Survivor season 50 ended on May 20
NEED TO KNOW
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For only the second time in 50 seasons, the winner won $2 million
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Losing players didn't go home empty-handed, though; they also won prize money depending on their performance
Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fanshas already broken many of the show's barriers, and the final prize is no different.
For only the second time inSurvivorhistory, the show introduced a $2 million prize for the winner of the historic season — doubling the traditional $1 million that's been given out for 48 of the last 49 seasons.
The pot increased after internet personalityMrBeast surprised the contestantsand revealed that they could double the reward if they flipped a coin the right way. Luckily, Rick Devens had fate on his side, as he correctly tossed up the coin to score a $2 million total prize pot.
In addition to the $2 million for the winner, the show also announced that the$100,000 Fan Favorite vote, nicknamed the Sia Prize, returnedand is “in the hands of the fans.”
While only one person gets to take home the grand prize at the end of each season, the remainder of the contestants reportedly also receive some amount of money depending on how well they did in the competition.
"I think people are always surprised to learn that we do earn money,” Corinne Kaplan, who played on seasons 17 and 26, said in a September 2021 episode of theTrading Secretspodcast. “The same pot of money exists no matter how many players there are.” CBS did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
So, how much money have the past winners and contestants onSurvivorwon? Here's everything to know about what theSurvivorwinner gets.
What does the winner ofSurvivorget?
Ever sinceSurvivorpremiered in 2000, the contestants have competed to win the grand prize and the title of Sole Survivor. For 48 seasons, the prize was $1 million but in 2020 and 2026, the pot increased to $2 million.
However, the winner doesn't get to pocket the entire prize, since thousands of dollars have to go to federal and state taxes. The total amount of money a winner receives depends on their state's income taxes.
It's crucial that the winner pay the taxes, as season 1 winner Richard Hatch spent nearly three years in federal prison for not paying up. He told PEOPLE in April 2023 that legal fees and missed work "more than wiped out the money."
HasSurvivorever increased the prize fund?
The $1 million prize fund has mostly stayed the same since season 1 in 2000.
However, the CBS show doubled the jackpot to $2 million twice: once to celebrate the 40th season,Survivor: Winners at War, in 2020, and again to celebrate the 50th season. The former season featured 20 winners from past seasons ofSurvivorto compete for the highest prize fund in history.Tony Vlachoswas named the winner.
"The $2 million prize was all CBS," hostJeff ProbsttoldEntertainment Weeklyin January 2020. "The truth is, Kelly Kahl is the guy at CBS who back in season 2 movedSurvivorto go up againstFriends. And we beatFriendsin the ratings and his career was really made in that moment."
Probst continued, "He's been invested inSurvivorforever. And he has given us free rein to do what we want for a long time. And this season he said, 'Can you try to make winners happen? And can we give them a $2 million prize?' "
In 2026, MrBeast helped raise the pot to $2 million.
How much do the second and third-place finishers get?
Even though they didn't snag the title of Sole Survivor, contestants who get second and third place also walk away with a significant amount of money.
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The runner-up receives $100,000 and the third place finisher gets $85,000, according toToday. Kaplan confirmed the prize amounts during a 2021 appearance on theTrading Secretspodcast.
Do allSurvivorcontestants get paid?
Every contestant who has appeared onSurvivorhas reportedly been paid some amount of money for their time.
Kaplan claimed during herTrading Secretspodcast appearance that the amount of money a contestant wins depends on how they placed and how many people are competing on a certain season.
According to Kaplan, "the same pot of money exists no matter how many players there are." So if there are more contestants in a season, then each person gets less money. The sooner the contestants get eliminated, the less money they take home. (Season 50 featured thelargest group of contestantsever at 24.)
"So, what happens is, roughly, the first person voted out makes like $2,500, [and] it goes up very incrementally," Kaplan claimed. "Those people only make a few thousand, and there's a couple hundred [dollars] difference between them."
However, once there are enough people eliminated and people qualify to be members of the jury, their payout "starts going up by $10K," according to Kaplan.
"It works backwards," she said, claiming that each person on the jury makes $10,000 less than the contestant who made it one place ahead of them (excluding the winner).
Do contestants get paid to appear on the live reunion?
For several years,Survivorheld alive reunionafter the season finale. The special episode was paused ahead of season 40 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed forSurvivor50.
When the live reunion was in its heyday, it was another opportunity for every contestant to take home more money. Kaplan claimed that regardless of where a contestant finished in the season, everyone was offered $10,000 to participate in the reunion.
Kaplan claimed, "The reason that that ticket is so high is because most people, if they were wronged on the show or whatever, if there wasn’t a big ticket attached to it, you might just be like. 'F--- it I’m not going,' so they make that very high."
What is the Sia Prize?
Like manySurvivorfans, singerSiahasn't always been thrilled by who won the reality TV show. The superfan decided to take matters into her own hands in 2016 when she gaveTai Trang$50,000 of her own money after he didn’t win season 32. She then decided to continue giving money to her favorite contestants, nicknaming the award the “Sia Prize.”
The award continued for eight years and 14 seasons, during which time she gave a total sum of over $1 million to her favorite contestants. However, Probst announced in 2024 that theSia Prize would endafter season 46.
"After eight years, 14 seasons, 19 players and over $1,000,000 awarded, Survivor is officially bringing the Sia Prize to a triumphant end!” he posted on his Instagram Stories in May 2024. “So it is with tremendous gratitude and admiration to Sia that we bring to a close one of the most unique relationships a TV show could ever have with a pop star of Sia’s global wattage.”
Among the special Sia Prize winners included seven players to whom she gave $100,000 — including Rick Devens (season 38), Elaine Stott (39), Janet Carbin (39), Drea Wheeler (42), Jesse Lopez (43),Carolyn Wiger (44)and Katurah Topps (45).
The other 11 contestants who won the coveted money were Donathan Hurley (36), Davie Rickenbacker (37), Aurora McCreary (38), Joe Anglim (38), Jamal Shipman (39), Owen Knight (43), Ryan Medrano (43), Lauren Harpe (44), Carson Garrett (44), Jake O’ Kane (45) and Kaleb Gebrewold (45).
Sia brought the prize back forSurvivor 50, promising to give whomever won a fan vote for favorite player $100,000, perVariety.
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Survivor season 50 ended on May 20 NEED TO KNOW For only the second time in 50 seasons, the winner won $2 million...
