Tucker Carlson bio, age, net worth, family, wife, children 2024

Tucker Carlson's Biography

Famous American journalist Tucker Carlson was raised in a conservative environment. He promoted the same views in his journalistic work later on. Although Tucker's conservative statements did not receive much support from the public, programs featuring him had high ratings. Carlson provided commentary on political talk shows, wrote articles for the most renowned American publications, and in 2016, he began hosting his own show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Fox News.

The program's ratings were off the charts: on air, Tucker, nicknamed "the primary voice of white American discontent," condemned abortions, migrants, coronavirus vaccines, and supported Donald Trump. Despite his unpopular stance, which led advertisers to turn away from Carlson, his show had an audience of 3.5 million.

This continued until 2023 when the journalist was fired from the channel due to a scandal. He made claims about fraud in the presidential elections. Allegedly, as a result, representatives from Dominion, a company that manufactures voting machines, sued Fox News. The channel was forced to pay about 800 million dollars in damages and lost 5% of its stock value. The reporter continued to release "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on social network X (the former Twitter).

Childhood and Family

Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson was born on May 16, 1969, in San Francisco, the principal city of Northern California. His ancestors include influential Swiss, English, Italian, and German individuals who were foundational to American society.

Tucker was a distant relative of Ebenezer Hoar (United States Attorney General from 1869 to 1870, an associate of President Ulysses Grant) and George Brooks (a member of the 41st and 42nd United States Congress). His great-great-great-grandfather, Henry Miller, held the unofficial title of "Cattle King of California" and was considered one of the largest landowners in 19th-century America.

Tucker's father, Richard Carlson (born Boynton, adopted at two years old by the Carlson family, owners of the Winslow Brothers & Smith tannery), was a renowned gonzo journalist who exposed politicians collaborating with the mafia, led the Voice of America radio company, and became the US Ambassador to the Seychelles in the early 1990s. He also ran for Mayor of San Diego. Tucker’s mother, Lisa McNear, was an artist.

Tucker Carlson with his father and brother

The future journalist grew up with his brother Buckley, who was born two years later. In 1976, their parents divorced. Their mother longed to lead a more free-spirited, bohemian lifestyle, so the sons stayed with their father. Since then, McNear had no contact with her children. "She really wasn't a part of my life at all," the journalist would say later.

Three years later, Carlson Sr. remarried. His new wife was Patricia Caroline Swanson, the heiress to the Swanson Enterprises food conglomerate. She adopted Tucker and Buckley.

By the early 1980s, the whole family had moved to San Diego, where Tucker's father was actively building his political career. They settled in a mansion in the affluent area of La Jolla. Carlson attended a private school populated by children of well-to-do white parents.

Even then, Tucker showed himself to be quite stubborn: the teenager did not hesitate to argue with teachers and criticize educators with liberal views. His conservative sentiments intensified when, in 1983, Carlson was transferred to a private boarding school in Rhode Island. He also spent some time at the Collège du Léman boarding school in Switzerland upon his father's insistence but quickly grew bored there.

Due to his sharp tongue and habit of arguing with teachers, Tucker was never among the top students. After school, he was not accepted into a highly prestigious university – and Carlson took pride in that. His girlfriend's father, his future father-in-law, managed to find Tucker a place at Trinity College in Connecticut. In 1992, Carlson earned a bachelor's degree in history there and chose not to pursue further education.

Career Beginnings

In 1992, Tucker attempted to secure a position at the Central Intelligence Agency. However, his application was rejected without an explanation, which led Carlson to pursue a career in journalism.

Media outlets were reluctant to hire a newcomer, but he managed to find a job at Policy Review magazine, where he fact-checked articles written by other correspondents. He also wrote pieces for local Arkansas publications.

In 1995, Tucker joined the new publication The Weekly Standard. It was then that he first appeared on TV with a comment for CBS regarding the case of actor and football player O. J. Simpson, who was accused of murdering his wife. Since that time, Tucker became a frequent guest on news programs.

He gained notoriety in the press in September 1999, after a five-page interview for Talk magazine with George W. Bush, who was then the Governor of Texas and a presidential candidate. The article was titled "George W. Bush Doesn't Care What You Think of Him. That's Why You Might Vote for Him".

Overall, the journalist spoke highly of the future president, even though he noted that Bush used the F-word too often. However, readers were not pleased that Bush made derisive comments about Karla Faye Tucker, whose clemency petition he had denied, and when asked by the journalist "Tell me about something you can't do," he replied: "Sit down and read a 500-page book on public policy, philosophy, or whatever else."

Television Career

In 2000, Tucker Carlson was invited to join CNN. A year later, he got his own show, "Crossfire." In a debate format, Carlson discussed the latest world news with both right-wing and left-wing politicians.

Despite the show's success, in 2005, the channel's management decided not to renew the journalist's contract. Rumors suggested that the decision was triggered by a conflict that erupted in the studio between Tucker and comedian and television host Jon Stewart. The video of their argument went viral on the internet.

Carlson spent some time hosting programs on PBS and then, seemingly in retaliation, joined MSNBC, a direct competitor of CNN. It was there, in 2005, that the premiere of the reporter's new show, "Tucker," took place. However, the program was canceled in 2008 due to low ratings.

Throughout this period, Tucker also managed to write feature articles for major American publications: The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Reader's Digest, and others.

In 2009, the reporter was invited to join Fox News. Initially, he served as an expert on shows hosted by other journalists.

In 2010, Carlson, together with Neil Patel, launched the website The Daily Caller, which specialized in political news. Tucker wrote articles for the portal and served as its chief editor. Some articles criticizing the actions of Democrats caused quite a stir. A month later, the publication was included in the White House press pool.

"Tucker Carlson Tonight"

In 2013, Carlson became the co-host of the show "Fox & Friends Weekend." Three years later, he began hosting "Tucker Carlson Tonight." By that time, the journalist was one of the most famous TV speakers criticizing the government. For example, he actively opposed the re-election of Barack Obama as president.

The show's first episode drew 3.7 million viewers, as he was well-known among TV audiences. The following year, the program was recognized as the second-highest-rated news show in prime time on cable channels.

The show's popularity was fueled by Tucker's comments on controversial issues, which he was not afraid to discuss on air. The journalist contemplated matters of abortion, gender issues, sexism, and the immigration crisis.

"Tucker Carlson Tonight" started airing in 2016, right after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Carlson supported the politician, denied the narrative of Russian "troll factory" interference in the presidential elections, and approved many of Trump's early initiatives, like building a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Moreover, Carlson did not see the need to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria, criticized the Black Lives Matter movement and medical officials' actions during the coronavirus pandemic, and called for friendly relations with Russia. These statements led to the loss of some major advertisers; Disney and Papa John's withdrew their sponsorships.

However, the journalist's conservative views continued to interest viewers, which led to increased popularity of his program. On the eve of the 2020 elections, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" had an average daily audience of about 5.36 million people, a record for cable television.

There were also scandals. For instance, in 2019, model Karen McDougal sued Fox News. She was outraged that Carlson had discussed her alleged extortion attempts against Trump on his show. The lawsuit was dismissed.

Firing from Fox News

In 2020, after Joe Biden's election victory, Tucker Carlson hinted several times at vote rigging using Dominion Voting Systems equipment, which provided software for voting. The company considered these accusations defamatory and sued Fox News.

After lengthy negotiations, the parties reached a settlement in April 2023. The channel agreed to pay the company compensation exceeding $767 million – a record amount for defamation in the history of American press.

A few days later, Carlson was fired from the channel. The executive producer of his show also lost his job. The host learned about this decision just a few hours before it was announced. The likely cause was the scandal with Dominion Voting Systems. The journalist himself claimed he was fired because the American press is "not free and censored."

In May 2023, Tucker announced that he would continue his show on X (Twitter). The first video was released in June, which he recorded directly from his home. In it, he criticized the actions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The reporter also launched his own website with a paid subscription. Carlson's videos garnered tens of millions of views.

His actions displeased the management at Fox News. The channel reminded Carlson that his contract was valid until the end of 2024, and therefore all rights to the show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" should belong to them, despite his dismissal. The reporter continued to produce the show while his lawyers were resolving the issue with Fox News representatives.

Tucker Carlson's Personal Life

Tucker met his future wife, Susan Andrews, when he was 15 years old. They attended a college together in Rhode Island. Andrews' father was the headmaster of the institution. "She was the cutest senior in America," Carlson said about his wife.

The couple married in 1991. Four years later, their first daughter, Lillie, was born. In 1997, they welcomed a son, Buckley, followed by a daughter, Hopie, a couple of years later. In 2002, Tucker's fourth child, daughter Dorothy, was born. All the children attended private schools. To raise them, Susan had to leave her teaching career.

Tucker Carlson with his wife and children

It is known that Carlson's son graduated with a degree in public administration and interned at the White House as a public relations specialist. The journalist's older daughters graduated from the University of Virginia.

Tucker Carlson Now

In August 2023, Russian propaganda media Russia Today's head Margarita Simonyan first claimed that Tucker Carlson wanted to interview Vladimir Putin. A month later, the journalist confirmed his intentions and said he had planned the conversation earlier but his meeting with the Russian president had been deliberately sabotaged by the White House. Carlson was convinced of the need for the interview, stating that the majority of Americans actually 'knew nothing about what was happening in Russia and Ukraine'.

Back home, Carlson's actions prompted condemnation. Politicians, including former Congressman Adam Kinzinger and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, considered him a traitor. Experts noted that the interview appeared at a difficult time when the U.S. Congress was embroiled in disputes over the allocation of another tranche of financial support to Ukraine.

Furthermore, some sources insisted that in Russia, Tucker also met with former NSA employee Edward Snowden and former Joe Biden aide Tara Reade for interviews. However, the journalist himself called these assumptions false.

Interesting Facts

Tucker was named after his ancestors - J. Tucker and George McNair.
Tucker Carlson wrote his first book at the age of 23. It was titled "People vs. Crime: How Residents Can Restore Order in the Streets of the USA." However, no publisher agreed to release the book.
Later, the journalist released three books: "Politicians, Partisans, and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News" (2003), "Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution" (2018), and "The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism" (2021).
In the early 2000s, Tucker made bow ties part of his signature look. He never appears in public without this clothing item.
The journalist is left-handed.
Since his early years, the reporter has suffered from dyslexia.
Carlson is a big fan of the Finnish sauna - he spends an hour and a half there daily.
In 2003, Tucker recorded an interview with Britney Spears. He asked the singer about her stance on the war in Iraq. A clip of the conversation was included in the film "Fahrenheit 9/11," which won the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Meanwhile, Spears received the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress.
In 2018, unknown activists attacked Tucker's mansion. They vandalized the facade of the building and attempted to break in. At that time, only the journalist's wife was in the house.
In 2021, Time magazine named Carlson the most influential conservative in the USA.

Important Dates in My Life

1992 – Became a fact-checker at Policy Review magazine
1995 – Started working at The Weekly Standard
1999 – Recorded an interview with George W. Bush
2000 – Began working for CNN
2001 – Became the host of the show "Crossfire"
2005 – Lost my job at CNN, moved to MSNBC, and started hosting "The Situation with Tucker Carlson"
2009 – Started working for Fox News
2010 – Launched the website The Daily Caller
2016 – Became the host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight"
2023 – Was fired from Fox News, began releasing "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on social network X
2024 – Recorded an interview with Vladimir Putin