Elizabeth Vargas is an American television journalist who is the lead investigative reporter/documentary anchor for A&E Networks. Previously, she was an anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News specials for 14 years.

Vargas has cut out her own niche in the world of broadcast journalism as a news correspondent for such top-rated shows as 20/20 and PrimeTime Live. Alongside such news veterans as Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, Vargas earned a reputation as a dynamic journalist who is more than able to handle the stress of a live news broadcast. As a woman at the top of her field, she has faithfully reported the news to millions of Americans.

In 2018, Vargas broadcast her first investigative documentary series on A&E, "Cults & Extreme Belief." She now hosts a series on A&E with the same name. Vargas and others interview former members of organizations considered cults, talking to them about how they became involved and their allegations of abuse. The series has talked to former members of NXIVM, Twelve Tribes, Unification Sanctuary Church, The Family International, Jehovah Witnesses and the United Nation of Islam.

Before that, Vargas joined ABC News from NBC News, where she spent three years as a correspondent and anchor, mostly for Dateline NBC and the Today show. While at Dateline, Vargas reported on a wide range of issues, including breast cancer research, PETA's war against fur and the mysterious life and death of billionaire socialite Doris Duke. She also reported a one-hour story on a controversial drunk-driving case in New Mexico. Her last day at ABC News was in May 2018, and she went on to start her first investigative documentary series on A&E, "Cults & Extreme Belief."

During her tenure at NBC, she served as substitute co-anchor and news anchor for NBC News' Today show and as a substitute anchor for the weekend editions of NBC Nightly News. Vargas joined NBC News in 1993 as a correspondent for the NBC newsmagazine, Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric.

Prior to joining NBC News, Vargas spent four years as a reporter and anchor for WBBM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Chicago. From 1986-1989, she was the lead reporter for KTVK-TV, the ABC affiliate in Phoenix. Earlier, she worked as a reporter-anchor for KTVN-TV, the CBS affiliate in Reno, Nevada.

In 2016, Vargas wrote her memoir "Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction." It was published by Grand Central Publishing on September 13 and became an instant New York Times and USA Today best seller.

Vargas graduated with a Bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, where she began her broadcasting career as a reporter-anchor for KOMU-TV.

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