Hoda Kotb Left ‘Today’ Amid Proposed Cut To Her $20 Million-Plus Salary: Report

Hoda Kotb‘s sudden retirement from The Today Show and Today With Hoda & Jenna may have been spurred by a bit more than just her desire to spend more time with her kids.

A report from industry newsletter Puck claims Kotb was making more than $20 million a year at NBC as one of its headlining anchors. But the network was reportedly unwilling to offer her more money amid the program’s falling ratings; in fact, NBC reportedly proposed they slash her pay.

“NBC executives loved Hoda and knew her value to the brand, but also made clear to her agents that such stratospheric contracts were no longer justifiable given the industry’s inexorable decline,” the outlet reports.

Decider has reached out to Kotb’s reps for comment.

Kotb’s Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie also reportedly makes more than $20 million per year, but with Kotb’s exit, NBC will want to keep Guthrie around. The network will likely offer Kotb’s replacement “a lot less than $20 million,” the outlet notes.

However, Guthrie allegedly told friends and colleagues that this contract may be her last.

The outlet notes this may be indicative of a larger trend viewers will be seeing across media. According to the report, Kotb won’t be the only beloved television personality to retire in the next few years. Both Lester Holt and Wolf Blitzer are rumored to be retiring from their networks next year.

One unnamed source described as a veteran media executive said we’re in an age of “the great resetting of TV news contracts.”

“Everyone is getting their pay cut or their jobs eliminated,” the source assessed. “In the coming year, some big names will announce they want to spend more time with their kids or families or write new chapters. And that may be true. But they also don’t want to work for less money even though they have already made a fortune.”

Kotb, of course, did not allude to any drama behind the scenes when she announced her retirement.

“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said, per Today.com. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”

She also told Jenna Bush Hager that the decision “weighed a lot” on her.

Kotb is currently set to stay on The Today Show and Today With Hoda & Jenna through the end of year and the beginning of 2025. Her exit from the show means NBC will have to find suitable talent to fill both roles.

But Kotb won’t be going too far after her retirement. She said in her statement that she plans to “remain part of the NBC family,” so there is always hope that we’ll be seeing more of her down the line.