How Sir David Attenborough built $45m home and TV fortune

The TV executive’s verdict was swift and brutal: his teeth were simply too big for camera. Seven decades later, Sir David Attenborough has turned one of the most famous knock-backs in broadcasting history into an estimated £24 million ($A45 million) fortune. The 100-year-old broadcasting legend, who still refuses to retire, built his net worth through years with the BBC, global media deals, streaming payouts and his own production company. However these days, Attenborough says his home life is filled with loneliness after tragedy struck in 1997 when his wife of nearly 50 years, Jane Oriel, died suddenly from a brain haemorrhage. The loss left an indelible mark on the broadcaster, who found solace in the natural spaces he spent a lifetime protecting. “She gave my hand a squeeze,” he said after reflecting on his heartbreak of watching Oriel’s final moments. After Oriel died, Attenborough wrote in his memoir titled Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster: “The focus of my life, the anchor had gone…now I was lost.” Speaking about coping with grief in an empty house, Attenborough admitted the natural world remained his ultimate comfort. “You accommodate things … you deal with things,” he ...