Jay Leno Tonight Show paychecks 🚗

    by Freddenver: Jay Leno

    Jay Leno revealed that during his 22-year run hosting the Tonight Show, he never touched a single paycheck from it. He explained, "My rule since I got two jobs when I was a kid: I'd bank one and spend the other, so as the highest paid man in the late night I lived entirely off my weekend stand up gigs." He added that he performed 150-200 shows a year at clubs and theaters.

    Transcript (en)

    I saved some money. I bought a 34 Ford pickup truck that I worked on for two years until I was able to get my license. My first job was probably working at McDonald's. Well I had two first jobs. I worked at McDonald's, I worked at a place called Wimington Ford and I would alternate between the two. So it was cars and hamburgers which are actually still two of my passions. I was about 16 years old because that's when I got my social security card and that's when I went to work. Well the best part of the job was I got to drive all kinds of cool cars. You know when you're 16 you don't have a lot of options when you come from a little town in Massachusetts. When I worked at Wilmington Ford, they would all get all kinds of Mustangs and high-performance vehicles in. So I was the lot boy. I would take them around to get them washed and go the long way around. Down the street, around the back and up the long straightaway. You know just stuff like that. The worst part was getting cars.