Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is a famous American radio talk-show host, television personality and author who is best known for hosting ‘The Rush Limbaugh Show’ that has been on air on ABC Radio since 1998. Limbaugh is also a conservative political commentator. Limbaugh nurtured a life-long ambition of being a radio personality and began his career as a disc jockey, serving at several radio stations before he worked at the Sacramento, California based radio station KFBK and ABC Radio, New York.
Limbaugh is one of the most listened-to talk-radio show hosts in USA and has an estimated 13.25 million listeners of his radio show. He is also one of the highest paid radio talk-show hosts in USA. As an author, Limbaugh has penned the New York Times Best Sellers ‘The Way Things Ought to Be’ and ‘See, I Told You So’ and is known for his criticism of politicians and liberal policies.
Early Life and Education
Limbaugh was born on 12 January 1951 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri as the eldest of the two sons born to former U.S. fighter pilot and lawyer Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Jr. and his wife, home-maker Mildred Carolyn “Millie” Armstrong from Searcy, Arkansas. He was raised in the city of his birth along with his sibling, politician David Limbaugh. Limbaugh has part German ancestry.
Limbaugh attended the Central High School in Cape Girardeau, Missouri from where graduated in 1969. He started his radio career in 1967, as a teenager. After graduating high school Limbaugh attended the Southeast Missouri State University since his parents desired to see him attend university but dropped out after two semesters since “he flunked everything” and was never really “interested in anything except radio.”
Career Rise
Limbaugh began his radio career in 1972 at the McKeesport, Pennsylvania based local AM radio station WIXZ where he worked as a morning and afternoon show host under the moniker Jeff Christie. In 1973, he moved to Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s radio station KQV where he served as an evening disc jockey but was fired in 1974 after Taft Broadcasting bought the network. Limbaugh worked at several local radio stations, but his controversial thoughts resulted in his jobs not lasting long enough. In 1984, Limbaugh was hired by the Sacramento, California based radio station KFBK where he became the city’s top radio host after which he moved to New York to begin his national radio career.
Limbaugh joined ABC Radio in 1987 and the passage of the Fairness Doctrine rule helped Limbaugh’s politically conservative radio style come to the fore. He gained fame for his strong right-winged ideologies. He also started hosting him on show ‘The Rush Limbaugh Show’ on which he shared his opinions on American politics. The show became the highest rated US radio talk show in 1998 and continues to be on air.
The success of the show resulted in Limbaugh receiving his own half-hour syndicated TV show produced by Roger Ailes, which was an extension of ‘The Rush Limbaugh Show’. Limbaugh signed a contract worth $400 million annually, for the The Rush Limbaugh Show to be aired on Premiere Radio Networks that lasted from 2008-2016. He also briefly served as an ESPN football commentator and was also on the judging panel of the Miss America pageant in 2010.
Personal Life
Limbaugh has been married four times, divorced thrice and has no children. Limbaugh was first married to WHB Kansas City Radio station sales manager Roxy Maxine McNeely from September 1997 to July 1980. The couple divorced citing “incompatibility”. From 1983-1990, Limbaugh was married to college student cum Kansas City Royals Stadium Club usherette Michelle Sixta. Limbaugh then married aerobics instructor Marta Fitzgerald in May 1994 in a ceremony officiated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, but the couple divorced in December 2004.
Limbaugh was involved in a romantic relationship with Daryn Kagar, a former CNN news anchor from 2004 to 2006.
He then dated Florida based party planner Kathryn Rogers for three years until he married her in June 2010. The couple are co-owners of the KARHL Holdings company.
Home
Limbaugh lived in New York City’s posh Fifth Avenue where he owned a condo featuring 10 rooms and an exhilarating view of Central Park, which he sold for $11.5 million in 2010 and moved to Palm Beach, Florida to make the city his permanent home.
Limbaugh purchased the 34,000 square-feet- property, spread over 2.26 acres of land in Palm Beach, Florida for $3.9 Million in 1998. The mansion with a living space of 24,000 square-feet area features 7 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a modern kitchen, an office, a swimming pool, a dining room, a library and a private elevator. Located on a private beach, the expansive compound also featured 4 guest houses, garages and patios.
Rush Limbaugh – Net Worth and Salary
Limbaugh has an estimated net worth of $500 Million. He is paid more than an estimated $70 million as salary. The eight-year old contract which was started in 2008 was renewed in 2016. In fact, in 2017, Forbes reports that he earned $84 million by virtue of his show ‘Trump Bump’. The most popular radio show host in the US trails just behind Howard Stern in earnings.