Political commentator Ben Shapiro's net worth is approximately $20 million.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Shapiro is known for being the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the U.S, a title he achieved aged just 17.
The conservative based political commentator has gained a huge following over recent years for his debating performances that have gone 'viral' online and for a number of famous guest appearances on prominent news networks, including his debate with journalist Piers Morgan.
But what is Ben Shapiro's prominent source of income and how did he build his reputation as a political commentator today?
Ben Shapiro's Early Life
Shapiro was born on 15th January 1984 to a conservative family with Russian-Jewish and Lithuanian-Jewish heritage.
When he was nine years old, his family transitioned to Orthodox Judaism. Shapiro’s mother was a TV executive in Hollywood, and his father was a Hollywood composer.
His father’s musical talents were passed on, and Ben played the violin from a young age, performing at the Israel Bonds Banquet when he was just 12 years old.
His performance of "Schindler's List" on the violin has been uploaded to YouTube and has over 4 million views.
Watch the performance below.
With intelligence on his side, Shapiro skipped both the third and the ninth grades.
When he was 20, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a degree in political science.
Following this, he attended Harvard Law School, graduating cum laude in 2007.
Becoming a Teenage Author and Columnist
Given Shapiro's upbringing and education in one of the most prestigious Law School's in the country, it would be fair to say that the world of politics was always going to play a large role in his life.
However, few could have anticipated the ambitious youngster's rapid rise to prominence.
At the tender age of 17, he started a nationally syndicated column, and by the age of 21, he had already written two books.
His first book was entitled Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth.
In this book, he argues that universities and professors are left-leaning, and non-left opinions aren’t tolerated. The columnist believes that this is the antithesis of what college should be, an open forum for the discussion and open exchange of ideas.
Whilst his comments have been refuted by many of his opponents, Shapiro has been banned and 'de-platformed' from certain Universities as they argue that his views are too extreme.
Shapiro's believes that this is censorship and proves his initial premise.
A year after the publication of his first book, Shapiro published Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism is Corrupting our Future.
In 2008, Shapiro released Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House.
His other titles include Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV (2011) and Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans (2013).
Bullies got to position 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for a further six weeks.
The book was largely a response to the hostile and sometimes violent atmosphere he had experienced when speaking at college campuses in California.
Shapiro's Political Philosophy
Shapiro has described himself as “basically a libertarian” and “generally libertarian" when talking about the roles of a government.
The political commentator has been described as a 'strict constitutionalist' which is the notion that the legal interpretation of the American Constitution (the country's founding document) should be narrow and limited.
It is the unwavering approach to the constitution that has seen the Californian attorney's popularity skyrocket over recent years when coupled with his unique debating style.
Of course being an outspoken Conservative in America is going to attract a fair amount of attention in today's political climate.
And when it comes to his opponents, Shapiro believes the political left to subscribe to 'identity politics' which is the concept that your group identity, in terms of race, gender or sexuality is paramount to your individual characteristics.
Shapiro believes ideology not only to be divisive and counter-productive but also dangerous as it is the same line of thinking as that of the Marxist ideology which has been responsible for the demise of many countries across the world.
The political commentator's beliefs on this matter are so strong that no where is safe, not even Sesame Street, where Shapiro goes after the likes of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for their political bias and indoctrination of America's youth.
Shapiro believes that American culture is currently dominated by the left, i.e. in popular entertainment, the media, and academia.
This is the theme he explores in his book 'Primetime Propaganda' where he demonstrates the left leaning political messages that are entrenched in some of the most popular TV shows and Movies including Sesame Street and Friends.
Ben Shapiro Net Worth Explained: Attorney
In his early professional career Shapiro practiced as an attorney at Goodwin Proctor after graduating from Harvard in 2007.
It didn't take long for the ambitious youngster to realise his potential as in 2012 he founded his own independent legal consultancy service, Ben Shapiro Legal Consulting, in L.A.
It is Shapiro's expertise and background as a lawyer that has enabled him to articulate the clear and reasoned arguments that he has become known for.
Whilst his work as an attorney has been invaluable to him it is his broadcasting career that has given him the huge influence that he has today.
Becoming a Broadcaster and Host
Shapiro is clearly multi-talented when we look at all of his various accolades.
His achievements in business and politics had not escaped the attention of a number of media outlets including Breitbart News.
Shapiro joined the conservative media company and in 2012 became their 'editor-at-large'.
Although he enjoyed a reasonably succesful time at the media outlet he left the company under difficult circumstances in 2016, as he believed Breitbart's unrelenting support of former President Donald Trump had compromised their neutrality in the case of the then alleged assault by Corey Lewandowski (a former Trump advisor) on reporter Michelle Fields.
In 2015, he had co-founded The Daily Wire, a conservative media company and news website with Jeremy Boreing.
The Daily Wire has since become a leading publisher on Facebook with over 3 million followers and 2.6 million subscribes on YouTube.
The Daily Wire produces podcasts, including Shapiro’s very own The Ben Shapiro Show, which was launched in 2015.
By the beginning of 2019, the podcast was ranked as the second most popular in the U.S.
The Ben Shapiro Show has now expanded to become a two-hour live radio show as well as a one-hour radio podcast.
Becoming a Prominent Speaker
Whilst the Harvard Law School graduate has achieved so much in his career it is probably his debating skills and public speaking that he has become best known for.
His openness to debate with a majority of people that he disagrees with has led to a multitude of 'viral' moments online which has significantly raised his profile.
Arguably, his most famous debate was with Piers Morgan, a former CNN journalist from the U.K. known for his opinionated line of questioning.
Morgan was a fierce critic of the American Constitution's 2nd amendment about guns and was a strong advocate of gun control.
The clip has over 5 million views.
After his fiery encounter on CNN, Shapiro's media profile skyrocketed and as a result he was asked to deliver speeches at a number of college campuses across the US.
His speeches often contain conservative viewpoints on controversial subjects and as a result he attracted a significant number of protestors at his conferences.
It was in his home state at the University of California, Berkley where Shapiro required a Police escort to get to the venue in order to deliver his speech, such was the controversy about his appearance.
The speech was protested against by both faculty members and students due to its title 'When Diversity Becomes a Problem'.
Although the speech went ahead it was not without problems. There were human chains, sit-in protests and fire alarms set off.
Controversies
As is the case with most political commentators, Shapiro has experienced a number of controversies in his career.
To his credit he makes allowances for his critics and has even created a list of the 'dumb stuff' that he has ever said.
In it he describes all the things that he regrets saying, including about billionaire George Soros and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 37-year-old continues to attract attention for his conservative views whether it is on same-sex marriage, the trans-gender movement or the Black Lives Matter campaigners, but one thing remains true, he is willing to debate anyone on his views.
Such is his belief in the art of debate that he is a frequent guest of Politicon, an annual political convention in America that brings together both political figures and commentators from Democrats and Republicans in an effort to bring people together.
Ben Shapiro's Wife and Personal Life
Ben Shapiro was introduced to his wife Mor Shapiro (née Toledano) by his sister, Abigail. The couple got engaged in 2007 and married the following year in a Jewish ceremony in Acre, Israel.
Ben’s wife is an Israeli-born medical practitioner of Moroccan descent.
The couple had their first child, Leeya Eliana, in 2014.
Leeya had open heart surgery a year after her birth to repair a hole in her heart.
The Shapiros have two other children besides Leeya (a son and a daughter), and in 2020, the family moved to Nashville from California.
One of the main reasons for the move to Nashville was the overburdensome state taxes and regulations that were becoming an issue for the his media company, The Daily Wire.
Not only was Nashville, Texas more favourable for the company Shapiro believes he would have a better standard of living.
He described the move as a difficult decision as he had been born and raised in California but had become disappointed in what the state had become in terms of governance.
He and his wife are fairly guarded about their family life and never reveal their other children’s names.
Ben Shapiro’s sister, Abigail, is an opera singer.
He is also the cousin of actress Mara Wilson who played Matilda, but the two don’t speak because of their different political views.
Shapiro's Quotes
“Socialism states that you owe me something simply because I exist. Capitalism, by contrast, results in a sort of reality-forced altruism: I may not want to help you, I may dislike you, but if I don’t give you a product or service you want, I will starve. Voluntary exchange is more moral than forced redistribution.”
“The separation of church and state was meant to protect the church from the state; a state that declares religion off-limits in public life is a state that declares itself supreme over all religious values.”
“When someone calls you a racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe because you happen to disagree with them about tax policy or same-sex marriage or abortion, that’s bullying.
When someone slanders you because you happen to disagree with them about global warming or the government shutdown, that’s bullying.
When someone labels you a bad human being because they disagree with you, they are bullying you. They are attacking your character without justification.
That’s nasty. In fact, it makes them nasty.”
― Ben Shapiro, How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument
“Freedom of speech and thought matters, especially when it is speech and thought with which we disagree. The moment the majority decides to destroy people for engaging in thought, it dislikes thought crime becomes a reality.”
“Certainly, a date with Marx would go very poorly. Number one because he was not fond of the Jews. And number two, he was wrong about pretty much everything.”
It “is not right that children be dunked headfirst into the vat of garbage we call popular culture.” ― Ben Shapiro, Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future
Summary: Ben Shapiro Net Worth 2021
- Ben Shapiro has a net worth of around $20 million.
- He was born in Los Angeles to conservative Jewish parents who both worked in Hollywood.
- Bright and talented, Shapiro skipped two grades at school and learned to play the violin from a young age.
- By age 17, Ben Shapiro had become the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the U.S.
- He has written several books and wrote the first two before reaching the age of 21.
- He has a degree in political science from UCLA and a law degree from Harvard.
- Shapiro has worked as an attorney, political commentator, writer, editor, columnist, public speaker and host. He currently has his own show, The Ben Shapiro Show.
- Ben lives with his Jewish-Moroccan wife and children and has recently left California.
What do you think of this Ben Shapiro net worth article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.