as Carl Weathers, Dave Grohl, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Emily Watson, Faye Dunaway, Geoff Tate, and others.
Shepard Smith Family
Who are Shepard Smith’s Parents
Smith was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the son of Dora Ellen Anderson, an English teacher, and David Shepard Smith, Senior, a cotton merchant.
Does Shepard Smith have Siblings?
He grew up along with his sibling in Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S. who is named Benton Smith.
Shepard Smith Education
He joined Marshall Academy in Holly Springs. After high school, his parents separated and he moved to Florida with his mother. He studied journalism at the University of Mississippi, where he left two credits shy of a degree to take a reporter job in Panama City, Florida. Smith delivered the university’s 155th commencement address on May 10, 2008
Shepard Smith Spouse
Smith was married to Virginia Donald, they had their wedding in 1987. His wife was a University of Mississippi classmate. They divorced in 1993 with no children. In 2017, Smith publicly announced he is gay and has a long-time boyfriend.
Shepard Smith Kids
Smith does not have children of his own yet even with his ex-wife Donald.
Shepard Smith Height
Adding up to his well-built body. He stands at a height of 5 ft 9 in (1.76 m) and a weight of 160 lbs (73 kg).
2012
While covering live helicopter footage of an Arizona police chase of a man following a carjacking, the man shot himself live while Smith was narrating in September 2012. Following a commercial break, Smith apologized and told the audience that it was “due to human error”. Fox would later be sued for the incident by the man’s wife after her children saw the video.
2017
He infuriated some Fox News viewers when he countered the Uranium 1 conspiracy theory in November 2017. Which claims that the Obama administration intervened corruptly in a deal allowing a Russian company to buy Uranium 1, a Canadian company with uranium mining interests in the US in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation. His reporting put him at odds with colleague and Fox News prime-time host Sean Hannity, who had supported the claim against Hillary Clinton.
2018 to 2019
Fox News signed Smith to a multi-year contract on March 15, 2018. He revealed on Shepard Smith Reporting that he was leaving the network on October 11, 2019.
In a 2021 interview with Christiane Amanpour on her eponymous show on CNN, he stated that his presence on Fox had become “untenable” due to the “falsehoods” and “lies” intentionally spread on the network’s opinion shows.
CNBC
The business and economic news network CNBC revealed he would attend the network as a chief general news anchor and chief general breaking news anchor on July 8, 2020. Smith serves as the host of The News with Shepard Smith, a primetime general news program that airs on weekdays at 7:00 p.m. ET and is released on September 30, 2020.
According to a CNBC press release, the program “[aims] to go beyond financial markets, ‘to tell rich, deeply reported stories across the entire landscape of global news.'” CNBC had previously aired a similarly named program in the same time slot, hosted by Brian Williams and later John Seigenthaler, from 2002 to 2004. In November 2022, his program was canceled and he left CNBC that month.
Post-Fox career
On November 21, 2019, Smith warned of authoritarian governments that make it dangerous and difficult for journalists to do their jobs in a speech at the International Press Freedom Awards. Said autocrats have learned to use online tools and social media to shore up their power. Smith gave $500,000 to the host organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists at the event.
Appearances in film
Smith appeared as himself in the 1997 film Volcano. Video of him anchoring on Fox News within the opening moments of the March 2003 Iraq War was used in the film Fahrenheit 9/11. Additionally, archive footage of him anchoring Shepard Smith’s Reporting covering the 2016 US presidential election was used in the 2019 docudrama Bombshell.
Shepard Smith’s Net Worth
Smith’s net worth is estimated at around $25 million as of 2022. His salary is around $6 million and his main source of income is his career as a broadcast journalist.
