Dan Rather admits he thinks about rejecting CNN's 10-year, $60 million-plus offer in the early 2000s

Vulture

In a wide-ranging conversation, the 87-year-old former CBS Evening News anchor discussed with Vulture his news junkie viewing habits, President Trump's war on the media, Fox News, Les Moonves' firing, and still having respect for the network nightly news shows. He also revisited a decision about turning down an offer to jump to CNN a few years before he was dropped from CBS Evening News amid scandal. "I’m not very much for contemplating the road not taken, but in this case, from time to time, I do think about it," he says. "I think this is public knowledge, but they offered me a ten-year, no-cut contract at $6.5 million a year. It was at least $6 million. At that age and stage, a ten-year, no-cut contract at that level, with CNN having matured — it was tempting. Very, very tempting. And I did say to CBS, 'Look, I have to think seriously about going.' They made it clear right away that I would have to lay out a year before I could go to CNN. They said they wanted to keep me, but if my decision was to go to CNN, I’d have to be prepared to stay off the air for a year. I thought about it. But in the final analysis, I just couldn’t see myself leaving CBS News."