Shapiro is reportedly worth around US$50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
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How did Ben Shapiro become famous?
Shapiro regularly made international headlines for his conservative views, which he broadcasted through articles on US politics, radio work on KRLA-AM 870’s morning show, and his books such as The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.
In 2015, he co-founded The Daily Wire. The publication would go on to be among the most successful conservative media outlets in the country. In 2022, it brought in US$200 million in revenue, reported Bloomberg.
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The Ben Shapiro Show on The Daily Wire soon became one of the most listened-to news podcasts in the country, per Chartable, and carried to over 200 markets, according to its website.
In 2020, five years after starting The Daily Wire as its editor-in-chief, Shapiro stepped down to become its editor emeritus.
In 2023, he diversified his career further with his appointment to the board of directors of pharmaceutical company Oramed, the company announced.
His voice found a new platform a year later with his rap collaboration “Facts”. The Washington Post noted the chart-topping hit drew from Shapiro’s popular catchphrase, “facts don’t care about feelings”, and several far-right-wing arguments.
Shapiro has controversial opinions on abortion, racism and homosexuality, and he and his family has received death threats as a result, reported Fox News in 2019.
What was Ben Shapiro like before the fame?
Born Benjamin Aaron Shapiro on January 15, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, he first made a name for himself at 17 as the youngest syndicated columnist in the country, per his talent agency Chartwell Speakers. By 20, he had published a book claiming “how universities indoctrinate America’s youth”.
He was studying at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) when his column for the university’s newspaper caught the eye of journalist Andrew Breitbart, he told PBS’s Hardline. Several years after graduating from Harvard Law School, Shapiro was appointed editor-at-large at Breitbart’s publication Breitbart News. He left the role in 2016.
Shapiro told The Iced Coffee Hour that, at one point, he was working four jobs plus ghostwriting, writing his own books and speaking: “Technically speaking, I was probably doing six or seven jobs in a week. I was making a pretty good living because each of these paid fairly well. I was probably making around US$400,000 a year.”
Shapiro also admitted to harbouring ambitions to be president, something that has since faded. “The president is the most powerful person on the planet, for sure, but it is for a determined time within a constitutional structure. In terms of touching people’s lives and changing how they think and all that, it is very difficult to think that over the next 20, 30 years, I couldn’t have more impact doing what we are doing right now,” he said on the podcast.How Ben Shapiro spends his money: security
Shapiro told The Iced Coffee Hour that he spends “seven figures a year on personal safety”.
“You try to avoid particularly public places. Not really because you think somebody is going to take a shot at you, although they might, but more because there is the possibility of someone coming up and taking a swing at you,” he explained.
Million-dollar mansions in California and Florida
Shapiro is an Orthodox Jew, and a husband and father of four. In 2015, he and his wife Mor bought a US$1.7 million family home in San Fernando Valley, California. Amid a move out of the Golden State, they listed the house for sale at just under US$2.9 million, reported Variety.
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According to the publication, the Spanish colonial revival-style ranch home features six bedrooms and four bathrooms across two wings, as well as terracotta-tiled patios, a home gym, a “film vault”, a guest house, a backyard tiki hut bar and hi-tech security.
The family later bought a home in Boca Raton, southern Florida. The mansion is worth US$1.8 million, according to Strange Buildings, although this estimate hasn’t been confirmed.
His enigmatic car collection
While not much is known about his car collection, including whether he owns those rumoured Bentley Bentayga and Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG, Shapiro told The Iced Coffee Hour that his first car was a 1986 Honda Civic with no air conditioning, bought for US$400.
Next, he bought a 2006 Mustang GT Convertible worth over US$31,000 at the time, reported Cars.
His investments, including millions in Oramed stocks
He also told The Iced Coffee Hour that he has a team of financial advisers who buy shares in companies with the following general outline: 50 per cent in low-risk solid returning assets, 30 per cent in high risk, and 20 per cent for immediate acquisition.
Bloomberg reported that he bought US$4.7 million in Oramed stocks at around the time of becoming a board member of the company, making him its biggest shareholder.
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