Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer was a television news anchor and a co-host of NBC's Today, from 1997 until 2017, when he was abruptly fired by the network in for "inappropriate sexual conduct." Lauer went to Ohio University to study communications, but dropped out to pursue a TV career (he was later awarded a degree in 1997). He worked mostly on the east coast, spending time as an on-air host and anchor in Providence, Boston and New York City, finally becoming a news co-anchor on New York's WNBC in 1992. Lauer spent the early 1990s anchoring various news shows for NBC, and in 1997 was hired as co-anchor of Today, with Katie Couric. When Couric stepped down in 2006, Lauer became NBC's star attraction. Lauer was host of their Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast, and co-hosted coverage for every Olympics after 2008. Matt Lauer signed a contract with NBC in 2012 that reportedly paid him $20 million a year; in 2016, Lauer negotiated a new contract through 2018 that paid him $25 million per year. The network announced his firing on 29 December 2017.