What is Maria Bartiromo’s net worth? Fox Business host reportedly hired lawyer Bryan Freedman amid network exit

Maria Bartiromo has made headlines recently after Fox News confirmed her abrupt departure on Thursday. As per a report shared by The New York Times, the exit was Fox's decision, according to a person familiar with the details, though the network did not specify a reason.

Fox released a statement, saying that

"Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with Fox News Media."

The network added that

"We thank Maria for her work over the last 12½ years and wish her all the best on her next chapter."

As per a report shared by Celebrity Net Worth, Bartiromo has a net worth of $50 million, accumulated over three decades in broadcast journalism. Her salary at Fox had climbed to roughly $10 million annually in her later years at the network, making her one of the highest-paid news personalities on American television. Fox did not disclose the financial terms of her departure.

Bartiromo's executive producer Patrick Ignozzi was also let go at the same time. Bartiromo, fifty-eight years old, has since retained Bryan Freedman. Bryan is a Hollywood attorney who has represented the likes of Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon, and Megyn Kelly following their own exits from major media employers.

Maria Bartiromo's long-running Fox shows rebranded following her sudden network exit:

Bartiromo has not made a single appearance on air since August 9. As per a report shared by Variety, she did not show up for a farewell, and her final Mornings With Maria episode aired Thursday morning on Fox Business Network without her.

Fox Business has wasted no time reshuffling things. Mornings With Maria is getting a new name, Mornings With Fox Business, and will run with a rotating lineup of anchors. Her Friday night show, Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street, is being rebranded as FBN's Wall Street, with Cheryl Casone taking the reins this week before anchors begin rotating in.

The Sunday slot is also changing hands. Jason Chaffetz is set to anchor Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News Channel this week, the show Bartiromo had helmed for years. Who permanently takes over has not yet been announced.

From Dominion lawsuit to leaked directives, the controversies that followed Bartiromo at Fox:

As per the report shared by Variety, Maria Bartiromo had increasingly leaned into right-wing politics over the years, and some of her on-air moments raised eyebrows. In June, she read an on-air apology after Shark Tank personality Kevin O'Leary appeared on her program a month earlier and falsely accused opponents of a Utah data center he wanted to build of being funded by China.

That wasn't her only controversy. Maria Bartiromo was among a handful of Fox News personalities named in materials tied to a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against the network back in 2021. The allegations suggested she had allowed false claims about the 2020 presidential election to air, as part of a broader effort to stop angry viewers from leaving. Fox eventually settled the lawsuit for $787.5 million.

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What may have ultimately pushed things over the edge, though, was something far more internal. As per a report shared by Variety, Bartiromo is believed to have passed along a confidential directive, issued to Fox Business executive producers, directly to the Trump White House. Those instructions reportedly cautioned staffers against lending support to outlandish claims made publicly by President Trump. Sharing confidential company information with an outside party would likely constitute a violation of her employment terms. Fox called the whole thing a "business decision" and left it at that.

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