Mark Harmon has been acting since the 1970s, working in every genre from period Westerns (Wyatt Earp) to family films (Freaky Friday). But the industry vet will always be best known for playing Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the CBS hit NCIS.
Mark Harmon’s net worth is astonishing—and his NCIS salary has a lot to do with it. Brace yourself, and find out just how big his fortune is.
Mark Harmon Earned A Pretty Penny Starring On ‘NCIS’ Since 2003
NCIS, a spin-off of the CBS legal drama JAG, debuted on September 23, 2003. Since its inception, actor Mark Harmon has starred as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs—a U.S. Marine Corps gunnery sergeant and sniper-turned-special agent.
The procedural crime drama was originally slow to gain ratings. However, things turned around in Season 6 when it ranked the fifth most-watched series on television with 17.7 million total viewers (compared to 11.84 in Season 1).
By 2011, NCIS was named America’s Favorite TV Show by The Harris Poll. It edged out its own wildly popular network competitors, CSI and Two and a Half Men. It also spawned three spin-offs: NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans (which recently ended after seven seasons), and NCIS: Hawaii.
Harmon earned a 2017 People’s Choice Awards (and four nominations total) for his role as Gibbs. In addition to being the face of NCIS, he is also an executive producer for every series in the franchise, making him an instrumental piece of the overall NCIS brand.
All this success has definitely raked in a lot of dough for Harmon.
What Is Mark Harmon’s Net Worth?
As of today, Mark Harmon has an estimated net worth of $100 million. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he reportedly earns $525,000 per episode of NCIS. And in 2018, he was named the fifth highest-paid actor on TV by Time. His annual salary of $19 million came just behind four stars of The Big Bang Theory.
We wouldn’t even be surprised if the total was higher. After all, Harmon has an enormous body of work, and three shows in the franchise are already in syndication. The NCIS brand also monetizes via soundtracks, home media, and video and mobile games.
What’s particularly impressive is that Harmon doesn’t spend that fortune on extravagant things. Okay, it’s true that a 19-acre, $9 million Malibu estate hardly qualifies as humble digs. However, in a 2006 interview with Sunset, he shared simple passions: hanging in his 1972 Airstream trailer, carpentry, and rehabbing old homes.
“I got [the trailer] off a horse ranch in Arizona,” he said. “I originally figured I’d just replace the cabinet fronts. But it got more expensive … By film-set standards, the trailer is actually pretty small. But it’s completely practical.”