The New York native found inspiration in the work of Peter Jennings.
“I didn’t care. I thought Peter Jennings was the James Bond of evening news,” Muir told People. Muir wanted to be a journalist so badly that he never missed the evening news and even dressed as a reporter for Halloween when the rest of his friends were characters from their favorite cartoons, superheroes, and cowboys.
“When I look back at it as an adult, when I was a kid and I wanted to see the world, that for me meant covering the severe thunderstorms in the next county or going to the New York State Fair with the local reporter and photographer who were willing to let me jump in the backseat of the car,” Muir told USA Today.
“Now, I am literally seeing the world. I’m grateful for that, and I could not have put words to it when I was a kid, but it’s all the same hunger that drives me today.”
Muir’s career in journalism started when he was just 12.
Namely, he spent that summer sending letters to local news outlets asking to be invited to see how everything works inside the studio. Then, one day, he received a letter back from local journalist and anchor Ron Curtis who invited Muir to be an intern at WTVH Channel 5. The letter said: “Competition in television news is keen. There’s always room for the right person. It could be you,” and these are words that Muir will never forget.
“I remember all of their names, and they’re all my mentors. I’m grateful to this day, and it’s the driving principle of what I do every day. I really, strongly believe that when we get a chance at our dreams, we have to turn around and recognize that we are keeping the seat warm for the next person who has that dream,” Muir said.
Muir attended college and majored in Journalism.
During his studies, he spent a semester in Spain where he learned the language fluently. In fact, as he said, “This was so pivotal. This was living with a family, attending school in Spanish,” after he interviewed Pope Francis in Spanish in 2015.
After graduation, Muir worked for WTVH Channel 5 for five years before he moved to Boston and took a job as a journalist at WCVB. His reports from the Middle East, the Gaza Strip and Tel Aviv following the death of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin earned him numerous awards and the so much awaited spot at ABC.
In 2011, Muir was made the sole anchor of ABC’s weekend show World News with David Muir, and in 2014 he replaced Diane Sawyer.
“You have seen David Muir at this desk, in this chair so many times. You know his command and commitment to bringing you the news,” Sawyer said on her final day at the job. “I cannot wait to see you in high gear.”
Muir has always spoken of just how much his job means to him because it represents his childhood dream come true, and not many can say they work what they always wished for.
“I have always felt if I could not be the reporter I was before I got this job, that people who got to know me through the reporting I’ve done would wonder, ‘What happened to this guy?’” Muir told LA Times. “I hope that, over time, people will see that thirst and hunger for curiosity is truly what drives me. It fuels me. I hope they see it in this newscast every night.”
The number of awards Muir received throughout his career is huge. Among the rest, he won an Emmy for outstanding live coverage and the Edward R. Murrow award for his reporting from Mogadishu on the famine in Somalia.
In 2014, handsome Muir got another kind of award when People Magazine placed him on the list of “Sexiest Man Alive.”
From what is known about this handsome 47-year-old journalist is that he’s still single and has a net worth of $20 million.
Despite being a household name many Americans adore, Muir is a humble guy who always puts his family first.
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