Wendy Williams Cannot Directly Access What Money She Has Left — What Is Her Net Worth?

Life has not always been easy for Wendy Williams. Despite an incredible career in the entertainment industry that included successful runs as a radio host at various stations, followed by her own talk show, Wendy has struggled. In April 2019, she filed for divorce from her husband of more than 20 years. Around this time, Wendy entered rehab to address her addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs.

Perhaps the biggest blow to her life was the cancellation of The Wendy Williams Show in June 2022. According to a profile done by The Hollywood Reporter, the final days of the show were messy. Her sobriety was tenuous at best, and several times executives had to make a game-day decision about letting Wendy go live. Two months after the show ended, Wendy was back in rehab. Currently, she is under a guardianship filed by Wells Fargo. What does this mean for her finances? Let's get into Wendy's net worth.

According to Celebrity Net Worth Wendy is worth $500,000, though her fortune was previously estimated to be $20 million. While filming the controversial 2024 documentary What Happened to Wendy Williams?, Wendy admitted that she "has no money," so the updated figure might make sense.

Most of her financial gain came from hosting and executive-producing The Wendy Williams Show. As a host, Wendy earned $55,000 an episode, or about $10 million annually. She also had her own radio show for over a decade before she transitioned to television.

When Wendy went on hiatus from her show due to her medical issues, she also stopped earning her episodic salary.

Celebrity Net Worth reported that while on her break, she had a dispute with her bank, Wells Fargo. According to the report, Wendy’s bank froze her financial accounts in 2022 under the advisement of the host’s former financial adviser, Lori Schiller. She is now under a guardianship initiated by Wells Fargo and her family has no say in Wendy's financial and health matters. (More on Wendy's health matters in a moment.)

On Feb. 22, 2024, Wendy’s care team revealed the former talk show host had been diagnosed with progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Per Johns Hopkins Medicine, FTD is “a group of disorders that occur when nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are lost.” This form of dementia can affect a person’s behavior, personality, speech, and physical abilities.

Although Wendy's diagnosis came in 2023 after undergoing several medical tests, it wasn't made available to the public until 2024. In the press release, her care team noted, "Wendy is still able to do many things for herself. Most importantly she maintains her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed."

In May 2024, The New York Post reported that Wendy's guardian had sold her Manhattan penthouse. The penthouse in the Financial District Property was one of Wendy's prized possessions. The 2,400 square foot home was where she filmed most of her Lifetime documentaries and included stunning amenities, such as a "spacious living/dining room area, an open kitchen replete with custom stained walnut cabinetry, granite countertops, and top-of-the-line Miele and Sub-Zero appliances."

Wendy was reportedly "incapacitated" during the sale of the residence and needed her guardian to step in. The guardian sold the home for $3.75 million, an $822,000 decrease from what Wendy initially paid when she bought the penthouse. Before the sale, Wendy planned to move and had removed several of her personal belongings, including her iconic purple "Hot Topics" chair, from the premises.

“Wendy’s dream has always been to live in Manhattan in a dream apartment, but she never got a chance to do so," a source said. "It is a very unfortunate situation.”

Things took a turn for Wendy when she fainted on-air in 2017. It was during the Halloween episode of her show, which prompted clips of that moment to hit social media at a frightening speed. Over the next four years, Wendy's health declined rapidly. Some of it had to do with her addiction issues but she was also battling Graves’ disease (an autoimmune disorder affecting the thyroid) and lymphedema (a build-up of lymph fluid that can lead to swelling, often in arms and legs).

By September 2021, the show's staff was looking forward to kicking of Season 13. Unfortunately, Wendy wasn't well enough for a promo shoot or various promotional appearances. Sadly photos of Wendy wearing blue hospital booties popped up online. The Daily Mail shared photos of the talk show host walking the damp streets of New York City in nothing but a robe and hospital socks. She then contracted COVID-19 which led to the decision to bring on some guests hosts.

For three months, executives were unable to reach Wendy. They would call her cell phone but she never answered; all the while, stations were putting pressure on the show to figure something out. Finally in February 2022, they decided to end The Wendy Williams Show after its thirteenth season.