Joe Rogan

Joseph James Rogan, recognized widely as Joe Rogan, is a UFC color commentator, podcaster, comedian, actor, and former television presenter.

About Joe Rogan

Introduction

Joseph James Rogan, recognized widely as Joe Rogan, is a UFC color commentator, podcaster, comedian, actor, and former television presenter. Rogan hosts a successful podcast named 'The Joe Rogan Experience’, where he discusses current events, humor, politics, philosophy, science, and hobbies, with his guests from across verticals. JRE podcast is available on both Spotify and YouTube. The multifaceted influencer is an accomplished martial artist and a proud black belt holder in Karate, Taekwondo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Net worth 2023

Joe Rogan has a reported net worth of $245 Million. The podcaster is currently believed to be one of the highest-earning artists on Spotify, earning $40 Million from the platform. Rogan is considered the wealthiest comedian too.

Assets (2023)

Joe Rogan owns assets worth $110 Million in total, including 15 cars, 2 yatchs, and 15 real estate properties.

Investments

He has made investments in some big companies across world, including Apple, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Ford, GE, Pfizer, etc.

Brand endorsements

On his social media channels and podcast, Rogan advertises over 15 different brands, including, 23andMe, C2O Coconut water, Athletic Greens, Audible and Blue Apron among others. Rogan is the brand ambassador for Onnit, a health supplement and fitness equipment company. He has a stake in the company too.

Early life, education and career

Rogan was born to Joseph Rogan Sr. and Susan Lembo in New Jersey. While Rogan’s father was a police officer, his mother’s occupation isn’t known. The couple got divorced in 1972, when Rogan was just 5 years old. The podcaster hasn’t been in touch or met his father since he was seven. According to Rogan, his father is an ‘Italian psycopath’, who was abusive and used to physically harm both him and his mother. When his mother couldn’t bear the domestic abuse, she filed for divorce. Rogan, along with his mother moved to San Francisco, California, where they lived till he was 11 years old. Around that time, his mother married his stepfather, a man Rogan describes as a "good guy."

Rogan had never thought of becoming a stand up comedian. Since childhood days, he wanted to take up kickboxing professionally. Being a big fan of Richard Pryor's comedy, he'd make jokes often, leaving people around him in splits. That’s when his gym buddies and Taekwondo friends from school convinced him to give stand up comedy a try.  Rogan started to take his comedy career seriously between 1980s and 1990s. Since then, he has signed many films and TV shows. In 1988, at 21, he performed his first stand-up show during an open-mic night at a Stitches comedy club in Boston. 

Rogan went to Newton South High School and then to the University of Mass Boston. He never finished college and dropped out to pursue career in MMA and stand up comedy at 24. The MMA star is a fitness freak, who trains regularly, practices yoga and lifts weight to stay healthy. He, however, has vitiligo, a milder version of the condition seen on his hands and feet.

Joe Rogan’s love for MMA and UFC

Rogan is a self-professed martial arts fanatic, who owes his success to 'great instructors'. At the tender age of 13, Rogan took up karate and joined his school's wrestling team. A year later, the young boy started practicing Taekwondo and participating in tournaments. Between the age of 15-19, Rogan made a name for himself after consecutively winning  Massachusetts Full Contact Taekwando Championship for 4 times. After that, there was no looking back for Rogan as the talented young boy went on to win US Open Taekwondo Championship in the lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight divisions. He also earned 2nd spot in the National Taekwondo Championship. 

Rogan's continued love for martial arts made him take up Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) in 1994. After acing Taekwondo, in 1997, Rogan chose kickboxing to grow further and learn new skill. He joined the UFC as the post-fight interviewer. He first trained with Carlson Gracie and in 1997, started practicing under Jean Jaques Machado. He also bagged 10th Planet black belt and Gi BJJ black belt under Eddie Bravo and Machado respectively. In 1999, at 21, after suffering from frequent headaches and setting an amateur 2-1 kickboxing record, he left the sport and started concentrating on comedy full time.

But, in 2001, UFC president Dana White convinced Rogan to rejoin the MMA promotion company as the color commentator for UFC 37.5. He worked at the UFC without pay for over a year, however, Rogan was compensated by being given free rides to venues and UFC tickets for him and his friends. He then eventually began to earn as a commentator at such events. The famed MMA artist is still a UFC color commentator with average income of of $50,000 per event.

Joe Rogan podcast: JRE

‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast, widely known as JRE, first came out on YouTube on December 24, 2009. Initially, comedian Brian Redban co-hosted the podcast with Rogan, as well as produced the show, but in 2012, Jamie Veron took on the responsibility of podcast production. Since then Rogan has hosted big names from across industries including Bernie Sanders, Edward Snowden, Mike Tyson, Kevin Hart and Elon Musk, among others. The guests generally discuss interesting topics across genres like science, sports, politics, entertainment, etc. By 2015, Rogan’s podcast had become one of the world's most popular podcasts. The much celebrated podcast was once described as a “boundary-free arena”. Rogan’s fans highly appreciate podcaster’s advocacy of free speech. In May 2020, Rogan inked $200 million deal with Spotify, giving exclusive distribution rights to the platform. This by far is believed to be the largest licensing agreements in the podcast industry. The JRE podcast is now available on Spotify and Youtube.

Joe Rogan’s wife and children

Rogan has been married to former model Jessica Ditzel for over 14 years now. Ditzel and Rogan met in 2001, when she was working as a cocktail waitress in Los Angeles. The couple dated for 8 years before tying the knot in 2009, after the birth of their first child. Their intimate wedding was attended by only close friends and family members. The couple has 2 children together. Not many know that Rogan has a third child. In 2009, right after the couple got married, Rogan legally adopted Ditzel’s child from her previous relationship with late H-Town singer Keven 'Dino' Conner.

Rogan’s wife has bachelor’s degree from California State University. In the past, Ditzel had also worked for M Model Management and a Korean brand called Wholesome. In 2005, Ditzel also appeared in a TV show 'Hollywood and Divine: Beauty Secrets Revealed'. She currently works as an account executive for a human resources consulting company, Robert Half Technology. The self made woman has reportedly never took advantage of her husband’s platform for any purpose till date.

Joe Rogan’s Controversies

Covid-19 Remarks

In April 2021, Joe Rogan's controversial remarks on Covid-19 vaccines sparked a significant backlash. He questioned the necessity of vaccination for young and healthy individuals, drawing criticism from AnthonyFauci, KateBedingfield, and the media. However, Rogan's stance transformed when he tested positive for the virus and shared a video detailing his treatment, including the controversial drug ivermectin. CNN faced criticism from Rogan for referring to ivermectin as a"horse dewormer." In January 2022, 270 scientists and healthcare professionals voiced their concerns about misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience in an open letter addressed to Spotify, calling it “false and societally harmful assertions". They specifically mentioned an episode featuring guest Robert W. Malone, where discussions around conspiracy theories and comparisons to the Holocaust took place.

The situation escalated when musician Neil Young threatened to remove his music from Spotify saying, "Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform", if action was not taken against Rogan's podcast, leading to the removal of Young's music and a show of support from Joni Mitchell, who withdrew her catalog. Rogan defended himself against accusations of spreading misinformation and committed to including disclaimers in his videos. Furthermore, he turned down a lucrative $100 million offer from Rumble, declining to switch platforms from Spotify. During a memorable episode of the podcast, Rogan playfully asked comedian Bill Burr about his stance on masks, prompting a humorous response that he doesn't seek medical advice from non-medical degree holders like himself but follows the news instead.

Use of racial slurs

In February 2022, Rogan was under fire for using ‘N-word’ multiple times in his JRE podcast. He issued an apology thereafter, calling those incidents and his language ‘regretful and shameful’. He went on to say that the clips were blown out of proportions and taken out of context. To clarify the misunderstanding, he also said he only quoted people who used the racial slur earlier. This came after singer India Arie shared a compilation of Rogan using the N-word. The footage posted by Arie was first published by the political action committee PatriotTakes, an affiliate of the liberal PAC MeidasTouch. Rogan dubbed the video compilation a “political hit job”. After acquiring exclusive rights of Rogan’s podcast, Spotify denied carrying 42 episodes that had “racially insensitive language”.