'Chart-throb' Steve Kornacki Got a Salary Bump After Going Viral on MSNBC

Political journalist and data analyst Steve Kornacki developed a cult following after the 2020 presidential election thanks to his way with numbers and his now-iconic Gap khakis.

Kornacki, however, has been with NBC News since 2017 and had a long journalism career before that.

More recently, Kornacki has been making appearances on MSNBC Live and The Today Show to break down the odds of everything from major sporting events to holiday favorites.

So, what is NBC's "chart-throb" worth? Keep on reading to find out!

Kornacki joined NBC in 2017 as the network's National Political Correspondent — and after going viral in 2020 thanks to his around-the-clock coverage of the 2020 election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, NBC rewarded Kornacki with a new contract.

According to The LA Times, Kornacki received a "new multimillion-dollar four-year contract that will employ him across NBC Sports and its entertainment division in addition to NBC News."

This means that viewers will see Kornacki giving stats on more than just politics. He makes regular appearances on NBC’s Football Night in America and is even reported to be the hosting and producing a game show for NBCU’s streaming service, Peacock.

While Kornacki's exact salary and net worth aren't official, many outlets are reporting that he's worth $2 million. According to CheatSheet, that number could be higher if you compare Kornacki's salary to that of his MSNBC counterparts such as Rachel Maddow, who makes $7 million for her show, and Joe Scarborough who makes closer to $8 million.

Now that Kornacki is a household name, we can expect his net worth to keep growing.

"Trust me, I’m as baffled as anybody by all that," Kornacki told Poynter after being named one of People's Sexiest Men Alive in 2021. “I really am. I never expected any of that stuff and I don’t fully understand it. I’m grateful for the nice things that people said."

While he may be good with numbers and data on television, Kornacki doesn't have a math or statistics background. He graduated from Boston University with a degree in film and television and has even admitted he wasn't the best student in the subject.

"I was not somebody they pegged as ‘you should go into engineering,'" he told the LA Times. "When they put me in a calculus class, I was terrible at it. I can add, subtract, multiply and divide quickly in my head. While I remember numbers and think in numbers that way, it’s not like I’m someone who has a great statistical model."

We think he's doing a pretty good job regardless.