Inside Stephen Root's Fortune: Stephen Root's Assets & Salary in Net Worth 2026: Career Earnings & Assets

Updated: May 05, 2026

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    Inside Stephen Root's Fortune: Stephen Root's Assets & Salary in 2026
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Inside Stephen Root's Fortune: Stephen Root's Assets & Salary in Net Worth 2026: Career Earnings & Assets

As one of the most talked-about figures, Stephen Root has built a significant fortune. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.

What Is Stephen Root's Net Worth and Salary?

Stephen Root is an American actor who has a net worth of $6 million. Root is probably best known for playing Jimmy James on the critically-acclaimed NBC sitcom "NewsRadio" (1995–1999) and Milton Waddams in the 1999 film "Office Space," and he voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the animated Fox series "King of the Hill" (1997–2010). Stephen has more than 260 acting credits to his name, including the films "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000), "DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story" (2004), "No Country for Old Men" (2007), "Red State" (2011), "Get Out" (2017), and "Life of the Party" (2018) and the television series "Harts of the West" (1993–1994), "Ladies Man" (1999–2001), "The West Wing" (2005–2006), "Justified" (2010–2014), "Boardwalk Empire" (2012–2013), "The Man in the High Castle" (2016–2019), and "Barry" (2018–present).

He has lent his voice to numerous animated projects, such as "Ice Age" (2002), "Finding Nemo" (2003), "Ice Age: The Meltdown" (2006), "Rango" (2011), "Finding Dory" (2016), "Tripping the Rift" (2004–2007), "Adventure Time" (2011–2017), and "Dragons: Riders of Berk" (2012–2014). Root has also performed on Broadway, playing King Vaughnum III in "So Long on Lonely Street" (1986) and Frank Lubey in "All My Sons" (1987).

Early Life

Stephen Root was born on November 17, 1951, in Sarasota, Florida. He is the son of Rolland Clair and Leona Estelle Root, and Rolland worked as a site manager and project superintendent on civil engineering projects in the U.S. and Mexico, which caused the family to move frequently. Stephen attended Vero Beach High School in Florida, then he enrolled at the University of Florida, where he earned an AA degree and joined the BFA acting program. In 2003, he donated $100,000 to the University of Florida, which funded the Stephen Root Acting Studio, and in 2008, he was honored with the university's Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Career

After appearing on Broadway in 1986 and 1987, Root made his big screen debut in 1988's "Crocodile Dundee II," followed by "Monkey Shines" (1988), "Black Rain" (1989), "Stanley & Iris" (1990), "Ghost" (1990), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992), and "RoboCop 3" (1993). He guest-starred on "Roseanne" (1990), "Head of the Class" (1990), "Jake and the Fatman" (1990–1991), "Night Court" (1990–1992), "L.A. Law" (1990–1994), "Home Improvement" (1991), "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1991), "Murphy Brown" (1992), "Quantum Leap" (1993), and "Blossom" (1993), and he appeared in the 1991 miniseries "Stephen King'sGolden Years" and the 1992 TV movies "A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story" and "Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, the Last Chapter." From 1993 to 1994, Stephen played R.O. Moon on the CBS series "Harts of the West," and in 1995, he began starring as billionaire Jimmy James on "NewsRadio" alongsideDave Foley,Phil Hartman,Maura Tierney,Khandi Alexander,Vicki Lewis,Andy Dick, andJoe Rogan. NewsRadio ran for 97 episodes, and sadly, the cast had to say goodbye to their beloved castmate Phil Hartman when he was murdered by his wife in May 1998. They honored Hartman and his character, news anchor Bill McNeal, in the season five premiere, "Bill Moves On," and Root said of the episode, "We read it once on the day that we usually do, on a Monday. We all cried through it and we all decided, unilaterally that we weren't going to rehearse this show… And it was pretty tearful to shoot, but it was cathartic that we did something within the fictional structure that was real, because we really hurt that he was no longer there."

Stephen appeared in the films "Night of the Scarecrow" (1995), "Krippendorf's Tribe" (1998), and "Bicentennial Man" (1999), and he played Chris Kraft in the 1998 HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon," which won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries and a Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV. In 1999, Root starred as Milton Waddams in "Office Space," which was written and directed by "King of the Hill" co-creatorMike Judge; the two would team up again for 2006's "Idiocracy." From 1999 to 2001, he was a series regular on the CBS sitcom "Ladies Man," and he had a recurring role as Bob Mayer on NBC's "The West Wing" from 2005 to 2006. Stephen played Mr. Lund in 2000's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and Gordon Pibb in 2004's "DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story," and he appeared in "Grind" (2003), "The Ladykillers" (2004), "Jersey Girl" (2004), "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie" (2004), and "Just Friends" (2005). He portrayed Richard Clarke, former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism, in the 2006 miniseries "The Path to 9/11," and he appeared in 2007's "No Country for Old Men" and 2008's "Mad Money," "Over Her Dead Body," "Drillbit Taylor," and "Leatherheads." From 2008 to 2009, Root played vampire Eddie Fournier in four episodes of HBO's "True Blood," and he guest-starred in three episodes of Fox's "24" in 2010. From 2010 to 2014, he had a recurring role as Judge Mike Reardon on the FX series "Justified."

Ultimately, Stephen Root's financial journey is a testament to their success.

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