Insider EIC Carlson’s salary is $600,000

Nicholas Carlson

Insider editor in chief Nicholas Carlson earns a $600,000 annual salary, reports Tarpley Hitt of Gawker.

Hitt reports, “Carlson’s salary, for those wondering about his salary journey, is $600,000, with an annual bonus of $600,000 (the spreadsheet indicates that his last bonus went out on Jan. 1, 2019). Pretty good for the leader of the newsroom. According to the Economic Research Institute, the average newspaper editor-in-chief in the U.S. makes $107,766 a year, with an average bonus of $3,933. Glassdoor’s estimated average salary for an editor-in-chief in New York City is $95,936, with a base pay of $75,968 and an average additional pay of $19,969. Of course, the title’s meaning varies, and not all EICs are in charge of 600-odd people, like Carlson. But still, pretty good.

“In a comment to Gawker, Insider Inc. CEO Henry Blodget wrote that ‘Carlson is one of the most talented and effective builder-editors in the industry. He joined us 14 years ago, after starting his career as a writer at Gawker earning $12 per post with no benefits. [Ed. Note: Point taken.] Since then, he has helped us grow into a leading global news organization with 650 journalists. Our industry is intensely competitive, and, like all the other talented people at Insider, Nicholas can choose where he works. We are fortunate to have him and everyone else on our team.’

“In fairness, Insider’s lower-ranking editors also make much more than the reported median which, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was $63,400 for editors in 2020. To protect their privacy, we will not be disclosing the names or salaries of anyone below Carlson (with one exception). But the lower-ranking editors-in-chiefs made between $202,274 and $399,999.84 a year, with bonuses ranging from $40,000 to $125,000. And at least four dozen top editors — whose titles ranged from executive editor, managing editor, bureau chief, and deputy editor — take home salaries between $175,000 and $300,000.”