Piers Morgan; a look at the former Mirror editor's career and net worth as he's under spotlight in High Court

Even though Piers Morgan has not attended London’s High Court as various claimants sue his former employer, the Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd, the journalist has nevertheless played a crucial and central role in the proceedings.

Morgan’s ‘biggest nemesis’ Prince Harry took to the stands from Tuesday to Wednesday naming the former Good Morning Britain host three times in his more than 50-page witness statement; inciting that he not only ‘earwigged’ into the late Princess Diana’s private messages but also made a ‘barrage of personal attacks and intimidation’ towards the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

As Morgan hit back at the Prince by suggesting that he would read all about his comments in Harry’s sequel book to Spare, the Uncensored presenter was mentioned once again in court - this time by Jane Kerr, the former royal editor at the Mirror.

When Prince Harry’s lawyer David Sherbourne KC questioned Jane Kerr regarding her information gathering tactics for 10 of the 33 articles the Prince had submitted to the court, she not only stated that her editor at the time [Morgan] could have ‘injected’ information but also suggested that he was the one choosing to run stories about the young Prince although he was supposed to be ‘off limits when at school’.

Therefore, with the spotlight firmly planted on Piers Morgan and his time at the head of the Mirror between 1995 and 2004, PeopleWorld takes a look at the controversial journalist’s career and his subsequent net worth.

When did Piers Morgan's career start?

Morgan showed his affinity for journalism as a teenager when he reported on his local village’s cricket team before going on to study the subject at Harlow College, Essex.

Upon graduating, Morgan joined the Surrey and South London Newspaper Group in 1985 and spent three years working as a reporter for various titles.

According to Morgan, he was allegedly recruited by former editor of the Sun newspaper Kelvin MacKenzie to write a show business column called ‘Bizarre’ after spending some time at the paper as a freelance writer.

He worked his way up at the Sun to become the showbusiness editor in 1989 where he was able to boost his publicity by posing with celebrities at events.

Five years later, Morgan stepped up to become the youngest ever editor of The Sun’s sister paper, Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. Britannica states: “[Morgan] quickly won attention for his enthusiastic pursuit of scoops and his penchant for pushing against journalistic standards in the process.”

While he won attention, his journalism also drew criticism from readers in terms of privacy which escalated when Morgan transferred to the Mirror as editor in 1995 and released stories such as an inside look to former royal butler Paul Burrell’s memoir and an expose about Buckingham Palace security.

Morgan was promptly fired from The Mirror in 2004 following a scandal involving the printing of a hoax picture but was picked up by friend Simon Cowell when he went on to judge the likes of America’s Got Talent (2006-2011) and the British equivalent (2007 to 2010).

Although Morgan’s TV career blew up with him signing on for shows including his Life Stories and Good Morning Britain, he also kept writing for the British version of GQ magazine.

So, where is Piers now in terms of his career and net worth? 

After walking away from Good Morning Britain when he received 41,000 complaints regarding his attitude towards Meghan Markle’s mental health, Piers starred on his own TalkTV show called Uncensored.

Considering his long-standing albeit controversial career, Piers Morgan has managed to compile an impressive net worth of $20 million.