José Díaz-Balart Caballero was born on November 7, 1960, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Cuban parents who fled Cuba after the revolution. He was raised in Madrid, Spain, and later returned to the United States. He attended New College of Florida, earning a BA in Political Science and History. His multicultural upbringing helped shape his bilingual career in both English- and Spanish-language media.

Díaz-Balart’s broadcasting career began in 1983, initially working in radio and print for United Press International. He moved to TV news in 1984 as the Central American Bureau Chief for the Spanish International Network (now Univision) and later helped to launch Telemundo’s news division. In 1996, he was hired by CBS News to co-anchor This Morning, becoming the first Cuban-American to anchor a network news broadcast in the United States.

He returned to NBC Universal in 2000 as an anchor on Noticiero Telemundo. Since then, he has served in various roles at NBCUniversal, including at MSNBC, Telemundo, and NBC News. Currently, he anchors the Saturday edition of NBC Nightly News, co-anchors the flagship streaming show Ahora 360 on the Noticias Telemundo Ahora channel, and also leads the Spanish-language edition of Dateline.

José Díaz-Balart has been married to Brenda for over three decades. The couple lives in Miami, Florida, and has two daughters, Katrina and Sabrina. He is part of a distinguished political dynasty; his father was a Cuban politician, his brother Mario Díaz-Balart is a U.S. Congressman, and his late brother Lincoln was also a prominent political figure.