Top List 10+ What is Anderson Cooper Net Worth 2023: Overview, Interview

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Anderson Hays Cooper was born on June 3, 1967, in Manhattan, New York City. His father, Wyatt Emory Cooper, was a writer.

Gloria Vanderbilt was an artist, fashion designer, and heiress. Gloria was the great-great-great-grandson of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Anderson’s maternal grandfather died while his mother was only a year old. He was the last male heir to the Vanderbilt fortune and gave his whole wealth, $5 million, to his daughter in 1925. After inflation, that equates to roughly $70 million.

Gloria’s mother and aunt fought over her custody and, reportedly, control of the trust fund. Her aunt, the Whitney museum’s founder, eventually acquired custody. Gloria would go on to have immense success as an artist and fashion designer as an adult.

Cooper worked as a model for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Macy’s from the age of 10 to 13. He attended Yale University, where he majored in Political Science and International Relations. Cooper interned for the CIA for two summers while in college.

Tragic events occurred when his father died unexpectedly in 1978. Ten years later, his older brother committed suicide.

This event piqued his interest in journalism. Anderson spent a year in Vietnam after graduating from Yale University, studying Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi.

He then worked as a fact checker for the news agency Station One, and he occasionally sold homemade news programs to the channel.

Cooper began by filming reports about Vietnamese life and culture before moving on to stories about war-torn places such as Bosnia, Somalia, and Rwanda, which appeared on Channel One.

Journalism Career

Cooper joined ABC News as a correspondent in 1995 and was named co-anchor of ABC’s “World News Now” program on September 21, 1999. Cooper chose to take a break from the demanding news schedule in 2000 and became the host of “The Mole” for two seasons before returning to television.

In 2001, he joined CNN, where he co-anchored “American Morning” with Paula Zahn. In 2002, he was named CNN’s weekend prime-time anchor.

In 2003, he debuted his own show, “Anderson Cooper 360.” Cooper signed a multi-year contract with CNN in early 2007, allowing him to remain as a contributor to CBS News’ “60 Minutes” while also working as a CNN anchor and correspondent.

The agreement also reportedly increased his income from $2 million to $4 million per year.

Cooper has earned multiple journalism honors for his coverage of various events and problems.

These include an Emmy Award in 1997 for his coverage of Princess Diana’s funeral, a Peabody Award in 2005 for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina, a National Headliner Award in 2005 for his coverage of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, two Emmys in 2011 for his coverage of Haiti, and the GLAAD Media Award in 2013.