Tracy Morgan is a well-known actor, comedian, and author known for his unique delivery and candid demeanor. The Brooklyn native has a career with significant milestones and highlights across stand-up, television and movies including stints on ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL) and a lead role in ’30 Rock’, and of course his stand-up comedy.
While his acting and comedy are what he is most known for, his brush with fate when he was caught in a car accident with a Walmart shipping truck in 2014 put him even further in the spotlight. Morgan went on to make a full recovery and returned to acting as well as performing standup. With a career that spans nearly four decades and countless accolades, exactly how much is Tracy Morgan worth?
Tracy Morgan’s Early Life
Tracy Morgan was born in Brooklyn in 1969 and is the second of five children. He noted that he was often bullied at school. As is common with many comedians, his early life was often marked with tragedy. His parents separated when he was just six years old and by the time he was in high school, his father passed away from HIV because of drug use when he was a senior.
Ultimately, he dropped out of high school and married his high school sweetheart. To make ends meet, he turned to selling drugs but was not the most successful drug dealer. After friends urged him to pursue comedy thanks to his ability to make people laugh, he found that he could make a living from cracking jokes. Eventually, he moved from Brooklyn to the Bronx and was earning enough as a comedian to shift his family from a struggling neighborhood in the South Bronx by Yankee Stadium to the well-heeled neighborhood of Riverdale in the north Bronx.
Early Success And His Big Break
Tracy Morgan’s first foray into television was the sketch-comedy show “Uptown Comedy Club” which was filmed on location in Harlem. The show lasted for two seasons between 1992 and 1994 but was enough to make producers take notice of Morgan’s comedic abilities and timing. Longtime Tracy Morgan fans might remember him from the recurring character Hustle Man on “Martin” which he held from 1994 to 1996. The character was constantly peddling random items he discovered from around the neighborhood.
In 1996, Tracy Morgan joined the cast of SNL where he was a regular member until 2003. Shortly after, he launched his own show, “The Tracy Morgan Show” — but it was canceled after just one season.
Tracy Morgan Joins 30 Rock, The Last O.G. And Continues Stand-Up
In 2006, Tracy Morgan joined “30 Rock” where he played a caricature of himself through the character Tracy Jordan. The show ran through 2013 with Morgan being a main character throughout. His work on the show earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2009 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Five years after “30 Rock,” he went on to star in “The Last O.G.”, playing a newly released inmate who returns to his old Brooklyn neighborhood to find it (and his social circle) completely changed thanks to gentrification and life. The show ran from 2018 through 2021 for four seasons.
Throughout this time, Tracy Morgan continued to perform stand-up specials both on the circuit as well as on platforms like Comedy Central. He also managed cameo appearances on shows such as “Punk’d” and “Crank Yankers” and lent his voice to feature animations such as “Rio” and “Where My Dogs At?” He also appeared in numerous high-profile commercials for major franchise brands such as “NFL 2K”, “NBA 2K” and “NHL 2K.”
Tracy Morgan And Walmart Lawsuit
People who follow Tracy Morgan’s career will know that 2014 was a pivotal year for him. Specifically, he was one of several people left seriously injured in a multi-car crash with a Walmart shipping truck on the New Jersey Turnpike. Morgan survived but faced a long road to recovery.
He, along with many of the other injured individuals sued Walmart when it came to light that the multinational conglomerate had forced the driver of their truck to spend more time on the road than was legally allowed by the National Transportation Safety Board. While drivers are not supposed to drive more than a total of 14 hours per day, and 11 hours behind the wheel, the driver that day had been on the road since 11:20 AM the previous morning.
This was due to Walmart demanding that the trucker drive from his home in Jonesboro Arkansas to a Walmart distribution center in Smyrna, Delaware — despite other distribution centers being much closer to the driver’s home base. Ultimately, Walmart settled with Morgan and the other plaintiffs in the suit for an undisclosed amount.
Tracy Morgan’s Current Net Worth
At 54 years old, Tracy Morgan shows no signs of slowing down. His current net worth as of publication of this article (July 2024) is estimated at more than $75 million.
While much of this can be attributed to royalties from his television roles, as well as the undisclosed sum he received as part of the settlement from his crash with the Walmart truck, he is also a prolific investor. Specifically, Morgan has a diversified portfolio of real estate investments across the country and a car collection.
Many may ask, what is Tracy Morgan up to nowadays? Well, as of recently (May 2024), Paramount+ announced that Morgan will star in the upcoming half-hour comedy series ‘CRUTCH’, set in the world of CBS’ hit comedy ‘The Neighborhood’.
