Imagine earning a recorded $32 million a year and refusing to spend a single dollar of it, banking every network television check while living entirely off your weekend stand-up income. That's the bizarre financial discipline at the core of Jay Leno, an insomniac workaholic, ruthless corporate survivor, and obsessive gearhead hiding behind the denim shirts and nice-guy image.

This deep dive goes past the late-night desk to trace how a dyslexic kid who studied speech therapy outworked everyone in comedy, won and defended the Tonight Show through brutal succession wars, and funneled his stand-up cash into a $52 million automotive museum. It ends on a deeply human note: a string of shocking accidents and the heartbreaking reality of caring for his wife through advanced dementia.

• How dyslexia pushed him to master the physical mechani ...