Top 10 Celebrity Chef Earners: Who Isn't on the List?
How much does your favorite celebrity chef earn in a year? Forbes.com has the skinny, though in its typically annoying way, it makes the reader click more than ten times to get the entire list (don't worry, we've got you covered). Though the raw numbers are certainly impressive compared to what anonymous toqued toilers made pre-Food Network, celebrity chefs don't appear to fare well compared to, say, celebrity sports figures or actors or even the highest-paid lawyers and doctors. The bottom line is that celebrity chefs, like Donna Summer sang, work hard for their money.
Why is is that celebrity chefs don't even make as much as Paris Hilton? A few reasons.
- Cable salaries are markedly lower than broadcast network salaries, and there are no chefs starring in their own broadcast network series. Stars of successful nationally syndicated series can make seven figure annual salaries, and that fact explains why Rachael Ray tops the list. She is the only celebrity chef with a daily nationally syndicated television show (I guess Forbes doesn't consider Martha Stewart a celebrity chef). Even chefs with their own daytime series on Food Network make surprisingly little money.
- Very few celebrity chefs get seven figure book advances, and cookbooks rarely if ever become millions-of-copies-sold best-sellers like James Patterson's or J.K Rowling's books. I would guess that Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and the latest edition of The Joy of Cooking are probably the two best-selling cookbooks of the last ten years, and neither of those tomes would allow their authors to retire right now.
- Unlike musical stars, celebrity chefs can't make millions of dollars going on tour like, say, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, or the Rolling Stones. Some chefs may demand and even receive $100,000 plus expenses for an appearance, but they don't get more than a handful of those offers in a given year.
- Lastly, only Rachael Ray has the kind of lucrative celebrity endorsements that can net millions of dollars by themselves (see Dunkin' Donuts).
After the jump, the Forbes list.
The only surprises for me were that Giada De Laurentiis, who does have a network television contract (with NBC), didn't make the list, nor did Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who seems to have a restaurant in every industrialized country. What about you, serious eaters? Anybody else you think should have made the list?
1. Rachael Ray: $18 million
2. Wolfgang Puck: $16 million
3. Gordon Ramsay: $7.5 million
4. Nobu Matsuhisa: $5 million
5. Alain Ducasse: $5 million
6. Mario Batali: $3 million
7. Paula Deen: $4.5 million
8. Tom Colicchio: $2 million
9. Bobby Flay: $1.5 million
10. Anthony Bourdain: $1.5 million
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42 Comments:
I think calling Rachel Ray a chef, celebrity or otherwise, is an insult to people who actually went to culinary school or worked in a resturant kitchen. Don't think she's done either. Food personality, sure. Chef, not really.
ckh189 at 5:33PM on 08/11/08
I'm surprised with Emeril's shows, cookware, and restaurants he's not on the list.
And I too, wonder what they consider Martha Stewart!
bobcatsteph3 at 5:35PM on 08/11/08
I don't care how much money anybody makes.
I just care how much of it was mine.
srhcb at 5:37PM on 08/11/08
I'm surprised by these numbers...Bobby Flay and Mario Batali both make less than $5 million a year? I would have guessed they both were bringing in around 7-10 million a year.
davey at 5:37PM on 08/11/08
Agreed, ckh.
feriorrenna at 5:40PM on 08/11/08
Also..how about Todd English? The guy has like 20 restaurants, no? He's making less than $1.5 million? How can this list be correct?
davey at 5:41PM on 08/11/08
I think this list is full of errors. And.........what exactly is their criteria to determine who is "chef" worthy?
Boscompb at 6:02PM on 08/11/08
I think Emeril is probably on that list but that Martha Stewart Omni Co. refused to divulge his figures.
bessfour at 6:22PM on 08/11/08
With shows all over the airwaves, I'm surprised that Bobby Flay isn't making more. He definitely should be making more then most on that list!
sassy at 6:27PM on 08/11/08
Rachel Ray is top? It only makes sense because of her TV shows, which food-quality and information wise STILL should not merit that kind of money, at least not over those who have more experience. I'm not a Rachel-hater or anything, but it just seems wrong to me. Kinda like how professional athletes make millions more than doctors and teachers, for example, that actually contribute something more than mere entertainment to society!!
But I'll get off my soapbox... :)
luswim06 at 6:27PM on 08/11/08
If Rachael Ray is included, then it would seem to follow that Martha Stewart should be. Maybe they didn't include Martha because cooking is only a portion of what she does rather than it being her predominant emphasis since neither Martha nor Rachael fall within the chef category.
Rachael Ray also has the magazine, which is backed by Reader's Digest, along with having her name on a lot of cookware.
As someone else mentioned, Bobby Flay's numbers are surprising. It would be interesting to find out what criteria Forbes used in compiling the list.
I clicked through a Forbes list of "dying" cities this morning and had to do the same thing: click through ten pages to see them all. They get 10 page views for the story instead of one, which must impress the advertisers, huh? :)
holdthemayo at 6:32PM on 08/11/08
I think this is based on endorsements and TV shows, not on their restaurants' profitability.
missyhelly at 6:32PM on 08/11/08
My guess is that Rachel counts because she got her start "cooking," where Martha launched from the lifestyle perspective, regardless of the fact that they ended up in a similar market.
cyberroo at 7:15PM on 08/11/08
I'm going to echo the fact that RR is not a chef.
I wish people would stop calling her one, especially people who ought to know better.
thepictsie at 7:49PM on 08/11/08
I can only think that those who make the bulk of their money from running actual restaurants may be at a disadvantage in a poll like this because many of them don't really want anyone to know how much they make. Todd English has a bunch of restaurants, a PBS show and sells crap on the shopping channels and yet he doesn't make $1.5 million? Yeah, right. By the way, can someone explain to me how Paula Dean makes more than Mario Batali? Mario sells more "butcher leavings" at top dollar than anyone in the country. Oh yeah, the order on this needs to be switched. Last time I took a math class $4.5 million was more than $3 million.
steveTV at 7:54PM on 08/11/08
no Rocco? I'm shocked... hehe
Would be interesting to know what the FN chefs make per episode (per year), such as the Next FN Star, Sandra whats her name, Tyler Florence, or Ina Garten.
BirdDoggie at 7:54PM on 08/11/08
I think RR would be the first person to claim that she isn't a chef. She doesn't bake, which I know she's professed several times. She knows how to put meals together.
I would think that Emeril is up there. He sold pretty much everything but his restaurants to Martha Stewart IIRC recently.
bytehead at 9:28PM on 08/11/08
Hm. I can't help but think that there are some serious misconceptions about how much money restauranteurs make... Seriously, the profit margin on restaurants is miniscule, and some of that profit has to go back into the company.
thepictsie at 11:09PM on 08/11/08
i think they should have done the report on the top earnings of chefs that don't have TV shows, or actually, don't base the scale on their TV salaries... then let's see who is on top. only by estimate restaurant earnings. that would be an interesting survey
suburbangourmet at 11:25PM on 08/11/08
Initially, it looks like the quality of the person is inversely proportional to the salary. Except that Bobby Flay is at the bottom, and Mario Batali isn't.
schlake at 9:43AM on 08/12/08
I'm always leary of "lists" or any type of statistics as they can be manipulated in so many ways. I concur with the earlier comments about questioning the criteria of the data.
As to RR, she definitely disdains being called a chef. She's a cooking celebrity. They mistitled the list when they included her. I like her shows but watch only very occassionally. I don't feel many cooking shows really go into the type of cooking I like, but watched many of them over the years. I'm surprised at who is missing on the list as well...where is Morimoto?
Ezzie at 9:48AM on 08/12/08
Obvious missing names include Jamie Oliver and Emeril (his TV worth has dropped, but he owns a bunch of restaurants).
As everyone else has said, the sources are questionable.
peekpoke at 9:50AM on 08/12/08
Cyberroo, Martha got her start from a catering (and therefore cooking) perspective, not lifestyle. She definitely counts as a chef.
mh330 at 10:00AM on 08/12/08
RR's revenues skyrocketed when she was touched by the golden finger of Oprah. I wish Oprah would touch me!
PerkyMac at 10:40AM on 08/12/08
This has to be salary from food-related activities. Todd English and Vongerichten probably award themselves a relatively small salary from their corporation, in the hundreds of thousands, and not in the millions. This say nothing about how much money their companies make or how big their expense account is...
grubnoise at 11:00AM on 08/12/08
actually rachael ray worked in restaurants and in the food industry for years before she was offered a television show.
cybercita at 11:37AM on 08/12/08
In RR's defense, and I'm not a huge fan, she has always said she's not a chef, simply a cook and someone that likes food. It's nice to see someone succeed the old fashioned way by working hard, learning as much as possible, without an expensive traditional education. That aside, Wolfgang still makes that much? And Bobby Flay isn't bringing more in on the restaurant side? Maybe it's time for him to expand....
cookingbroke at 11:57AM on 08/12/08
@cookingbroke: well said.
By no means should she be titled 'a chef' (and we've/she's made that clear often) ; but I beleive her efforts deserve to be rewarded. I'm not a single mother (or anything close to that), but I could see her approach to be inspiring the average 'mom-at-home' and/or the 'less experienced' in a way that no one has yet(?) I don't want to be on a soap-box either but she's come a long way (and actually grown on me over time)--therefore I'm not too surprised to see that number.
Also, I agree that Bobby should be (or actually is) making more.
hungrychristel at 12:53PM on 08/12/08
How much of "their" restaurants do these chefs actually own? Even JGV has partners in "his" restaurants. Very few, if any of the top chefs likely own the majority of any one restaurant. No one is immune to a failed restaurant, so why should any smart chef put up too much of his own money? Sure, the chef is the draw, but someone else is putting up the vast majority of the cash, so the lion's share of any profit will USUALLY go to the money guys.
alden at 1:32PM on 08/12/08
When did Rachel Ray or Paula Deene become chefs? Cooks? Maybe. But not chefs.
aharste at 4:10PM on 08/12/08
I agree with hold the mayo and others as to why Martha Stewart is not on the Forbes list, as she is a decorator, designer, etc in addition to providing recipes.
RR may not appeal to a lot of the people who would frequent a food board, but she is probably recognized by more non-foodie types than anyone else on that list, and has more commercial potential (a higher "warm and fuzzy" quotient than say, Tony Bourdain), hence the higher numbers.
I'm just sayin'.
Tonecat at 9:10PM on 08/12/08
HOW is PAULA DEEN making so much money killing America one bacon-covered donut at a time?!
iheartpurpleyams at 3:52AM on 08/13/08
PerkyMac said -- "I wish Oprah would touch me!"
Dear Lord, please give me strength to ignore that comment and not say anything.
FastFoodCritic at 8:36AM on 08/13/08
@FFC ~ now, now, let's get our - oops YOUR - mind out of the gutter. Actually, Oprah and Retchel both get on my nerves, but everything she touches seems to turn to gold, so I'd grit my teeth , hold out my index finger and receive the precious gold. The way things are going, even a little nickel might help!
p.s. the laugh helped even more - thanks!
PerkyMac at 9:31AM on 08/13/08
@FFC: LMAO over here...Awesome.
Butrflygirly at 12:00PM on 08/13/08
"When did Rachel Ray or Paula Deene become chefs? Cooks? Maybe. But not chefs."
Rachel Ray is not a chef, she's never even cooked in a restaurant, and what she does cook is disgusting (Hotdog Salad for example).
Paula Deene on the other hand, may not be a classically trained chef, but she started out owning and operating her own restaurant and her recipes, though not good for you, are some of the most delicious out there. Paula is a chef, much more so than Rachel.
Granted the only two on this list that I really respect as chefs are Ramsey and Bourdain, but that's because they are real chefs, they know what they want and don't put up with any crap in their kitchen.
buddha at 3:39PM on 08/13/08
moral of the story.. dont believe everything you read. I work for a celebrity chef and his restaurants alone make him more than $1.5 mill a year. not to mention his book sales, endorsements, television shows and guest apparences.. and guys give RR a break!!!
Shes doing her thing, and doing it well. Go Rachel! /the sky's the limit and the ovens the transport to get you there : o
bridge at 3:41AM on 08/14/08
In Rachel's defense, keeping in mind that I really do not like her, she herself has said on many occassions that she IS NOT a chef and does not consider herself to be one.
Do you have to be on TV to be a celeb chef? I wonder how much money Thomas Keller makes.
lexophile at 10:32AM on 08/14/08
I think a better title would have been food celebrities as opposed to "Celebrity Chefs..."
I read through the first page of responses on the article and it blows me away how many RR lemmings there are. I am so reminded of a woman who worked for me from Biloxi. She set her TIVO to record Oprah and Dr. Phil every day we were out of town and continually quoted the two. On another forum I used to spend a lot of time on, there was a woman who continually quoted "The View".
Thank gawd I quit drinking kool-aid when I stopped going to band camp.
If Oprah endor
thewrighttaste at 11:01AM on 08/14/08
Television is about television, not cooking. The top earners on this list have leveraged the initial toehold of a cooking show into great wealth. People tune in to watch someone cook on TV because they're attracted to that personality,not particularly because they want a cooking lesson.
Ray was smart enough to understand that early on and began to build her brand apart from Food Network. Her fans would tune in to watch her scrub a sink.
billg at 10:09AM on 08/16/08
Salaries and "profits" from restaurant are two different things......
blitzjb at 9:07AM on 08/18/08
Spot on, Bill. It's all about the cult of personality and to her credit, RR does not call herself a chef.
RI Swampyankee at 8:51PM on 08/18/08