Kari Clark is a successful American businesswoman and TV assistant. She has worked on several TV shows, such as Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and the film The Fast Money Club.
She is best known for being the wife of the famous TV presenter Dick Clark. Her net worth is approximately $200 million.
| Name | Karen L. Wigton (Kari Clark) |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth: | October 20th, 1945 (76 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | St. Cloud, Minnesota |
| Height: | 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 meters) |
| Profession: | Businesswoman, TV assistant |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Children: | 3 (step-children) |
| Parents: | Mother and father’s name unknown |
| Net Worth Estimate: | $200 million |
Net Worth
It is unclear what Clark’s exact net worth is. However, sources suggest that it is approximately $200 million.
Part of Clark’s net worth comes from her work as a TV assistant. She has worked with MTV for the Video Music Awards, the American Music Awards, and the Golden Globe Awards. She has also worked as a producer and made TV appearances as herself.
Most of Clark’s net worth comes from her late husband, Dick Clark, who owned Dick Clark Productions. Clark does not own a company herself, although she does run a non-profit organization named ‘Kari and Dick Clark Foundation.’
Company
Clark owns the non-profit organization ‘Karl and Dick Clark Foundation,’ which works as a private grant-making foundation. As this organization publicly files its revenue with the IRS, we can see the exact figures throughout the Foundation’s history.
The company was established in 2009 but claimed no revenue for this year nor for 2010. They also did not claim any assets. From 2011 to 2012, the foundation did not receive any revenue but did note that the total assets equaled $1.
In 2013, the Foundation recorded a revenue of $2,512,578 and expenses of $1,011,474, the majority of which were charitable disbursements. The Foundation claimed $1,501,104 in assets and total liability of $1.
This revenue reduced the following year significantly to $152,368, with total expenses of $1,021,912.
The total assets were reduced to $589,794, while total liabilities were $5,455. In 2015, the total revenue increased to $13,683,965, although the total expenses remained relatively constant at $1,128,985. The Foundation reported total assets at $13,059,464 and liabilities of $1.
In 2016, the Foundation had $1,609,284 in total revenue and $1,178,493 in expenses, while the assets were $13,442,044. These figures remained almost the same from 2017 to 2018.
In 2019, the Foundation’s revenue was $496,621 with expenses of $342,015. For the organization’s most recent filings in 2020, the total revenue was $102,634 and expenses of $390,235. The total assets have remained mostly stable since 2016.
Earnings
In the 1960s, Clark was an assistant for Senator Quentin Burdick. Her exact salary is unknown, although someone working in this position today earns approximately $45,000.
In 1968, Clark began working for her future husband, Dick Clark. It is unknown what her job title was, although it was likely to be a production assistant. Currently, an assistant at Dick Clark Productions is speculated to receive a salary between $39,021 and $56,414.
In 1976, Clark appeared on the game show ‘Tattletales,’ along with her husband. It is unknown how much she was paid for this appearance.
Clark worked as an assistant for the executive producers of the TV movie, The Demon Murder Case.
As Dick Clark Productions produced the film, Clark’s salary likely remained the same.
In the 1980s, Clark was a researcher for the Annual American Music Awards. Although Clark’s exact salary is unknown, the Awards had an average viewership of 30 million at this time, suggesting high box office returns. She also worked as her husband’s and other producers’ assistant for the Annual Golden Globe Awards, which similarly had around 22 million viewers.
Clark continued working as a production assistant for the show American Bandstand, which averaged approximately 20 million viewers. She worked in this position for several other television shows, including The Olsen Twins Mother’s Day Special, Rudy Coby: Ridiculously Dangerous and the Annual Soap Opera Awards.
Clark did not work in the production industry again until 2018 when she was the co-producer for the documentary film, The Fast Money Club. The film had an estimated budget of approximately $225,000.
Although Clark owns the Kari and Dick Clark Foundation, the filed IRS reports indicate that she does not get any compensation from them.
Real Estate
Clark currently lives in New York with her step-children, although the exact location is unknown.
Previously, Clark lived in Burbank with her husband, although the house details are unknown. They later lived in Encino, California, in a house on Ventura Boulevard. Properties in this era currently sell for approximately $4 to 6 million.
The couple owned a holiday house in Malibu, which famous architect Phillip Jon Brown designed. The house had one bedroom with two bathrooms and featured a wine cellar, bar, and fireplace.
It was 23 acres in size and included special land for horse riding. The house was also listed as a landmark building in Malibu. Clark originally put the house on the market in 2012 for $3.5 million.
However, she reduced it to $1,777,777 and eventually sold the property in 2014.
Early life
Clark was born October 20th, 1945, in St Cloud, Minnesota and her parents’ names are unknown. However, Clark’s mother was a teacher and worked in St Cloud, later working in Steele, North Dakota.
She attended the St. Cloud Tech High School and, in 1959, she became the Homecoming Queen. She graduated from this school in 1960. In 1964, Clark studied at North Dakota State University, however, her final grade and subjects are unknown.
Career
During the 1960s, Clark began her work as an assistant for Senator Quentin Burdick. He represented Dakota and North Dakota. This position gave Clark valuable experience of being an assistant, and she later became a TV production assistant in the late-1960s.
In 1968, Clark began working for Dick Clark Productions, where she met her husband. She eventually married him and appeared on several episodes of the game show Tattletales in 1976. She appeared as herself, along with her husband, for this show. She was an assistant to Dick Clark for the music show American Bandstand and its 30th anniversary special.
She also worked as an assistant on the TV movies The Demon Murder Case, Uncensored Channels: TV Around the World with George Plimpton, and the Golden Globe Awards. Clark was a researcher for the Annual American Music Awards for several years.
During the 1990s, Clark continued to work as an assistant to her husband for Rudy Coby: Ridiculously Dangerous, the Olsen Twins Mother’s Day Special and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. Her final assistant job was in 2002 for the 50th anniversary of American Bandstand.
Clark did not work in production again until 2018 when she was the co-producer for the documentary The Fast Money Club. She has not worked in any film capacity since then.
Career Highlights
- Assistant to Senator Quentin Burdick
- In 1968, joined Dick Clark Productions as an assistant
- Worked as an assistant for American Bandstand, The Demon Murder Case, and Golden Globe Awards
- Worked as a researcher for American Music Awards
- Worked as husband’s assistant for many years
- Created Kari and Dick Clark Foundation in 2009
- In 2018, co-producer for The Fast Money Club
Personal Life
Clark met her husband, TV presenter Dick Clark, in 1970 and the pair got married at 7 PM on July 7th, 1977. They specifically chose this date because they both believed that 7 is a special number. The pair stayed married until Dick’s death on April 18th, 2012.
Through Dick, Clark became the step-mother of Duane, Cindy, and Richard A. Clark. Clark also has three step-grandchildren and owned dogs when Dick was alive.
Clark’s mother died in 2004. Clark is a Christian, although it is unclear if she is devoutly religious.
Interesting Facts
- In 2020, a documentary titled “Autopsy: The Last Hours of…” showed the death of Dick Clark. In this episode, Kari Clark was played by Andromeda Godfrey.
- Up until he died in 2012, Kari and Dick spent almost all of their time together, even when they were working.
- Clark does not have any public social media accounts.
- Some of Clark’s hobbies include cooking, reading books, and gardening.
- In 2020, the City of Burbank in California aimed to create a dog park in Johnny Carson Park. Clark gave a “generous donation” to the group and, to show their gratitude, the City named the bank after her late husband. She made several charitable donations before, such as in 2013 when she gave $5 million to the Newhouse School
Kari Clark and @dclarkp are donating $5 million to the Newhouse studio renovations and they will be named the Dick Clark studios. #mirrors13
— Newhouse School (@NewhouseSU) June 5, 2013
Summary
Kari Clark is a television assistant, researcher, and businesswoman. She has worked primarily for Dick Clark Productions as an assistant to her famous husband, Dick Clark.
She has also produced a movie and owns the non-profit organization ‘Kari and Dick Clark Foundation.’ She has a net worth of approximately $200 million.