How Much is Roger Ebert Worth? Roger Ebert's Assets & Salary & Career Highlights Net Worth 2026: Career Earnings & Assets

Many fans are curious about Roger Ebert's financial success in 2026. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.

What was Roger Ebert's Net Worth?

Roger Ebert was an American film critic, journalist, and screenwriter who had a net worth of $10 million at the time of his death. Roger Ebert's career began in 1966, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times' Sunday magazine. In 1975, he became the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize. That same year, Ebert teamed up with fellow movie criticGene Siskelon a television show where they debated the quality of the latest films. The show became a hit, and Siskel and Ebert became household names. They worked together until 1999, when Siskel passed away due to complications of a surgery involving a cancerous brain tumor.

In early 2002, Ebert was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, which was successfully removed. In 2003, he underwent surgery for cancer in his salivary gland, which was followed up by radiation treatment. He was again afflicted with cancer in 2006. In June of that year, he had surgery to remove cancerous tissue near his right jaw, and just one week later, he had a life-threatening complication when his carotid artery burst near the surgery site. He was confined to bed rest and was unable to speak, eat, or drink for some time, necessitating the use of a feeding tube.

Ebert made his first public appearance since mid-2006 at Ebertfest on April 25, 2007. He was unable to speak; instead, he communicated through his wife.

In December 2012, Ebert was hospitalized with a fractured hip. On April 2, 2013, he announced that he would be taking a "leave of presence" from his duties because the hip fracture was determined to be cancerous and would require radiation treatment. On April 4, 2013, Roger Ebert lost his brave fight at the age of 70 when he passed away in Chicago as he was preparing to come home from the hospital. At the April 2014 Ebertfest, the Pulitzer Prize-winner was honored with a life-sized bronze statue outside the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois.

Early Life

Ebert was born on June 18, 1942, in Urbana, Illinois. He was the only child of Annabel and Walter Ebert. His mother worked as a bookkeeper, while his father was an electrician. The family was Roman Catholic, and he attended St. Mary's elementary school and served as an altar boy at church. His ancestry is German, Irish, and Dutch. He attended Urbana High School, where he first developed his interest in journalism while working as a sportswriter for "The News-Gazette" in Champaign, Illinois. He was also the class president and co-editor of his high school newspaper during his senior year. Then, he won the Illinois High School Association state speech championship in the "radio speaking" category.

After completing high school, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received his undergraduate degree in 1964. While in college, he continued working as a student journalist, working as a reporter for "The Daily Illini" and also serving as president of the U.S. Student Press Association. He then began a master's degree at the same school, spent a year studying at the University of Cape Town, and then was accepted as a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago. While attending doctoral classes in Chicago, he began working as a general reporter at the "Chicago Sun-Times" in 1966.

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Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.