TV executive and showrunner Dan Schneider was once Nickelodeon’s golden boy, masterminding hit shows including Drake & Josh, iCarly, The Amanda Show and Zoey 101. He amassed an impressive net worth thanks to his days in adolescent television, but documentary series Quiet on Set is poised to show the dark underbelly of his empire. 

What Is Dan Schneider’s Net Worth? 

Though he quickly fell from his golden status at Nickelodeon, Dan still has a net worth of $40 million in 2024, according to Celebrity Net Worth. 

How Did Dan Schneider Make Money? 

Dan was the creative mind behind many of Nickelodeon’s biggest shows, many of which targeted youths and teens. He helped launch the successful careers of celebrities including Ariana Grande, Amanda Bynes, Kenan Thompson and Miranda Cosgrove, all while raking in the big bucks. 

He first started working with Nickelodeon as a cohost of its Kids’ Choice Awards, quickly transitioning into a production role. His first show as a writer, All That, was a huge success for the network, running for a decade in the 1990s. From there, Dan became the creative mind behind Kenan & Kel, before working on The Amanda Show and enjoying a new phase of success. 

Dan would eventually help create successful adolescent programs iCarly, Drake & Josh, Victorious, Sam & Cat, Zoey 101, Henry Danger and Game Shakers. Though he and Nickelodeon parted ways, Dan is still working in television development. 

When Did Dan Schneider Leave Nickelodeon?

Though he was one of the most successful showrunners for the network, Dan and Nickelodeon parted ways in 2018 after an internal investigation found evidence of verbal abuse on Dan’s part. He secured a $7 million payout from Nickelodeon amid his departure. 

Dan Schneider
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What Did Dan Schneider Do? 

Dan has kept a relatively low profile in comparison to his Nickelodeon days, but found himself back in the headlines thanks to Investigation Discovery’s four-part series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, set to drop on March 17, 2024. 

Through explosive interviews, crew member testimonies and former child star confessions, a picture of Dan’s onset behavior is painted. Partaking in the series are former child actors Alexa Nikolas and Drake Bell, the latter of whom claimed to be the victim of underaged sexual abuse at the hands of Brian Peck, a voice coach who worked on various films and TV shows. In a statement to In Touch, Dan’s team maintained that the writer had nothing to do with Peck’s hiring and was not aware of the coach’s criminal activity until after he was arrested. Dan and Peck ceased communication in the aftermath, according to Schneider’s Bakery. 

Quiet on Set may be the most damning collection of evidence to center around Dan, but it’s not the first time he has been cast in alarming light. A 2022 investigation by Business Insider found that Dan created a “maddening, disgusting, controlling little bubble” on set, and often engaged in overtly sexual behavior with teenage actresses and employees, including asking for massages. That same year, Victorious alum Daniella Monet broke her silence about Dan’s habits, calling out the showrunner for including sexualized content in the show – wearing lip gloss while eating a pickle was cited. 

Dan’s team has categorically denied the allegations made against him, with a source telling Insider in 2022, “Dan always had a rule for himself when texting anyone under age 18. That rule was text like their parents and the whole world are reading, too.” 

In response to Quiet on Set, Dan’s team told Entertainment Weekly, “Dan cared about the kids on his shows even when sometimes their own families unfortunately did not. He understood what they were going through and he was their biggest champion. The fact is many of the kids on these shows are put in the untenable position of becoming the breadwinner for their family and the pressure that comes along with that.”

“Add on top of that the difficulties of growing up and having to do so under the spotlight while working a demanding job, all as a child,” the statement continued. “That is why there are many levels of standards, executives, lawyers, teachers and parents everywhere, all the time, on every set, every day. However, it is still a hard place to be a kid and nobody knew that better than Dan.”

As Quiet on Set exposes alarming allegations about Dan and his time at Nickelodeon, the network told In Touch in a statement, “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct. Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”

Quiet on Set will drop on MAX or ID on March 17, 2024, with part two releasing the following day.

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