Tom Llamas Biography
Tom Llamas is an NBC News senior correspondent and anchor of ‘Top Story with Top Llamas’ on NBC News Now. He contributes to “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” “Today,” “NBC News NOW,” and MSNBC. He previously worked at ABC News for 17 years, his latest role being chief national affairs correspondent and the anchor for “World News Tonight” where he rotated with Cecilia Vegas.
His move to NBC News is a full circle moment as he began his career at NBC New Specials Unit during the 2000 presidential election. He worked his way up as a correspondent for its Miami station and a local anchor for WNBC in New York. He joined ABC News in 2014, where he developed a high profile covering the 2016 presidential campaign and in 2017 was named Saturday anchor of “ABC World News.
Throughout his career he has received several accolades including Emmy Awards for Best Anchor and Best Hard News Story 2013 as well as the NAHJ Presidential Award.
How Old is Tom Llamas?
Tom is 44 years old, he was born on July 2, 1979 in Miami Florida, United States. He grew up in a Cuban American household.
Tom Llamas Height
According to several online sources Tom stands at a height of 6 feet 2 inches tall.
Tom Llamas Education
Llamas did his undergraduate studies at Loyola University New Orleans graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism and Drama and Speech. He also completed a program at the University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies, which focused on Raul Castro and Cuban American voters.
Tom Llamas Parents
Tom is the son of political refugees in Miami who lived through the Cuban revolution. His father grew up in Oriente, the eastern province of Cuba while his mother grew up in Havana. Their parents fled the Castro regime with nothing. Tom was brought up alongside his brother.
Tom Llamas Father
Tom’s father is Luis Llamas, he is a Pediatric Dentist. He is actually the one who told Jorge Ramos, the renowned TV journalist at the Spanish-language network Univision that his then 15-years old son, Tom, was interested in journalism. At the time Ramos had brought his children at his dental practice. He asked if Ramos would be kind enough to give Tom a tour of the network’s newsroom.
Ramos in an interview said that when he met Tom he knew he would make a great reporter as he was totally committed.
“When I met Tom, he was totally committed. He was observing everything in the studio. I knew he was going to be a great reporter.”
What Ethnicity is Tom Llamas?
Llamas is of Cuban- American. While growing up, the Cuban culture was a part of his life. Up until now he listens to music from Cuba everyday and speaks Spanish almost every single day. Most of the people he grew up with in Miami were Cuban American and the mayors and well as the representatives were Cuban American.
He is so proud of his heritage and has even introduced his kids to the Cuban culture. They read books about Cuba, they celebrate Nochebuena, which is Christmas Eve. They are even learning Spanish.
On his show ‘Top Story With Tom Llamas’, he has a segment called “The Americas” that highlights current events in Latin America. During an interview with People magazine, he said he felt he has a duty to cover Latin America, not because he is Hispanic, but ” because I believe a well-informed country is a stronger country. It’s time that our audiences understand what’s happening not only in the U.K., Russia and China, but also Mexico, Brazil, and El Salvador.”
Who is Tom Llamas Wife?
Tom is married to Jennifer Llamas. Jennifer is a New Orleans native who studied broadcast Journalism at Loyola University. She began her career at WSVN-TV in Miami, Florida. She then joined MSNBC as a production assistant. She helped launch NewsNation with Tamron Hall and also became the Executive Producer of the show. She retired after having her second child to take care of her kids.
Does Tom Llamas Have Children?
Tom has three children two daughters, Malena (born on March 14, 2013) and Juliette (born on December 17, 2015); and a son known as Thomas, born in October 2017.
Tom Llamas Eye
Tom’s eye has no issue. Sometimes in photos while he smiles it seems as if it is half-closed but he has no eye problems.
Tom Llamas NBC News
Tom is a NBC News senior correspondent and anchor of ‘Top Story with Top Llamas’ on NBC News Now. He contributes on shows including ‘Today’ and ‘NBC Nightly News’. He joined the network in 2021. He actually began his career at NBC News Special Unit in 2000 during the presidential election. He then moved to MSNBC as a political campaign reporter for MSNBC. In his first two years at MSNBC, he worked on coverage of the September 11th attacks and the war with Afghanistan.
He then joined WTVJ/NBC6 as a reporter based in Miami. While there, he reported on the Virginia Tech massacre and Washington to cover Pope Benedict XVI’s 2008 trip. During his tenure at the station, he covered eight hurricanes, most notably traveling to Biloxi when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. In 2008, he became the first TV journalist embedded with the Coast Guard during a human smuggling interdiction at sea. The story which won an Emmy, documented how Cuban refugees are smuggled into the U.S. via go-fast boats and the Coast Guard’s mission to intercept these vessels.
He then joined WNBC-NBC4 in New York as an investigative reporter and anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast as well as a contributing correspondent at NBC News. He held the position for five years before moving to ABC News. While there, he covered Hurricane Sandy, the Boston Marathon bombings, “Miracle on the Hudson,” the Times Square bomb scare and the earthquake in Haiti.
Tom Llamas ABC News
Prior to joining NBC News in 2021, he worked at ABC News for 17 years. He was the chief national affairs correspondent and the anchor for “World News Tonight” prior to his departure.
His role included reporting for all ABC News programs and platforms. He covered the most important stories in recent history including the 2020 presidential race and the impeachment investigation, including reports from Kiev, Ukraine. He also covered the struggle for power in Venezuela and his reporting on the immigration crisis from the U.S. border with Mexico contributed to ABC News’ 2019 Murrow Award for Overall Excellence.
He was part of the “20/20” team that tracked the rise of the Alt Right and their battles with Antifa demonstrators for six months culminating in the attack in Charlottesville.
He has also covered natural disasters including Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Florence as well as the deadly landslides in Mocoa, Colombia.
He as well conducted interviews with key figures including President Donald Trump during his campaign for the White House and an exclusive wide-ranging interview with first lady Melania Trump on her first solo foreign trip as first lady. He has also interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro; and David Langford, the American father whose family was ambushed and killed in Mexico.
Tom Llamas Podcast
Tom hosts of ‘Top Story With Tom Llamas’ on NBC News Now. It is also available on streaming platforms such as Peacock, YouTube TV, Pluto, Tubi, Apple TV among others.
Tom Llamas Salary
As a NBC News senior correspondent and anchor of ‘Top Story with Top Llamas’ on NBC News Now, Tom is estimated to be earning an annual base salary of $100,000. He has also amassed an estimated net worth of around $2 million.
Tom Llamas Awards and Recognitions
- In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Award of Impact by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
- In 2014, he was part of the WNBC team that won the Murrow for breaking news coverage of Hurricane Sandy
- In 2013 he received two Emmy awards Best Anchor and Best Hard News Story
- In 2012 he won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for feature and hard news reporting
- In 2012, he was honored with the prestigious El Award by El Diario,the country’s oldest and largest Spanish-language newspaper.