Jay Leno Net Worth and salary: Jay Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host who has a net worth of $400 million. At the end of his reign as host of The Tonight Show, Jay was earning an annual salary of $15 million. His peak Tonight Show salary was $30 million per year. He actually agreed to a 50% pay cut after the 2011 season to help his staff get raises and keep their jobs. Jay earns around $10 million per year from a hectic stand up touring schedule which includes more than 200 dates a year. Incredibly, throughout his career Jay never touched his Tonight Show salary and instead lived off his stand-up income. Furthermore, Jay does not have an agent or a manager to help him negotiate deals.

Jay Leno first became the host of NBC's The Tonight Show in 1992, taking over from Johnny Carson. Jay stepped down to retire in 2009 but soon made a return to television with a prime time talk show called The Jay Leno Show. The Jay Leno show aired weeknights on NBC in September 2009 but was cancelled in January 2010. Jay then caused a national outcry when he re-claimed his position as host of The Tonight Show, pushing aside his replacement Conan O'Brien.

Jay Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York, on April 28, 1950. His mother was born in Greenock, Scotland, and came to the United States at age 11. His father was born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy. Jay Leno got his start on television as a regular substitute host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. He went on to replace Carson as host in 1992, beating out rival comedian David Letterman. The transition Leno went through in replacing Carson was very turbulent and was later turned into a book and a movie called "The Late Shift".

Jay Leno has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno. Leno is an avid car collector he owns approximately 200 vehicles. His car collection alone has been valued at more than $100 million. Leno is dyslexic and has a prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibular prognathism.

Jay Leno's salary break down:

1992- $1 million

1993- $1 million

1994- $3 million

1995- $3 million

1996- $5 million

1997- $5 million

1998- $5 million

1999- $10 million

2000- $12 million

2001- $15 million

2002- $20 million

2003- $20 million

2004- $20 million

2005- $20 million

2006- $20 million

2007- $20 million

2008- $20 million

2009- $30 million

2010- $30 million

2011- $25 million

2012 -$15 million

2013 -$15 million

Total career earnings: $320 million