As of 2007, several chefs can count themselves as multi-millionaires — their empire based on their restaurants, cookbook sales, and their TV performances. Check out this list:
In Europe:
1. Gordon Ramsay, £ 67m ($126m)
2. Jamie Oliver, £ 38m($71m)
3. Rick Stein, £ 36m ($67m)
4. Delia Smith, £ 25m ($47m)
5. Anthony Worrall Thompson, £ 21m ($39m)
6. Marco Pierre White, £ 10m ($18m). The only chef on the list who doesn’t have a TV show.
7. Gary Rhodes, £ 8m ($15m)
8. Raymond Blanc, £ 7m ($13m)
9. Nigella Lawson, £ 3m ($5.6m). Interestingly, she is the only chef who doesn’t have a restaurant.
10. Heston Blumenthal, £ 2m ($3.7m)
Forbes annual list ranked the American chefs.
1. Wolfgang Puck, $16m (No. 89)
2. Emeril Lagasse, $10m (No. 94)
3. Rachael Ray $6m (No. 81)
4. Mario Batali $5m (No. 98)
It is pretty curious how European chefs do better than Americans. Wolfgang Puck is practically an institution, and after all those Hollywood celebs backing him up, you’d think he’d have a bigger bank account. Also, Gordon Ramsey — who’s lambasted celebritydom — has certainly no qualms about his immense fortune, built not just from his restaurants, but 2 reality TV shows, cookbook, and a tell-all biography.