What happened to Lester Holt on ‘NBC Nightly News’?

“NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt signed off from the peacock network’s evening newscast Friday, May 30, 2025.

On Monday, June 2, 2025, he was replaced by Tom Llamas.

Holt can still be seen on “Dateline,” which typically airs Friday evenings on NBC. 

‘NBC Nightly News’ pays tribute to Lester Holt on last day

Holt, who first joined “Nightly” in 2015, held down the job for a decade, but announced he would leave the show — but not the network — in February 2025.

Lester Holt biography

Holt, who was born on March 8, 1959, in Marin County, California, is an American journalist renowned for his integrity and dedication to factual reporting. He holds the distinction of being the first Black solo anchor of a weekday network nightly newscast in the United States.

Holt was raised in a diverse household; his father, Lester Don Holt Sr., was African American, and his mother, June DeRozario, had Jamaican heritage.

Growing up in Sacramento, California, Holt developed an early interest in broadcasting, influenced by his older brother who worked as a disc jockey. He attended Cordova High School and later enrolled at California State University, Sacramento, majoring in government. However, he left before completing his degree to pursue a career in radio, starting as a disc jockey at a country and western station.

Holt’s journalism career began in 1981 at WCBS in New York City. He subsequently worked at KNXT in Los Angeles and returned to WCBS before moving to WBBM in Chicago in 1986.

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During his 14-year tenure at WBBM, he anchored the evening news and reported.

In 2000, Holt joined MSNBC, and by 2003, he became a full-time co-anchor of “Weekend Today.” He also anchored “Lester Holt Live,” a daily news show on MSNBC. In 2007, he was named anchor of the weekend edition of “NBC Nightly News.” Following Brian Williams’ suspension in 2015, Holt became the permanent anchor of the weekday edition of “NBC Nightly News,” a role he held until May 30, 2025 .

Throughout his career, Holt has covered significant events, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Arab Spring uprisings, and the COVID-19 pandemic. He also moderated the first presidential debate in 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Holt married Carol Hagen, a former flight attendant, in 1982. The couple has two sons: Stefan and Cameron. Stefan Holt followed in his father’s footsteps and is currently a news anchor at WMAQ in Chicago . Cameron Holt is an executive director at Morgan Stanley in New York City.

Holt’s commitment to journalism has earned him numerous accolades, including multiple Emmy Awards and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. In 2019, he received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. His tenure at “NBC Nightly News” solidified his reputation as one of America’s most trusted news anchors.