Ranked: The World’s Highest-Earning Podcasters in 2026
Key Takeaways
- Joe Rogan leads the ranking with estimated annual earnings of $82 million.
- TBPN hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hayes rank second at $70 million following the podcast’s acquisition by OpenAI in 2026.
- The top 20 span true crime, sports, business, politics, self-improvement, and pop culture, with every entry earning at least $18 million annually.
Podcasting’s biggest names are now earning tens of millions of dollars a year, fueled by major distribution agreements, advertising, and increasingly valuable audiences.
This graphic ranks the 20 highest-earning podcasters in 2026 using the latest available annual earnings estimates from Forbes.
Joe Rogan: The Undisputed King of Podcasting
Joe Rogan’s estimated $82 million in annual earnings puts him $12 million ahead of second-place John Coogan and Jordi Hayes of TBPN. The comedian, sports commentator, and former television host launched The Joe Rogan Experience on Christmas Eve 2009.
Much of Rogan’s earning power comes from his distribution deal with Spotify, which he first signed for a reported $200 million in 2020 and later renewed in 2024 for a reported $250 million.
The table below ranks the 20 highest-earning podcasters in 2026 based on annual earnings.
| Rank | Podcaster | Podcast | Annual Earnings (millions $) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Rogan | The Joe Rogan Experience | 82 |
| 2 | John Coogan, Jordi Hayes | TBPN | 70 |
| 3 | Steven Bartlett | The Diary of a CEO | 45 |
| 4 | Ashley Flowers | Crime Junkie | 42 |
| 5 | Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes | SmartLess | 37 |
| 6 | Mel Robbins | The Mel Robbins Podcast | 35 |
| 7 | Jason and Travis Kelce | New Heights | 35 |
| 8 | Alex Cooper | Call Her Daddy | 32 |
| 9 | Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, and Tommy Vietor | Pod Save America | 28 |
| 10 | Charlamagne Tha God | The Breakfast Club | 27 |
| 11 | Dax Shepard | Armchair Expert | 25 |
| 12 | Amy Poehler | Good Hang | 24 |
| 13 | Bill Simmons | The Bill Simmons Podcast | 22 |
| 14 | Jay Shetty | On Purpose | 21 |
| 15 | Joe Budden | The Joe Budden Podcast | 20 |
| 16 | Tucker Carlson | The Tucker Carlson Show | 20 |
| 17 | Scott Galloway | The Prof G Pod | 19 |
| 18 | Andrew Huberman | The Huberman Lab Project | 18 |
| 19 | Dan Katz, Eric Sollenberger | Pardon My Take | 18 |
| 20 | Hannah Berner, Paige DeSorbo | Giggly Squad | 18 |
The Joe Rogan Experience has been the most-streamed podcast on Spotify since 2020, helping explain the scale of Rogan’s earning power.
While initially focused on pop culture and sports talk, JRE has become increasingly popular for its interviews with famous and at times controversial figures such as Elon Musk and Kanye West. Politicians including Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and JD Vance have also made Rogan’s podcast a common stop on campaign trails.
Interviews and Tech
Rogan is not the only podcaster to benefit from big-name interviews. Brothers Jason and Travis Kelce ($35 million) saw their sports podcast, New Heights, soar in popularity following an appearance by Travis’s fiancée, global pop star Taylor Swift, in August 2025.
Meanwhile, British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett’s podcast, The Diary of a CEO, is known for its wide-ranging interviews with businesspeople, celebrities, actors, and politicians. Bartlett earns an estimated $45 million annually.
A different model has emerged with the technology podcast TBPN, which was acquired by OpenAI in 2026. Hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hayes earn an estimated $70 million annually from their Silicon Valley-focused podcast.
Pop Culture and Culture Wars
The highest-earning podcasters cover a wide range of topics. Ashley Flowers ($42 million) hosts the weekly true-crime podcast Crime Junkie, while Alex Cooper ($32 million), host of Call Her Daddy, has been called the most popular podcaster among young women.
Some major podcasters transitioned from other careers, particularly in pop culture. New Jersey rapper Joe Budden ($20 million) launched his self-titled podcast in February 2015. More than a decade later, the JBP, as it is known, remains a rare podcast that is fully independent of a major corporation.
Tucker Carlson ($20 million) launched The Tucker Carlson Show in 2023 shortly after he was fired by Fox News. The political podcast has helped the conservative commentator build a large audience across YouTube.
Taken together, the ranking shows how broadly podcasting’s biggest earners are spread across genres, from sports and true crime to business, technology, politics, and pop culture.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To see which podcasts dominate Spotify, check out this graphic on Voronoi.
