Dana White reveals surprising detail about Joe Rogan and his podcast after $250,000,000 deal

Joe Rogan is one of the most successful podcasters in history and his massively popular show has earned him hundreds of millions of dollars.

But UFC president Dana White as spoken about his early experiences with Rogan and two he believes the stand-up comedian is not motivated by money.

Rogan began his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, in 2009. Initially, his guests consisted largely for MMA fighters and fellow comedians. But over time the show evolved and the subjects Rogan would cover broadened, with guests pulled from the worlds of music, movies, science, sport and politics.

Some of Rogan's most notable podcast interviewees include Mike Tyson, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerburg.

Joe Rogan works on over a dozen of UFC events every year. (Image: Getty)

Prior to last year's US presidential elections, Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump was a guest on the JRE, with his running mate, JD Vance, and Tesla CEO and prominent Trump supporter Elon Musk also making appearances.

These episodes, coupled with Rogan's official endorsement of Trump prior to polling day are believed to have had a significant impact on the 78-year-old's re-election. Meanwhile, Trump's election opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, declined to appear on the show.

With average episodes running beyond the three-hour mark and generating more than 11 million listeners, the Joe Rogan Experience regularly tops the podcast charts.

In 2020, Rogan signed a deal reportedly worth $100 million with Spotify for the exclusive rights to his podcast. And last year, the stand-up comedian inked a new deal with teh streaming giant that was said to have seen Rogan pocket a whopping $250 million.

Despite these lucrative deal, however, White asserts that Rogan is not driven by money.

"It's a fact, he doesn't care about money," White said while a guest the Lex Fridman podcast. "He did the first 13 shows for free for us. That was at a time when we were hurting and he was like, 'Wait a minute. You want me to do the commentary? You mean I get to sit here in the best seat in the house and watch these fights for free? Yeah, I'm in.'"