Inside Matt Lauer's Private World Away From Today: His Marriage and Kids, Lavish Lifestyle and a Random Ranch in New Zealand

The father of three was fired after 25 years at NBC in the wake of damning sexual misconduct allegations

By Natalie Finn Nov 30, 2017 9:13 PMTags

Less than 48 hours ago, Matt Lauer was king of the morning TV world.

NBC's Today dominated the ratings for the better part of his 20-year run as co-anchor, first with Katie Couric, then Meredith VieiraAnn Curry, and most recently with Savannah Guthrie. Lauer's reported salary had grown to a reported $20 million a year, affording him a cushy lifestyle and an impressive real estate portfolio that includes a ranch in New Zealand and a $36.5 million estate in the Hamptons.

NBC fired Lauer on Tuesday night after receiving a complaint of sexual misconduct against the veteran host and newsman from a female colleague, according to a statement the network released first thing Wednesday morning. His ouster was duly reported on at the beginning of Wednesday's Today by Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, both of whom said they were still processing the disturbing news about their longtime friend and colleague but applauded the bravery of the woman who had come forward.

Their report came just over a week after Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell had to do the same thing on CBS This Morning when Charlie Rose was suspended—and then fired hours later—from the network after the Washington Post reported sexual harassment allegations against Rose made by eight women.

 

Nathan Congleton/NBC

Meanwhile, Lauer broke his silence on the allegations Thursday.

"There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions," his statement reads. "To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappoint I have left behind at home and at NBC. Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish deeply. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I am committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full-time job.

"The last two days have forced me to take very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It's been humbling. I am blessed to be surrounded by people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace."

Guthrie described herself as "heartbroken" and Jenna Bush Hager emotionally admitted it was hard to be at work at the moment. Meanwhile, former Today anchor Curry told People she was also "still really processing" the news.  

"I admire the women who have been willing to speak up both anonymously and on the record," Curry said. "Those women need to keep their jobs, and all women need to be able to work, to be able to thrive, without fear. This kind of behavior exists across industries, and it is so long overdue for it to stop. This is a moment when we all need to be a beacon of light for those women, for all women, and for ourselves."

Megyn Kelly, who joined NBC News and Today this year, acknowledged yesterday on her show that "this one hits close to home," but she kept the focus on the sea change taking place across the board when it comes to the response to sexual harassment and the mistreatment of women in the workplace. Today she invited Lauer and his accusers to appear on her show for a reckoning.

And according to The Hollywood Reporter, Kelly said while on a panel at Business Insider's Ignition conference yesterday morning: "I had heard rumors about Matt, but that's all they were. And my feeling on it is a rumor is not the same thing as a reportable fact. And it was also that I hear a lot of rumors about myself, too, that are completely untrue, and when you're a public figure people do make up things about you and put them in print."

Kelly of course had hoped the rumors weren't true, she said.

Meanwhile, a lot of people had heard rumors about Matt Lauer—not about harassment, per se, but about his marriage, alleged infidelities and about what sort of guy he really may be outside of his his stoic, warm and congenial morning show persona.

His 19-year marriage to former model Annette Roque has made headlines on and off over the years, most memorably in 2006 when she filed for divorce while pregnant with their third child. They ultimately reconciled, but not before it was reported that Roque had accused Lauer in the divorce papers (which are sealed in New York) "cruel and inhumane" acts.

Roque withdrew her divorce petition three weeks after she filed it. They welcomed son Thijs (pronounced "Tice," it's a Dutch name derived from "Matthias") in November 2006. The Lauers are also parents of son Jack, now 16, and daughter Romy, 14.

James Devaney/GC Images

Lauer was previously married to TV producer Nancy Alspaugh from 1981 until 1988. He met Roque on a blind date in 1997 and they tied the knot on Oct. 3, 1998, at a private estate in Water Mill, N.Y. Bryant Gumbel, his predecessor at Today, served as best man and a number of his colleagues, including Curry and Couric, were among the guests. Al Roker's brother was getting married the same day, so he missed the ceremony but managed to make the reception.

Roque wore Vera Wang and stylist Maria Santoro—the pal who set the couple up—was one of her bridesmaids.

Recalling how the newlyweds were acting at the party, Roker told People, "They would be talking to somebody, and when that person would leave, the two of them were looking into each other's eyes. You could see they were truly, truly happy."

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Apollo

Life as half of the most popular morning show duo on TV with Couric was hectic, to say the least. Starting in 1998, Lauer would take off every year for Today's popular "Where in the World Is Matt Lauer" series, which would have him crisscrossing the globe over the course of barely a week. He actually proposed to Roque while they were in Venice, Italy, on one of his whirlwind tours.

"When I first started doing this [traveling all over for NBC News], I was single, and getting on a plane for eight days and 30,000 miles didn't have that big an impact on my life," he told People in 2004. But in 2001, he was scheduled to go when his wife was pregnant, "which made it fairly hard. I left the next year when we had a newborn [Jack], which was extremely hard...And now we have two children, and it's a lot more challenging to leave my family."

Talking about how life had changed the most since his single days, Lauer said, "Now I define myself by what happens when I walk in that door after work." Regular date nights were important, he added. "We try to pick a night where we can go out, just sit down and have a quiet time together. What you end up talking about is your kids. But that's fine because that's a passion we share."

Aside from the occasional photo opportunity at an event, the Lauers have led a relatively private life as a couple—sporadic dirty laundry reports aside.

Since 2004 their home base in Manhattan has been an apartment they bought for $5.884 million in what turned out to be the same Lenox Hill building where Bernie Madoff lived (before he was busted for running a Ponzi scheme and sentenced to 150 years in prison). The building, on NYC's Upper East Side, boasts 11 floors, with two penthouses and two residences per floor, with front and back elevators allowing for utmost privacy if you're not one for hobnobbing with the neighbors.

In 2010, multiple reports circulated that Lauer had moved out of the apartment, but still saw the kids all the time and would reunite with Annette on the weekends in the Hamptons as a family—but the couple adamantly denied it.

"I have never moved out. I am not moving out. There is no truth to that," Lauer told People, calling rumors of infidelity on his part "ridiculous"; Annette separately told the magazine—in a very rare interview—"Out of self-respect, I want to stand up for our family and protect them." They had some problems in the past, she confirmed, but "we have worked through it."

Lauer also said, "Have we had a completely perfect, easy marriage? No. But the stories you've read over the years are not true. I don't think we're any different than any married couple that's been together for 12 years. The [cheating] accusations are ridiculous and I'm not going to [dignify] them with an answer. It's not true."

Meanwhile, a source tells People now, in the wake of his firing, that Lauer's "family is his focus at the moment."

The Lauers are currently owners of two residents in the Hamptons, though they've been trying to unload one since last year. They originally listed an 8,000-square foot estate on 25 acres in Sag Harbor for $18 million, but after a couple of reductions the asking price was down to $14.9 million as of June, per Curbed Hamptons.

Trulia

The Long Island enthusiasts also sold an 1,800-square-foot Southampton "cottage" for $3.5 million last December that Lauer had bought in 2009.

Last summer Lauer went larger than ever, purchasing the 19,000-square-foot Strongheart Manor, sitting on more than 6 acres of prime waterfront real estate, from Richard Gere for $36.5 million. The main house has 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, while the property also contains two guest houses, a pool, basketball and tennis courts and 300 feet of beach.

Lauer was spotted driving out through the gates of the home today, still wearing his wedding ring, according to DailyMail.com, which published photos of Lauer getting out of his Jeep.

Now it turns out that the lingering property in Sag Harbor might not be the only headache in the Lauers' portfolio.

According to Deadline, New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office is now reviewing Lauer's purchase of the lease for Hunter Valley Station, a 16,000-acre ranch that he acquired in February for a reported $9 million (it's government land, which can't be purchased outright, but buyers can take over the lease), in light of the allegations against him. Per the terms of the international deal, foreign tenants must "be of good character."

And we imagine that's not the only ball up in the air for Matt Lauer right now.

In 2012, when he signed a new deal with NBC that Forbes put at $25 million a year through 2017, Lauer told Extra that "it was always [his] dream job" to be a part of the Today show and he couldn't imagine giving it up.

"I still love it," he said. He also was asked about property he had recently purchased in the area (Bright Side Farm, in Water Mill, for $3.5 million), and he said they planned to convert from a nursery into a horse property. (Which they did, turning the 40-acre Southampton property into a destination equestrian facility and their primary residence.)

"My wife is very much into horses," Lauer explained, "my children are into horses, and so we have a dream to kind of have the place that we can keep some horses and ride year-round. And it'll be beautiful, it's a great use of the property, and I think people in the area will really like it."

"I started riding in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris when I lived there," Roche, who is Dutch, told Hamptons Cottages & Gardens in 2015, "and when I moved to New York, I'd venture to the Hamptons whenever I could."

Lauer told Extra he used to ride horses when he was younger, "but I find other ways to break bones these days, between bicycles and jet-skiing and things like that."

He was also asked about an incident that had just occurred when a notorious Ukrainian prankster had tried to kiss Will Smith at an event. Asked if the guy went too far, Lauer said, "I think any reporter doing his or her job should not be kissing interview subjects, either immediately before or immediately after interviews—and especially not during."

And now, with his Today show days behind him, pretty much everything he's ever said and done, on camera and off, has been magnified to the nth degree—including Katie Couric telling Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live back in 2012 about Lauer's most annoying habit when they worked together.

"He pinches me on the ass a lot," Couric, who left Today in 2006, replied. (She returned to the show for a week in January to guest co-host, as did Vieira, while Guthrie was on maternity leave.)

"I just learned of this, like, a second ago," Howard Stern, who has had Lauer on his radio show multiple times over the years and who is personal friends with him and his wife, said on the air Wednesday morning, when news of the firing first  broke. "And, I don't know, it just sounds like a f--king mess."

(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)