CNN journalist Anderson Cooper is known for his popular news gig. He is also a known TV personality. Considerably, he is one of the most well known journalists in the world.

His work has already earned him multiple awards and honors. This includes his coverage during Princess Diana's funeral as well as reporting on Hurricane Katrina.

He has earned an Emmy for the former and a Peabody Award for the latter. He also covered the Haiti earthquake. That earned him a National Order of Honor and Merit award. And because of his multiple success in the field of reporting, he now has an estimated net worth of $100 million, as reported by Celebrity Net Worth.

But before he earned these critical successes and earning an annual $11 million working for CNN, he has to start from somewhere.

When he was little, he was told that he was not going to get his family's inheritance. He grew up in a privileged household and was able to afford college. He did not have to carry student loans. But Anderson Cooper learned afterwards that he had to make a living.

As a young boy, Anderson Cooper actually started with modeling first. He modeled with Ford Models for brands like Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Macy's.

Afterwards, he graduated from the Dalton School and decided to take a holiday. Some call it a gap year. He traveled around Africa before he attended Yale University. At Yale, he studied political science, as reported by Heavy.

He even interned for the CIA when he was a college student. Anderson Cooper explained that he experienced the mundane work of the CIA. He realized that he was not interested in getting a career inside the agency. He also worked as a waiter and took on other summer jobs and internships. He even worked as a fact checker for Channel One.

Journalists and reporters like him had to start from somewhere. Watch this CNN video of Anderson Cooper getting some advice from Wolf Blitzer: