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American civil rights activist, Baptist minister and radio show host Al Sharpton has an estimated net worth of $5 million. He earned his net worth through his radio show Keepen’ It Real as well as his regular guest appearances in Fox News such as The O’Reilly Factor, in CNN and in MSNBC. He was named the host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, a nightly talk show, in 2011. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the US presidential election.

Born Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. on October 3, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, he is of Native American descent especially Cherokee. He grew up in the Brownsville neighborhood. He preached his first sermon at the age of four and toured with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. He became a licensed and ordained Pentecostal minister by Bishop F.D. Washington at the age of nine. He graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn. He attended Brooklyn College but he dropped out after two years in 1975. In 1973, he became a tour manager for James Brown. After the Death of Bishop Washington in the 1980s, he became a Baptist. He was re-baptized by Reverend William Jones as a member of the Bethany Baptist Church in 1994 and he became a Baptist Minister.

Sharpton was appointed by Jesse Jackson as youth director of Operation Breadbasket in 1969. It is a group that focused on the promotion of new and better jobs for African-Americans. He founded the National Youth Movement to raise resources for impoverished youth in 1971. He has received positive words from his supporters and has a bunch of critics. He sees much of the criticism as a sign of his effectiveness.

Al Sharpton met his wife, Kathy Jordan who is a backup singer, while touring with Brown in 1971. They got married in 1980 and they have two children. They go separated in 2004. He is an honorary member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

Earnings & Financial Data

Date

Category

Description

Amount

2012

Salary

Per season salary as the host of Politics Nation on MSNBC

$500,000

2002

Lawsuit Settlement

Earnings from his l12-year lawsuit during a 1991 stabbing before a rally in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

$200,000