Broderick Stephen Harvey was born on January 17, 1957 in Welch, West Virginia. His family later moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated from Glenville High School in 1974. He attended Kent State University and later West Virginia University. He has held jobs ranging from boxer, autoworker and insurance salesman to carpet cleaner and mailman, and first ventured into comedy on October 8, 1985 when he performed at the Hilarities Comedy Club in Cleveland, Ohio. No stranger to hardship, during his early career Harvey was homeless for three years in the late 1980s, during which he slept in his 1976 Ford when the gigs he performed at did not provide a hotel.
Steve Harvey first became nationally-famous as a standup comedian in the 1980s. Between 1996 and 2002 he starred on “The Steve Harvey” show, a sitcom on the WB network which ran 122 episodes over six seasons. Steve was also a producer on the show. Today Steve is known for hosting the nationally-syndicated radio show, “The Steve Harvey Morning Show”, as well as popular game shows “Family Feud” and “Celebrity Family Feud”. Out of the roughly $40 million Steve earns every year, $10 million comes from “Family Feud” and $20 million comes from his radio hosting salary.
- Makes $40-50 million per year
- Makes $20 million per year from his radio gig
- Makes $10 million per year hosting “Family Feud”
- In May 2020 Steve paid $15m for Tyler Perry’s former Atlanta mansion
In 2015, Harvey hosted the Miss Universe 2015 pageant in Las Vegas. Despite his mistake, where he named the first-runner up as the winner and had to announced a few minutes after she was crowned that he had read the results incorrectly, he has continued on to host the Miss Universe pageant in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Between June 2017 and June 2018, Steve Harvey earned $45 million from his various endeavors. He earned the same amount between June 2018 and June 2019.
Some other ventures Harvey has been involved in include the release of the book “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” in 2009, which inspired the 2012 ensemble film “Think Like a Man”. The hardcover version of the book spent 64 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He has also published the books “Straight Talk, No Chaser” (2010), “Act Like A Success” (2014), and “Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance” (2016). Furthermore, in 2014 he launched the dating site Delightful, in a joint venture with IAC. Together with Ellen DeGeneres, Harvey co-created the show “Little Big Shots” in 2016, which he also hosted until 2019.
Harvey has been married three times. His current wife is Marjorie Bridges, whom he married in 2007. He has a total of 7 children; three from his first marriage, one from his second marriage, and Marjorie’s three children he adopted when the couple married. Together with Marjorie, he founded The Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation, which focuses on youth outreach and education
