One of the most popular faces on TV is definitely Lester Holt. For those who don’t know him for his work on NBC, you must have seen him as the moderator during the 2016 presidential debate.
He is one of the most popular American news anchors and Journalists who are mostly known for NBC Nightly News. Here is all you want to know about the award-winning broadcaster.
Lester Holt Biography (Age and Ethnicity)
He was born Lester Don Holt Jr. on March 8, 1959, in Marin County, California. It was, however, in Rancho Cordova that he was raised alongside his two other siblings.
Although looking at his ethnicity he is an American, his father is a black American while his mother had Jamaican, English, and Indian ancestry.
While growing up, his major dream was to become a DJ until he met journalism and the romance that would continue for many years to come began.
After graduating from Cordova High School where he had his early education, he proceeded to the California State University to study Journalism and Government. Nevertheless, he did not graduate as he dropped out to the disappointment of his parents.
Interestingly enough, he dropping out was to fully pursue his career with a radio station in San Francisco, the KCBS when he was still in his Junior year. Before calling it quits, he also worked as a Disk Jockey for a small radio station that was controlled by the school, as well as with another station known as Krak.
Less than 2 years after that, his career began more properly when he got an opportunity to work with CBS. At the time, he was only 19. His next destination after close to 20 years with CBS was KNXT in Los Angeles. This was only to last for a year as he soon found his way to NBC where he was assigned some major responsibilities more than just as a presenter. He took over as the anchor of NBC Nightly News after Brian Williams left the program.
Lester Holt who also anchors Dateline NBC and news for NBC has done some very significant jobs including serving as the moderator of the first Presidential debate of 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. He has also gone on to have an interview with Mr. Trump after he became the president.
Lester has made brief appearances in a number of movies such as The Fugitive (1993), U.S. Marshals (1998), and Primal Fear (1996). Apart from these, he has also been on a number of TV shows.
Throughout his career, the NBC Nightly News anchor has won a number of awards including the National Association of Black Journalists’ Journalist of the Year Award and the Alan B. DuMont Broadcaster of the Year both of which he won in 2016. He was also awarded Honorary Doctorates from the California State University, Sacramento in 2015 and Pepperdine University in 2012. Lester Holt was also inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2015.
His Family – Parents, Wife, and Son
His father, Lester Holt Sr. had a career with the Airforce and when he was through, he also attended the same university as his son, but he graduated. There is no much information about his mother June DeRozario.
The NBC anchor is married to a real estate agent, Carol Hagen who is now known as Carol Holt. The two have been married since 1982 and the family has been blessed with two children, Cameron Holt, and Stefan Holt.
His son, Stefan Holt is a news anchor. Having graduated from the Pepperdine University where he studied political science and broadcast journalism, he decided to be a broadcaster like his father and, he now also works with NBC. One more thing that is rather very interesting about Stefan is that he is a Licensed private pilot who ironically, is scared of height.
Stefan is married and his first child was born in 2017, making Carol Holt and Lester grandparents.
His second son, Cameron Holt is a graduate of Stanford University and he works as a financial analyst with a firm, Morgan Stanley in New York.
Lester Holt’s Salary and Net Worth
After working for many years and very hard, Lester Holt now has a net worth that is estimated to be $12 million. He has made his wealth from his work as a broadcaster, which gives him a salary of $4.5 million each year.
Height – How Tall Is He?
Holt is a rather tall man with an athletic build, as well as charm and charisma. Slightly above most average Joes, Lester has a height of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88m) and a weight of 71 Kg.
