Top-Earning Celebrity Chefs
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Who Brings Home the Bacon?
Say what you will about Rachael Ray, but the jaunty chef-next-door knows how to build a brand. She's not alone either. Today's celebrity chefs are just as competent in front of a camera as they are in front of a stove.
Click through our gallery as Forbes profiles ten celebrity chefs who really cash in.
Read the Article
First Up: Alain Ducasse -
Alain Ducasse
Earnings: $5 Million
This French chef's empire includes 22 restaurants from Tokyo to Paris. His first New York spot shuttered in 2006 after critics said the food was too fussy; he opened two humbler joints there this year.
More on Alain Ducasse
Next: Nobuyuki Matsuhisa -
Nobuyuki Matsuhisa
Earnings: $5 Million
The sushi chef to the stars began his career slicing fish in Tokyo, Peru, Argentina and Alaska. Now he co-owns 17 Nobu sushi restaurants around the globe. The ones in Los Angeles and New York are celebrity magnets.
More on Nobuyuki Matsuhisa
Next: Gordon Ramsay -
Gordon Ramsay
Earnings: $7.5 Million
The foulmouthed British chef owns restaurants in London, New York and Dubai. He's better known for berating reality show contestants on Hell's Kitchen in the U.S. and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares in the U.K.
More on Gordon Ramsay
Next: Wolfgang Puck -
Wolfgang Puck
Earnings: $16 Million
The Austrian-born patriarch of celebrity chefdom got his start with the ritzy Los Angeles restaurant Spago in 1982. That hot spot, once frequented by Orson Welles and Sidney Poitier, now counts Brad Pitt and Jamie Foxx among its regulars. Today Puck owns 15 other fine-dining brands, including Chinois, Cut and the Source, and he also sells sandwiches to weary airport travelers at Wolfgang Puck Express.
More on Wolfgang Puck
Next: Rachael Ray -
Rachael Ray
Earnings: $18 Million
The jaunty chef-next-door leapt from small-time cable stardom to Oprah-esque success. She began winning audiences with catchphrases like "Yum-o" on her first Food Network show, 30 Minute Meals, in 2001. Today she has four Food Network programs, including Tasty Travels and $40 a Day
More on Rachael Ray
· See All 10 Top-Earning Chefs
Next: Top Hollywood Earners -
Eamonn McCormack, WireImage.com
Top Earning Hollywood Stars
Chefs aren't the only celebrities bringing in the big bucks. Check out who among Hollywood's hottest are dominating the payroll. From Johnny Depp to Keira Knightley, these folks have it made.
Top-Earning Hollywood Actors
Top-Earning Hollywood Acresses
Next: More on WalletPop -
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Celebrity Chef Secrets
Celebrity chefs all have some secrets that they would like to keep from their fans. Unfortunately, they're not all about the cooking.
Click through and find out if you've been fooled.
10 Things Celebrity Chefs Won't Tell YouRelated Links:
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Recent Comments
debdl1960 10:22:14 AM Aug 23 2008
Im shopping at walmart later......mind your own business.
Morticia44 02:55:53 PM Aug 21 2008
Instead of researching this why not spend the time researching how to lessen the effects of tornados, hurricanes and floods. Let people live and eat what they want, it's their body, as long as they are happy so be it.
CHADCLAY720 10:37:18 AM Aug 18 2008
Does this mean we don't have to listen to 20 something women tell us how unfair the job world is because of men? Does this also mean we won't have to work with women that have three last names?
Nqek1004 01:40:03 PM Aug 15 2008
R.R. admitted on tv that she is not a chef. It is her personality that sells. You donât have to be the best, but if you have the right attitude you can make happen. Is not her fault, is our fault for supporting her sillies shows. As long she can keep the ratings she will remain on tv. I donât really care, because I donât waste my time watching someone cooking. For me, my wife is my best chef ever. SEX SELL!!!! She is over rate it!!!!
JABCOOL 11:21:53 AM Aug 15 2008
if you have ever made one of her recipes, it is clear why people would be made she makes 18 million, her food sucks
McNab2000 10:44:22 AM Aug 15 2008
I like Rachel Ray a great deal, have since her days on the Food Network. These comments are so personal against her. If you don't like her show, don't watch. What this really comes across as, is a campaign against her by another shows marketing people. I like the fact she is brassy, I like that she is like everyone else. And just for some of you, there is not a cooking show on TV that does not have people helping to cut/chop/dice, set up and clear away. They'd never get these shows out within a 30 minute or hour broadcast if they didn't. Some of you are also great SNOBS. You think because someone didn't take 8 hours to make some dish that no one is satisfied with that only that is great cooking. A true chef cooks. Period. Can take anything in the kitchen and make it great. Rachel does that, with every day food and that is what makes her great. Too many sour grapes in this bunch, you are all jealous. Paula Dean is also a great cook. Those of you sitting here spilling out your vile wish
JEBAMONI4 10:11:37 AM Aug 15 2008
SHE IS AN ATTRACTIVE GOOD COOK. SHE DOES EVERY COOKING BY HERSELF. THE WORST LADY COOK IS PAULA DEEN. SHE WILL ALWAYSHAVE A SIDE KICK WHO WILL DO ALL THE COOKING. PAULA DEEN IS A VERY PHONEY PERSON. IF SHE CONTEST IN IRON CHEF, SHE WILL COME LAST. I DO NOT KNOW WHY SHE IS MADE A JUDGE IN COOKING CONTEST. HAS SHE GONE TO ANY COOKING SCHOOL? SHE IS LIVING IN GLORY ON SOMEBODY'S LABOR AND EFFORTS. I SWITCH OFF THE TV, WHEN I SEE PAULA DEEN'S FACE ON TV.
BBrawler67 11:45:01 AM Aug 01 2008
leave paris hilton alone. shes pretty and she doesnt deserve this shit
LadySiouxChef 12:57:26 PM Jul 26 2008
OOooooooo!!! Orange NEHI!! Boy, does that bring back memories of a great childhood for me, Shirley. If they every bring it back, I hope it's the exact formula.
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