Quick Summary
Pat Robertson spent more than sixty years turning a single bankrupt UHF station in Virginia into a broadcasting, education, and media empire…
Pat Robertson spent more than sixty years turning a single bankrupt UHF station in Virginia into a broadcasting, education, and media empire — and by the time he passed away in 2023, that empire had made him one of the wealthiest religious figures in American history. Unlike a lot of “net worth” subjects, Robertson’s fortune isn’t a mystery built entirely on guesswork: there’s a single, well-documented event that explains most of it, plus decades of institution-building underneath that. This guide walks through all of it — his salary sources, the family wealth around him, the deal that changed everything, and what’s happened to his empire since he died.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson |
| Born | March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia |
| Died | June 8, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Virginia (age 93) |
| Education | B.A. in History, Washington and Lee University; law degree, Yale Law School; Master of Divinity, New York Theological Seminary (1959) |
| Military service | U.S. Marine Corps, Korean War |
| Known for | Founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN); host of The 700 Club; founder of Regent University; 1988 Republican presidential candidate |
| Wife | Adelia “Dede” Robertson (married August 1954; she passed away in 2022, one year before him) |
| Children | Timothy, Elizabeth, Gordon, and Ann Robertson |
| Pat Robertson net worth at death | Approximately $100 million |
Pat Robertson Net Worth at Death
When Pat Robertson died on June 8, 2023, Celebrity Net Worth and most major outlets reporting on his passing put his net worth at roughly $100 million. A handful of more recent estimates published in 2025–2026 push the figure slightly higher, to around $120 million, once you factor in the continued value of his media holdings and real estate. Either way, the range sits firmly in nine figures — a fortune built over roughly six decades rather than a single windfall, even though one enormous deal (below) did more heavy lifting than everything else combined.
Early Life and Military Service
Robertson wasn’t born into broadcasting — he was born into politics. His father, Absalom Willis Robertson, was a sitting U.S. Senator from Virginia, which put young Pat around public life from childhood. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Washington and Lee University, then served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War before returning home in 1952.
After his military service, Robertson went to Yale Law School and earned a law degree — but rather than practicing law, he pivoted toward ministry, eventually earning a Master of Divinity from a New York seminary in 1959. That mix of legal training, political upbringing, and theological education turned out to be exactly the skill set needed to build and legally structure a media empire from scratch a few years later.
Career Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1959 | Earns Master of Divinity; decides to enter ministry rather than practice law |
| 1960–1961 | Founds the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) after buying a bankrupt television station, WYAH-TV, in Portsmouth, Virginia |
| 1966 | Launches The 700 Club, CBN’s flagship program, which he hosts on and off for the next 55 years |
| 1977 | Founds CBN University (renamed Regent University in 1989); CBN’s cable channel becomes the first direct-to-cable, satellite-delivered network in the U.S. |
| 1988 | Runs for the Republican presidential nomination, finishing second in the Iowa caucuses |
| 1990 | Founds the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian legal advocacy organization |
| 1997 | Sells International Family Entertainment (the parent company of the Family Channel) to Fox Kids Worldwide for approximately $1.9 billion |
| 2007 | Steps down as CBN’s chief executive; son Gordon Robertson takes over as CEO |
| October 2021 | Steps down as daily host of The 700 Club at age 91 |
| June 8, 2023 | Dies at his home in Virginia Beach at age 93 |
The $1.9 Billion Family Channel Sale — The Single Biggest Payday
If there’s one event that explains the bulk of Pat Robertson’s net worth, it’s this one. In 1997, Robertson sold International Family Entertainment — the holding company behind the Family Channel, which had grown out of CBN’s original cable network — to Fox Kids Worldwide in a deal valued at approximately $1.9 billion. Robertson personally reportedly netted around $227 million from the transaction.
That single sale is worth understanding in context: CBN’s cable channel had become so commercially successful that it could no longer legally remain under a tax-exempt religious charity structure, which is part of why it was spun off as a separate for-profit entity in the first place — and why it was sellable at all. Everything else in Robertson’s financial history (book royalties, speaking fees, CBN compensation) is meaningful, but nothing else comes close to the scale of this one deal.
Pat Robertson Salary and Income Breakdown
| Income Source | What’s Known |
|---|---|
| 1997 Family Channel sale | The single largest event in his financial history — an estimated $227 million personal payout |
| CBN executive compensation | Decades of salary as founder and CEO of CBN before stepping down in 2007; exact figures were never fully public given CBN’s nonprofit structure |
| Book royalties | Multiple bestselling books over his career contributed ongoing royalty income |
| Regent University | As founder, his role in building the university’s endowment and campus added to his broader institutional wealth and legacy, even if not directly to personal salary |
| Real estate | Reports referenced a Virginia Beach residence and other private properties tied to his personal wealth |
| Speaking and media appearances | Decades as a nationally recognizable religious and political figure supported paid speaking engagements throughout his career |
Pat Robertson Wife and Family Net Worth
Robertson married Adelia “Dede” Elmer in August 1954, after meeting her while she was studying for her master’s degree in nursing. The marriage lasted 68 years, ending only when Dede passed away in 2022 — just one year before Pat himself died in 2023. Together they had four children: Timothy, Elizabeth, Gordon, and Ann Robertson, along with 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren by the time of his death.
The Robertson family net worth extends well beyond Pat’s personal fortune because of how the institutions he built were structured to continue under family leadership. His son Gordon Robertson succeeded him as CEO of CBN in 2007 and continues to run the network, meaning the family’s financial and institutional influence didn’t end with Pat’s death — it transferred directly to the next generation rather than being liquidated or sold off.
Regent University and CBN Net Worth Today
Two of Robertson’s biggest legacies aren’t personal bank accounts — they’re institutions that still operate and hold substantial assets in their own right. Regent University, founded in 1977 in Virginia Beach, has grown into a fully accredited Christian university with multiple graduate programs, and its endowment and campus assets represent a major part of Robertson’s lasting financial legacy, separate from his personal net worth. CBN itself remains an active global broadcasting operation with media holdings across the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia, and Africa, still led by Gordon Robertson.
Neither of these is “Pat Robertson’s net worth” in the personal sense — they’re nonprofit and institutional assets — but they’re frequently confused with his personal fortune in search results, so it’s worth being clear: the $100–120 million figure refers to his personal estate, not the total asset value of everything he founded.
The 1988 Presidential Campaign
In 1988, Robertson made a serious run for the Republican presidential nomination, drawing on the evangelical political base he’d spent two decades building through CBN. He finished second in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of then–Vice President George H.W. Bush, before ultimately losing the nomination. The campaign didn’t directly build his net worth, but it cemented his status as one of the most influential figures in the modern Christian right — a status that fed back into CBN’s reach, ACLJ’s founding two years later, and the broader platform that made the 1997 Family Channel sale possible in the first place.
Controversies Worth Knowing
Robertson’s wealth and influence came alongside a long history of controversial on-air statements, which is relevant context for anyone researching him rather than just his bank balance. Over the decades he made a number of widely criticized remarks on The 700 Club, including comments calling for the assassination of a foreign head of state in 2005 and repeated statements about LGBTQ+ people that drew significant public backlash. These controversies didn’t derail his business empire, but they’re a consistent part of his public record and worth including in any complete profile of him.
Death and Legacy
Pat Robertson died on June 8, 2023, at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at age 93. His son Gordon announced the news on The 700 Club, saying the family had gathered at his bedside in his final days. Robertson had faced two serious health incidents in his final years — a horseback riding fall in 2017 and a stroke in 2018 — but remained active in ministry for most of that period, only stepping down as daily host of The 700 Club in October 2021, at 91.
His legacy is unusually concrete for a media figure: CBN, Regent University, and the American Center for Law and Justice all continue operating today, run in large part by people he trained or family members he installed, which is a rarer outcome than it sounds — most personality-driven media empires struggle to survive their founder’s death intact.
FAQ
What was Pat Robertson’s net worth when he died? Approximately $100 million at the time of his death in June 2023, according to Celebrity Net Worth and most major outlets. More recent 2025–2026 estimates place it slightly higher, around $120 million.
How did Pat Robertson make most of his money? The single largest event was the 1997 sale of International Family Entertainment (the Family Channel) to Fox Kids Worldwide for approximately $1.9 billion, from which Robertson personally netted an estimated $227 million.
Who is Pat Robertson’s wife? Adelia “Dede” Robertson, whom he married in August 1954. They were married for 68 years until her death in 2022.
How many children did Pat Robertson have? Four: Timothy, Elizabeth, Gordon, and Ann Robertson, along with 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
Who runs CBN now? His son, Gordon Robertson, who succeeded Pat as CEO in 2007 and continues to lead the network.
Did Pat Robertson run for president? Yes — he ran for the Republican nomination in 1988 and finished second in the Iowa caucuses.
What is Regent University’s connection to Pat Robertson’s net worth? He founded it in 1977 as CBN University, later renamed Regent University. It’s a separate institutional asset, not part of his personal net worth figure.
How did Pat Robertson die? He died on June 8, 2023, at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at age 93. A specific cause of death was not publicly disclosed.
What was Pat Robertson’s salary at CBN? His exact CBN salary was never fully public, since CBN operated as a nonprofit broadcasting organization for most of his tenure as founder and CEO.
Bottom Line
Pat Robertson’s roughly $100 million net worth breaks down into one massive, well-documented windfall — the 1997 Family Channel sale — sitting on top of six decades of institution-building that most “net worth” figures never get credit for, because it went into universities and legal foundations instead of a personal bank account. It’s a genuinely unusual case: a fortune built by a single person that was already structured, well before his death, to keep running under his family and successors instead of disappearing with him.
Eden Pen is a storyteller passionate about spreading positivity. As a contributor to Blessed Pocket, she crafts heartfelt content designed to encourage, inspire, and brighten your day, one word at a time.
Eden Pen
<a href="https://blessedpocket.com">Eden Pen</a> is a storyteller passionate about spreading positivity. As a contributor to Blessed Pocket, she crafts heartfelt content designed to encourage, inspire, and brighten your day, one word at a time.
