Born in New York, Julie didn’t grow up to what you’d call a tranquil neighborhood. Born to Chinese immigrants, her mother Wan Ling Chen is Burmese Chinese, and her father is David Y Chen are parents to her and her two elder sisters, Victoria and Gladys. Julie’s Grandfather, Lou Gaw Tong, was original as she said dirt poor in a rural village. Only through a chain grocery store did he become relatively wealthy. Becoming a polygamist, her Grandfather had nine wives and eleven children. Married to Leslie Moonves, She is now a proud Mother to Charlie Moonves born September 24, 2004, and three stepchildren, Adam, Sara, and Mike.

Graduating from the University of Southern California with a BA in Broadcast Journalism and English Language in 1991 she ironically failed the exam to enter the Bronx High School of Science as her older sister did.

In an interview with BuzzFeed, Julie confesses that the moment her life changed was the night her family was watching “a local news broadcaster by the name of Kaity Tong on ABC back then doing the 5 o’clock news.” Back then it was a big deal to see an Asian face reporting the news. It was after her Mother had pointed out that Julie was capable of doing the same that she then made it her goal. Julie had said “It was like she planted that seed and I watered it myself. From that point forward, I just didn’t know any other path” and now only has her Mother to thank for that push and inspiration.

After graduation, Julie Chen joined ABC as a news assistant in California. There, she met her boyfriend, a television news editor, Gary Donahue, with whom she was in a longtime relationship. She gave most of her time to her career which at the time consisted of her position as host for CBS’s Morning News with The Early Show as well as hosting the summer Big Brother reality television series. CBS Television Chief executive and president Leslie Moonves started dating Julie Chen while he was still married to Nancy Wiesenfeld Moonves. However, his wife filed for a divorce which was issued after two years. The separation had taken so long since there had been no agreement on their financial settlement. The reason for their divorce was – according to paper – irreconcilable differences.

Julie and Moonves got married on December 23, 2004, soon after the divorce. Their marriage took place in a private ceremony attended by family and friends at Leslie’s home in Mexico.

In 2013, during the TV show at ‘The Talk’, Chen revealed that she had to undergo an East Asian Blepharoplasty to correct her eyelids when she first started her career because she was under pressure from a high profile agent and news director. She said that this decision was not taken well by her family, but she came to learn to live with all the choices she has made and eventually so did her family. Now, we know who the person who pressured her was, but such things are common in the line of show business.

Julie guest starred in the NCIS: Los Angeles episode In The Line of Duty where the US was portrayed as an ambassador. Playing the role of an actress as both a voice stress and actress in the following movies: The Fairly OddParents (2005), Madam Secretary (2014), The Millers (2013-2014), The Comeback (2014), Supergirl (2016), Life in Pieces (2017) and Jane the Virgin (2018).

Julie speaks Mandarin Chinese and practices Yogi, both probably because of her mother’s descent.

Her net worth is 8 million and which she gained by working for multiple TV talk shows. In her earlier years or her career, before joining CBS News, she was a reporter for WDTN-TV Dayton from 1995-1997. From there she became a producer for ABC NewsOne from 1992-1995, along with their affiliate services, she was a desk assistant in their Los Angeles Bureau from 1990-1991 where she worked on the award-winning primetime, Anatomy of a Riot.

It was then in the years 1997-1999 where Julie worked as a reporter and anchor for WCBS-TV, the station owned by CBS in New York. After this, she started her professional work at ABC news as an Intern, an opportunity that helped her get a job as an assistant producer at the same show. In 1999, she was receiving a salary for being an anchor for t the Early Show and CBS Morning News. She is now a host for multiple programs including the Talk and Big Brother from 2000.

Beginning November 1, 1999, Julie began doing half-hour broadcasts for The Early Show. A co-anchor from 2002-2010 then to special contributing anchor of CBS News’ weekday morning broadcast from 2010-2011. She had climbed her way to the top.