NBC’s Tom Llamas climbed from 15-year-old intern to the top anchor chair—and still isn’t satisfied: ‘If you're not growing, you're dying'

Tom Llamas at the anchor desk (Credit: Courtesy of NBC News)

As the face of NBC Nightly News, Tom Llamas has reached a milestone many journalists spend their entire careers pursuing: the anchor chair of one of America’s flagship evening newscasts.

At 46, he’s following in the footsteps of the greats like Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, and Lester Holt—the last whom he succeeded last year. The role looks very different today from how it did during their eras, as traditional television news competes for relevance in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. Yet for Llamas, the career high has felt less like a finish line—and more like just another challenge to tackle.