| Million Euros | |
| Million Euros | |
| birth date | May 18, 1950 (72 years old) |
| Born in | Bamberg, Germany |
| nationality | Germany |
| Marital status | in a relationship with Karina Mroß |
| profession | presenter, actor |
| Full name | Thomas Johannes Gottschalk |
| children | 2 (Roman, Tristan) |
| size | 1.92 m |
How rich is Thomas Gottschalk really?
Thomas Johannes Gottschalk was born on May 18, 1950 in Bamberg. His father, Hans Gottschalk, who came from Upper Silesia, was a lawyer. He fled Upper Silesia with his wife Rutila and eventually settled in Bamberg. Thomas Gottschalk has a younger brother, named Christoph, and a younger sister, Raphaela. As the son of a strictly Catholic family, Gottschalk worked as an altar boy from an early age. In his free time, Gottschalk liked to work as a local DJ. After graduating from high school, he studied history and German studies in Munich. Thomas Gottschalk ‘s estimated fortune is 90 million euros , of which around 40 million euros are real estate alone.
radio host
Gottschalk started his career as a radio presenter at Bayern 3 in 1971. At the end of the 1970s he was already presenting the radio show “Pop nach Acht” on Bayern 3. At the beginning of the 1980s, at the suggestion of Frank Elstner, he went to Radio Luxemburg. Here he quickly became known as “Mister Morning” and presented, among other things, the RTL hit parade. In 1983 Gottschalk went back to Bayerischer Rundfunk and became head of Bayern 3 . Gottschalk has been married to Thea, four years his senior, since 1976. In 1980, the couple adopted their son Tristan. In March 2019, it was announced that the couple had split after 42 years of marriage. With Karina Mroß, Thomas has a new friend at his side who works in controlling at SWR.
TV career and films
Gottschalk’s television career began in 1976 with short music clips and slapsticks. He acted as moderator of the call program Telespiele and in the preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest. He even received the Golden Camera for moderating “Thommy’s Pop Show” and “Well, something like that!”
Bet that…?
Gottschalk became famous through his moderation of the show ” Wetten dass…? “, which he managed from 1994 to 2011, also together with Michelle Hunziker. On November 7, 2021, the show made a big comeback for its 40th birthday, but only once. Superstars like Helene Fischer , Udo Lindenberg or the band ABBA were there in the anniversary edition. It remains to be seen at what intervals further shows will be produced. Another show was produced on November 19, 2022: guests like Robbie Williams , John Malkovic or Veronica Ferres are there.
Alone and together with Mike Krüger, Gottschalk made several successful films, acted as a producer and voice actor. Today Gottschalk is again active as a moderator for various television and radio stations, including Bayern 3. Gottschalk received numerous awards, honorary citizenships and prizes, including the Grimme Prize. Thomas Gottschalk is considered to be one of the most dazzling personalities on German television.
Salary & advertising deals: That’s how much Thomas Gottschalk earns
Since he took over the popular entertainment show “Wetten dass…?” from his predecessor Frank Elstner on September 27, 1987, Thomas Gottschalk has been one of the best-paid stars in German television. It is known, for example, that he received a fee of 100,000 euros for each broadcast of “Wetten dass…?” . He was able to maintain this level of income for decades. He moderated a total of 151 broadcasts of “Wetten dass…?”, which corresponds to income worth a total of 15.1 million euros over this period from the moderation of this broadcast alone. Gottschalk won a total of 1.5 million euros through his participation in the program “Who wants to be a millionaire?”, which he donated to the RTL foundation “We help children”.
Advertising contracts with Haribo, Walt Disney & Co.
From 1987 Thomas Gottschalk appeared several times in commercials for McDonald’s. He has been the face of Haribo commercials since 1991. Gottschalk also had cooperation and advertising contracts with Walt Disney. Both Haribo and Walt Disney paid him 1.5 million euros each for it . There are also advertising contracts with Deutsche Post AG. In order to bundle his advertising activities professionally, Gottschalk founded the company Dolce Media GmbH in 1999, which he manages. Dolce Media GmbH has already brokered advertising appearances by Günther Jauch , Stefan Raab and Verona Poth , among others. The company, which is based in Munich, also publishes advertising and TV supplements and held the marketing rights to “Wetten dass…?” for several years. The company is co-owned by Thomas Gottschalk and Deutsche Post AG. Gottschalk’s brother acts as managing director. In the year it was founded, 1999, Dolce Media GmbH generated sales of 10.5 million euros.
Where does Thomas Gottschalk live?
In 2004, Thomas Gottschalk acquired Schloss Marienfeld in Remagen (8,000 square meters of living space) for a total of 3.5 million euros . He had the building renovated and lived in it until 2012. He then sold the castle to Frank Asbeck for 6.2 million euros. In the spring of 2012 it became known that Gottschalk was looking for a villa in Potsdam. The Gottschalks ended up in Berlin in Prenzlauer Berg, where they rented a luxurious apartment. The (still) married couple also owns an apartment in New York. It remains to be seen which of the two will live in which domicile in the future.
According to “Bunte”, Thomas bought his wife Thea a new luxury villa in Malibu for $ 7.75 million after the breakup.
Mansion in Malibu (burned down in 2018)
For a long time, the Gottschalks’ primary residence was in Malibu, California . The couple owns a luxurious property there. In 2016 it was announced that pop star Miley Cyrus had bought the Gottschalk guest house for the equivalent of 2.26 million euros. Since the property borders directly on that of actor Liam Hemsworth, who was in a relationship with the singer at the time, this decision was obvious. Thea Gottschalk originally set up the 420 square meter guest house for her two sons, but they had other plans and built their own lives. Unfortunately, the entire property burned down in November 2018 due to California wildfires. The extent of the damage and whether the villa can be rebuilt remains to be seen.
Gottschalk’s private fortune is estimated at 90 million euros , which puts him ahead of Günther Jauch (estimated private fortune: 55 million euros). Thus, Thomas Gottschalk’s fortune roughly corresponds to that of Dieter Bohlen , which is estimated at almost 135 million euros and which Bohlen himself claims is greater than that of the former head of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann. The three veterans of German television not only have the same reputation, but also great wealth. In contrast to the two, you have to admit that Thomas Gottschalk is the most dazzling television star. The moderator stays true to his motto and is always unusually dressed. He always gets noticed!