What has Tucker Carlson done professionally and financially since leaving Fox News in 2023?
Executive summary
Since leaving Fox News in April 2023, Tucker Carlson has rebuilt a media platform outside cable: he launched a podcast and began posting video monologues and interviews on X (formerly Twitter), announced a streaming service and developed the Tucker Carlson Network as a subscription outlet — moves Reuters reported as his new company building paying subscribers by December 2023 [1]. Reporting also documents his return to high-profile political stages (a 2024 GOP convention speech carried on Fox) and continued controversy over guests and positions that split conservatives [2] [3].
1. The immediate exit and public comeback: how he left and what he said next
Fox announced Carlson’s departure on April 24, 2023; the exit followed Fox’s settlement in the Dominion defamation case and produced an immediate public response from Carlson — a two-minute video on Twitter criticizing “liars trying to silence” him — signaling he intended to continue as an independent commentator [4] [5].
2. From cable king to independent publisher: podcasts, X videos and TCN
Within weeks Carlson launched The Tucker Carlson Show podcast and began releasing video episodes on X under “Tucker on X.” Reuters reported his new media company was building a base of paying subscribers and moving toward a launch of a subscription platform — later identified in various outlets as the Tucker Carlson Network (TCN) — as of December 2023 [1] [6] [7].
3. Financial posture reported by outlets: earned income, forgone contract money, and subscriber strategy
Several outlets and databases charted his transition from a high Fox salary to independent revenues. Celebrity Net Worth and other compilers noted Carlson gave up remaining Fox contract guarantees when he left and instead pursued independent monetization; reporting suggested he opted out of his Fox contract rather than remain on payroll [8]. Reuters explicitly described TCN as building paying subscribers, indicating a subscription-based revenue model rather than traditional ad-sold cable income [1].
4. Editorial strategy: long interviews and high-profile guests to rebuild reach
Post‑Fox, Carlson pivoted to long-form interviews with influential and controversial figures — for example his two‑hour interview with Vladimir Putin reported by Business Insider — and foreign leaders and pundits featured on his X show, a tactic Reuters said he used to capitalize on his conservative audience [9] [1]. That format helped sustain a national profile even without Fox’s platform [1].
5. Political visibility and rehabilitation on partisan stages
Despite being “unceremoniously fired,” Carlson reappeared on major conservative stages and media cycles: AP noted he returned to Fox News airwaves indirectly when Fox carried his GOP convention speech in July 2024, showing he retained influence within parts of the conservative ecosystem [2]. That visibility underscores how his post‑Fox career mixes independent media output with ongoing political relevance [2].
6. Ongoing controversies shaping his market and alliances
Carlson’s post‑Fox choices have generated intra‑right backlash and praise. Reporting shows conservatives split over his editorial decisions and guests, a dynamic explored in opinion and news pieces documenting criticism from some on the right while others defended him — an ongoing factor that affects the size and composition of his audience and potential backers [3] [10].
7. What the sources say — and what they do not
Available reporting documents the platforms Carlson has used (podcast, X, Tucker Carlson Network) and Reuters’ reporting that his company was building paying subscribers [1] [6] [7]. Sources cite his major Fox-era context (Dominion settlement) as the backdrop to his exit [4] [11]. Sources differ on precise net‑worth figures and income estimates after Fox: some aggregator sites and profiles give widely varying valuations and estimated earnings ranges, but reputable outlets cited here emphasize subscriber growth and independent monetization rather than a single verified net‑worth number [12] [13] [14].
8. Limitations and open questions
Public sources outline Carlson’s post‑Fox activities and that a subscriber-funded network was being built [1], but available sources do not disclose comprehensive, independently audited financial statements for Carlson’s post‑Fox venture or a single authoritative post‑2023 net‑worth figure; estimates in the provided materials vary widely [12] [13]. Sources also do not provide full documentation of his revenue split across subscriptions, advertising, speaking fees or other income streams — those specifics remain unreported in the cited coverage (not found in current reporting).
Sources cited: Reuters [1], Wikipedia and related bios [6] [15] [11], BBC/AP [4] [5] [2], Business Insider [9], and various net‑worth and opinion pieces noted above [12] [13] [3].