How Judge Judy negotiated her record-breaking $60 million salary

Judge Judy is one of the top-rating shows in the US. Photo / Getty Images

She's long been one of the richest stars on the small screen – and in a new interview looking back at her 25 years on-air, Judge Judy finally reveals how she negotiated her record-breaking salary.

In a new interview with the New York Post, she reflects on her 25 years as 'Judge Judy' as the program draws to a close.

It's been almost two decades since Judy – real name Judith Sheindlin – renegotiated her salary with the show's US broadcaster CBS, raising her pay to a reported $60 million a season. She explains now that she made sure she had the upper hand in negotiations.

"I told the company that I worked for this: 'I want to be more of a partner. Don't treat me as a paid employee. I could make this show without you – I created a deal where I could do that – but you can't make it without me. I can take Judy Sheindlin anywhere else. And good luck with you if you can find somebody else. Otherwise, let's share the gift that this program has brought to both of us,'" she revealed.

Judge Judy's behind-the-scenes deals always make headlines thanks to the eye-watering figures involved. Back in 2017, she sold her entire 10,400-show archive back to CBS as part of a deal to extend her contract through to the 2020-21 TV season. That deal reportedly netted her around $120 million.

But that's a wise investment for CBS, who made almost three times that figure from Judge Judy ad sales in a single year.

In the US, Judge Judy ranks as one of the top-rated syndicated programs, and is TV's most-watched court show. Sheindlin herself has a reported net worth of around $600 million.

And while Judge Judy might be ending, it's not the last you'll see of Judy herself – at 78, she shows no signs of slowing down. Last year she inked a new deal with Amazon, which requires her to deliver 120 episodes of a brand new court show by December this year.

The beloved firecracker TV judge was named the highest-grossing television host on the planet by Forbes in 2018.

She works hard for that pay: Each season of Judge Judy features an impressive 260 new episodes, and Sheindlin packs those 260 episodes into just 52 days of filming each year, spread through three days a week every other week.