Between being a chef, owning several restaurants around the world, and having what seems like an endless supply of television shows in Britain and the United States, Gordon Ramsay appears to be doing pretty good for himself. We know that he’s probably rich, but just how rich? Is Gordon Ramsay a billionaire?
Gordon Ramsay is not a billionaire, he is however a multi-millionaire. A couple hundred times over as he’s estimated to be worth about $220 million. He is the second wealthiest chef in the world, behind Jamie Oliver, and is continuing to make money. He doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Gordon Ramsay currently has 34 restaurants in operation, and in addition to his own multitude of shows, he’s also made guest appearances on several television shows, as well as movies, documentaries, and even video games. While he may not be a billionaire right now, that’s not to say he won’t become one in his lifetime.
World’s Billionaires
According to Forbes annual billionaires list, as of March 18, 2020 there are 2,095 billionaires worldwide. This number is down 58 from the previous year’s list, and 226 few than just 12 days before the March 18 deadline, due to Covid-19.
For the third year in a row, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tops the list as the world’s wealthiest person. This is even after having to hand over $36 billion in Amazon stock to his ex-wife during their divorce.
Alice Walton, the heir to the Walmart franchise is the world’s wealthiest woman, coming in ninth on the overall list. The biggest gainer this past year was from a pig breeder who amassed $14.2 billion this past year to make it up to the 43rd spot with $18.5 billion.
Other interesting facts about the year’s billionaires list is that there are 267 names missing from this year’s list who were on it last year. Twenty-one of those people died and the others had businesses that faltered, either losing money or closing up shop altogether. While there were some who were missing this year, there were also 178 newcomers, including Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan.
Ramsay Comparisons
Chef Gordon Ramsay makes approximately $63 million a year, give or take. That includes all of his take-home income from his shows and restaurants. Lion Capital has invested $100 million to open up 100 Gordon Ramsay restaurants in the next five years. Between that and making almost a quarter-million dollars per episode of his shows, that annual amount is almost guaranteed to rise in the coming years.
To put that in perspective, the average salary for an American chef is anywhere between $25,352 to $34,567, depending on what state you live in. The further up the kitchen chain you go, the more you will make, but even as a head chef, most only make around $80,000 per year.
Your average cooking show host makes around $82,000 a year, not per episode. Even amongst celebrity chefs, Ramsay tops the list for per-episode earnings at over $225,000. He makes more per episode than almost any other reality show on television, the Kardashians notwithstanding.
Possible But Not Likely
I don’t want to burst Gordon Ramsay’s billionaire bubble, but if he continues at the rate he is now for income, he’s not going to break into the billionaire club. Again, this isn’t saying that it’s not possible, it’s just not very likely unless something else comes up.
None of this really matters to any of his five children, as he’s already stated that he will not be leaving them his fortune. He also wants to make sure that his kids learn to appreciate money and work for it themselves, so he’s careful about spoiling them too much.
My only wish is that he keeps spoiling us by continuing to put out entertaining television shows. And perhaps bring back a couple of the good ones that no longer air.