Ali Velshi Biography
Ali Velshi is a Canadian television journalist who has worked for NBC News since October 2016 as a senior economic and business correspondent. Velshi is a New York-based artist. He was the Chief Business Correspondent for CNN, the anchor of CNN’s Your Money, and a co-host of CNN International’s weekday business show World Business Today.
Ali Velshi Age
Velshi is 52 years old as of 2021. He was born in 29 October 1969 in Nairobi.
Ali Velshi Height
Velshi stands at a height of 5 feet 10 inches.
Ali Velshi Family
Velshi is a Gujarati Muslim of Ismaili origin. He is the son of Murad Velshi, the first Indian-origin Canadian elected to the Ontario Legislative Assembly, and his South African-born wife, Mila. Velshi’s parents owned a bakery in South Africa, but when Apartheid became harsh in 1960, they relocated to Kenya. Velshi’s parents own a chain of travel firms in Toronto.
Velshi went to Northern Secondary School in Toronto, where he was voted as the school’s president. In 1994, he received a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. During his tenure at Queen’s, he made headlines by organizing anti-President Preston Manning and the Reform Party of Canada protests. He received the Queen’s University Alumni Achievement Award in 2010. His alma mater awarded him an honorary doctorate of laws in 2016.
Ali Velshi Wife
Velshi had a brief marriage when he was in his twenties. In 2009, he married Lori Wachs, the president of Philadelphia-based Cross Ledge Investments, a New York-born hedge fund manager whom he met when she was a guest on his show. The couple has only one kid, a girl. Velshi splits his time between a New York City apartment and his Montgomery County, Pennsylvania house.
Ali Velshi Al Jazeera
Velshi announced his departure from CNN on April 4, 2013, to join Al Jazeera America as the host of a weekly 30-minute magazine-style prime-time program called Real Money with Ali Velshi. He was the new channel’s first on-air personality to be hired. Velshi’s show will begin as a weekly show and will transition to a daily broadcast by the end of the year, according to the channel. Real Money with Ali Velshi premiered as a daily weekday show on August 20, 2013. The show resumed as Ali Velshi on Target on May 12, 2015. When Al Jazeera America shut down in April 2016, this show came to an end.
Ali Velshi MSNBC
Velshi joined MSNBC in October 2016, and he also serves as a Business Correspondent for MSNBC’s parent news division, NBC News. Velshi co-hosted the 1:00 p.m. ET MSNBC news show Velshi & Ruhle with Stephanie Ruhle, as well as his own 3:00 p.m. ET news show MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi. Velshi was also named as the Friday edition’s fill-in host of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. Velshi was relocated to weekend mornings in December 2019 with his own show, simply Velshi, a 2-hour solo act. In the weekday evening lineups, he continues to fill in for other hosts.
Ali Velshi Books
Velshi is represented by N.S. Bienstock, a literary agency in New York, and Greater Talent Network, a speaking agency. On January 2, 2009, his debut book, Gimme My Money Back: Your Guide to Surviving the Financial Crisis was released. In November 2011, John Wiley & Sons published his second book, How to Speak Money: The Language & Knowledge You Need Now, which he co-authored with longtime friend and co-anchor Christine Romans. Velshi has published sections for Money and Delta Sky magazines on a monthly basis.
Ali Velshi Salary
Velshi earns an annual salary of $ 72,507 thousand.
Ali Velshi Net Worth
Velshi has an estimated net worth of $5 million.
Ali Velshi Career
Velshi relocated to New York City in September 2001 to work for the business news channel CNNfn. Before the network’s closure in December 2004, he hosted many programs, including Insights, Business Unusual, Street Sweep, and Your Money, and co-hosted The Money Gang with Pat Kiernan. He was reassigned to CNN’s main network as a business anchor and correspondent, initially assigned to CNN’s early-morning show Daybreak. Velshi hosted 13 hour-long episodes of The Turnaround, a reality television show, in 2005, during which he traveled across America introducing small business owners who were facing challenges or seeking to grow their businesses to high-profile mentors who assisted them in developing a plan for success.
Velshi was assigned to the newly established The Situation Room from 2005 to 2006 after The Turnaround. Velshi joined American Morning in late 2006 as a business correspondent, then as a co-anchor in 2011. Velshi conducted a cross-country road trip in 2008 aboard the CNN Election Express, traveling from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Los Angeles, California, stopping along the way to speak with Americans about money difficulties. Velshi also spent ten days in rural Texas on the CNN Election Express before the state’s primary on March 4, 2008.
Velshi was a regular substitute anchor for CNN/US shows like American Morning. He co-hosted a business show called Your Money on Saturday and Sunday. Velshi was also the host of CNN’s Energy Hunt in 2008, which took him to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Canadian Oil Sands. Velshi received increased airtime in 2008 as a result of tragic events, including reportage from the now-destroyed Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Velshi appeared on the broadcast, on location from hurricane-stricken areas, during coverage of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Velshi’s hurricane reporting began with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when he covered the evacuation of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico as well as damage to oil facilities in Eastern Texas and Southern Louisiana.
During the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Velshi returned to television, appearing on programs such as American Morning and Anderson Cooper 360° throughout the day, and taking live calls from viewers during special editions of Your Money and his weekly call-in radio show. Velshi co-hosted CNN International’s market-opening episode of World Business Today until departing the network.
Velshi, who is Muslim, often admits his origin and point of view when discussing Islam. Velshi has fought hard for the Muslim community’s right to build a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City (Park51). Peter King’s hearings on Islamic radicalism in the United States as a type of Islamophobia have also been criticized by Velshi, who has called King “naive.”
Velshi supports the separation of mosque and state and opposes “Political Islam,” which calls for Sharia rule to be implemented. He has been accused of dismissing the importance of mainstream Islamic jurisprudence, scholarship, and interpretation in the formation and application of Islamic extremism, as well as of labeling negative remarks about Islam as biased.
Other anchors include Forrest Sawyer, Joan Lunden, Jim Avila, Joan Lunden, Cecily Tynan, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Michael Strahan, Lara Spencer, Ginger Zee, David Muir, Amy Robach, Kendis Gibson, Diane Macedo, Rob Nelson, Paula Faris, and Reena Ninan.