Joe Kernen Biography, Age, Family, Wife, Salary and Business Career
Andrew Adams
Published Jan 05, 2026
Joe Kernen Biography
Joe Kernen whose full name is Joseph Richard Kernen is an American news anchor working for the business news channel, CNBC. He co-hosts the CNBC business news TV program titled Squawk Box. At his workplace, he is also known as “The Kahuna.”
Joe Kernen Age
The business news anchor is 63 years old as of 2019. He was born on 6th January 1956 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.
Joe Kernen Family and Education
Kernen was born to Joe Blake Kernen and grew in the Western Hills section of Cincinnati, Ohio. He went to St. Xavier High School and in 1974, he graduated. He also has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and a master’s degree in molecular biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on cancer research.
As he studied for his undergraduate degree, he worked at the MIT Center for Cancer Research, focusing on mouse erythroleukemia cells. This led him to write a series of publications in well-known scientific journals including CELL, Developmental Biology and Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology.
Joe Kernen Wife | Who is Joe Kernen married to?
Kernen’s wife is known as Penelope Scott. She is a former commodities trader from Short Hills, New Jersey and they got married in 1998 on a golf course. The couple met in 1996 on CNBC when Penelope joined the channel. They have a daughter by the name Blake Kernen.
Joe Kernen Business Career
Kernen began his career in a business-oriented field as a stockbroker and worked as the same for 10 years. He had risen to the level of being the vice-president at both EF Hutton and Smith Barney. His focus was on small and medium-sized corporations for which he managed the corporate cash accounts and also qualified their retirement plans as well as the personal assets of key employees.
He joined CNBC in 1991 during the merger with Financial News Network, having joined FNN earlier on. He then worked as the editor of the channel’s On-Air Stock program and also featured throughout the business day on CNBC. He then became a co-anchor of Squawk Box (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET), a morning program on CNBC. The program focuses on the world of Wall Street and is fast-paced. It is also the longest running show on the network. Kernen’s work station is based in CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
During the fiscal cliff crisis, Kernen began a “Rise Above” campaign at CNBC to pressure Congress to cut spending in 2012.
Joe Kernen Books
Kernen authored a book in 2011 by the name Your Teacher Said What?!: Defending Our Kids from the Liberal Assault on Capitalism. The book was also co-authored with his then 5th grade daughter Blake.
How tall is Joe Kernen? – Height
Kernen is 5 feet and 11 inches tall in height.
What is Joe Kernen’s Salary and Net Worth? | How much does Joe Kernen make on CNBC?
As of 2018, the CNBC news anchor has a net worth of $14 Million. From his 3 hours-long show, Kernen earns an annual salary of $2 Million.
Joseph Richard Kernen‘s Twitter
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