Kimbal Musk is a South African restauranteur, chef, and entrepreneur who has a net worth of $500 million. Kimbal Musk is best known for being the brother of Elon Musk and for serving as a member of the Board of Directors of his brother's companies, Tesla Inc. and SpaceX. In 1995, Kimbal and Elon co-founded Zip2, a software company that Compaq acquired for $307 million in 1999.

Kimbal owns The Kitchen Restaurant Group, which has locations in Illinois and Colorado. Musk is the chairman and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Big Green, which has built more than 700 "Learning Gardens" in schools across the United States. Kimbal also co-founded the urban farming company Square Roots, which grows food in "modular, stacking hydroponic farms." He was formerly a board member for Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Musk has appeared on the television shows "Risk Takers" (2011), "60 Minutes" (2014), "Chelsea" (2016), "Couple Thinkers" (2017), "Megyn Kelly Today" (2018), "Today" (2019), "Chopped" (2019), and "To Dine For with Kate Sullivan" (2021). In 2018, the World Economic Forum named Kimball a "Global Social Entrepreneur of the Year."

Tesla Shares

According to SEC filings, Kimbal has sold $100 million shares of Tesla since the company has gone public. He is the fifth-largest individual stockholder in his older brother's company.

Before the company did a 5-1 stock split in August 2020, Kimbal owned 130,000 shares of Tesla stock. After Tesla split 5-1, Kimbal's stake grew to 572,000 shares. On January 8, 2021, when Tesla hit $880, Kimball's Tesla equity was worth $503 million.

In August 2023 Tesla split again, this time 3:1. After this split Kimbal owned 1.7 million shares. In June 2023 when Apple's stock price hit $250, up 90% from the beginning of the year, Kimbal's stake was once again worth around $500 million.

Early Life

Kimbal Musk was born Kimbal James Musk on September 20, 1972, in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. He is the son of Errol Musk, the owner of an engineering practice, and model/dietician Maye Musk. Kimbal has two siblings, brother Elon and sister Tosca, and he is the cousin of SolarCity co-founder Lyndon Rive. After graduating from high school, Musk moved to Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where Elon was living at the time, and he studied business at Queen's University, earning his degree in 1995. While attending Queen's University, Musk took a job at Scotiabank.

Zip2

In 1994, Kimbal launched a residential painting business affiliated with College Pro Painters, and the following year, he and Elon co-founded the online city guide Zip2. The company provided content for the online versions of the "Chicago Tribune" and "The New York Times," and Compaq purchased it for $307 million in 1999.

Elon netted $22 million from the sale, while Kimbal netted $15 million. After the brothers sold Zip2 , Kimbal invested in new technology and software companies as well as Elon's online financial services company X.com, which merged with PayPal. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion in stock.

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Other Work

Musk moved to New York City and began attending the French Culinary Institute. In 2004, he opened the community bistro The Kitchen in Boulder, Colorado, with his then-wife, Jen Lewin, and Hugo Matheson. The Kitchen has been included on "America's Top Restaurants" lists by "Gourmet," "Food & Wine," "Zagat's," and the James Beard Foundation. The restaurant also has locations in Chicago and Denver.

Kimbal was the CEO of the advertising network OneRiot from 2006 until 2011, when it was acquired by Walmart-Labs. In 2011, he opened the fast casual restaurant Next Door American Eatery in downtown Boulder. As of 2019, Next Door American Eatery had expanded to 10 locations. Musk spent seven years supporting the Growe Foundation, which planted gardens at Boulder schools, before establishing the nonprofit organization The Kitchen Community (which was later renamed Big Green). According to the Big Green website, "We've spent the last 12 years helping people grow their own food — with garden-based education, scalable, modular garden products and systems, and a community of support and collaboration. We've built a network of over 700 vibrant and edible Learning Gardens in schools across the country and are now advancing home, school, and community gardens across the country." Each The Kitchen location donates a portion of sales toward planting Learning Gardens at local schools. In 2012, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave $1 million to the organization to plant 80 Learning Gardens in local schools.

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Personal Life

Kimbal married Jen Lewin in 2001, and they welcomed three children before divorcing in 2010. In 2018, Musk wed environmental activist Christiana Wyly, who is the daughter of former billionaire businessman Sam Wyly. Wyly was a billionaire in 2010. He declared bankruptcy in 2014 after being charged with various counts of fraud by the SEC and IRS.

Controversy

Kimbal's restaurant group created a Family Fund with money collected from employees to help cover emergencies and hardships, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurants closed and the employees weren't able to access the funds. According to "HuffPost," two days after the restaurant group sent out an email telling employees that the Family Fund was being revised and that they could apply through a new link (which the employees reportedly never received), 100 employees were let go, making them no longer eligible to receive financial assistance from the fund. Kimbal disputed the report, and the "Daily Camera" reported, "Between the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in March and April 10, the Family Fund has approved $27,600 in grants to 69 workers, according to data supplied by The Kitchen." In the article, Musk stated that the Family Fund "still won't be able support everyone, but going forward there will be no difference between a furloughed worker and a laid off worker."

Read more: Kimbal Musk Net Worth

Salt Bae is the nickname of Turkish chef and restaurateur Nusret Gökçe, whose distinctive method of preparing and seasoning meat turned him into an Internet meme in 2017. Nusret Gökçe has a net worth of $80 million. On the business side of things, he owns a chain of luxury steakhouses called Nusr-Et, which has branches in the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, and Greece. Gökçe has been involved in some controversies over the years, including for allegedly taking his employees' tips and violating COVID-19 safety protocols at his restaurant in Boston.

Early Life

Nusret Gökçe was born in 1983 in Paşalı, Erzurum Province, Turkey into a Kurdish family. He has four siblings, and his father, Faik, was a mineworker. The family's poor finances forced Gökçe to leave school in the sixth grade, after which time he became a butcher's apprentice in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul.

Restaurateur Career

Between 2007 and 2010, Gökçe visited a number of different countries and worked at various local restaurants for free. He did this so he could gain experience as both a chef and future restaurateur. Upon returning to Turkey, Gökçe opened his first restaurant in 2010 in Istanbul. Four years after that, he opened a restaurant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Largely due to the increased exposure he got from going viral in 2017, Gökçe expanded his business and opened a chain of luxury steakhouses called Nusr-Et. The name of the restaurant is a pun on his first name, with the "Et" meaning "meat" in Turkish. Gökçe went on to open restaurant branches in Greece, the United States, and the United Kingdom, as well as in locations in such Middle Eastern countries as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Internet Meme

Gökçe gained widespread attention online in 2017 when videos and pictures of him preparing and seasoning meat went viral on social media. He became particularly renowned for his distinctive method of sprinkling salt by dropping it from his fingertips high in the air, down to his forearm and onto a dish. With 10 million views on his Instagram post, Gökçe was given the nickname "Salt Bae" and was subsequently turned into a major Internet meme. This exposure caused him to become famous beyond just social media, with various celebrities and politicians from around the world soliciting his service.

(Photo by Laurent KOFFEL/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Critical Reception

Despite his viral success, Gökçe has earned largely negative reviews for his steakhouse chain. In 2018, his New York City steakhouse was roundly panned by critics, who called it mundane, over-salted, and overpriced. However, reviewers have been relatively more positive about the restaurants' entertainment value, asserting that it works as dinner theater as long as "Salt Bae is in the house."

Controversies

Gökçe has been involved in a number of controversies big and small. In late 2017, he was criticized for a photo of him posing in front of a picture of former Cuban president Fidel Castro, whom he was shown emulating. The next year, Gökçe drew controversy after a man was severely burned in a failed fire show at his steakhouse in Istanbul. He had another restaurant controversy in late 2019 when four of his former employees accused him of taking their share of tips, after which they were allegedly fired. Gökçe elicited more criticism in 2020 for violating COVID-19 safety protocols at his Boston restaurant, prompting the establishment to be temporarily closed by public health officials just days after its opening. A year later, Gökçe came under scrutiny in the UK when patrons at one of his restaurants there were charged with a £37,000 bill. Beyond his restaurant business, he stirred some controversy in late 2022 when he joined the Argentine team on the field after the country's victory in the FIFA World Cup final, and proceeded to mess with the players and their medals.

Charity

Involved in some charitable endeavors, Gökçe built a school in his home province of Erzurum. He has also reportedly built a library, guest house, mosque, and English education center there, among other facilities.

Read more: Salt Bae Net Worth

Sandra Lee is an American television personality and chef who has a net worth of $25 million. Not to be confused with TLC star Sandra Lee (AKA Dr. Pimple Popper), chef Sandra Lee is best known for her Food Network "Semi-Homemade" cooking segment, which is based on the concept of using 70% pre-made products and 30% fresh items. She also hosts a Food Network show called "Money Saving Meals."

To date Sandra Lee has published 25 books, including her 2007 memoir "Made from Scratch," which tells of her hardscrabble beginnings. Lee has since gone on to launch other lines of home, garden and craft products which have been sold through Sears, Target and Walmart. Lee is a national spokesperson for Share Our Strength's No Kid Campaign and the anchor of their largest fundraiser, The Great American Bake Sale.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

She was born Sandra Lee Waldroop on July 3, 1966 in Santa Monica, California. In the early 1990s she created a product called Sandra Lee Kraft Kurtains, a home decorating tool which used a wire rack and sheets or other fabric samples to create decorative drapery. She marketed the product through infomercials on television. She also produced a series of home improvement videos.

In 1993, after only nine months of marketing Kurtain Kraft, Lee had grossed $6 million.

Semi-Homeade

Lee's big break came in 2003 when she landed her first Food Network show, "Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee." Her concept of using 70% store-bought, ready-made products combined with 30% fresh items resonated with busy homemakers, making her show a hit. The Semi-Homemade concept expanded into a multimedia empire, including a series of bestselling cookbooks and a magazine.

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Philanthropic Endeavors and Advocacy

Aside from her professional pursuits, Lee has always been an avid philanthropist and advocate. She has been involved with numerous charitable organizations, such as UNICEF and Stand Up to Cancer. A breast cancer survivor herself, Lee has been an active advocate for early cancer detection and women's health issues. Her candid documentary "RX: Early Detection, A Cancer Journey with Sandra Lee," chronicling her own battle with the disease, won critical acclaim and raised awareness about the importance of early detection.

Awards and Accolades

Over her career, Lee has received multiple awards and recognitions. These include a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host for "Semi-Homemade Cooking," and another Daytime Emmy for her documentary "RX: Early Detection, A Cancer Journey with Sandra Lee."

Personal Life

Sandra Lee married KB Home's CEO Bruce Karatz in 2001. She actually converted to Judaism for Bruce. Unfortunately the couple divorced in 2005.

Sandra Lee was romantically linked to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo starting in the fall of 2005. They eventually broke up.

Real Estate

Sandra has homes in the towns of Chappaqua and Poughkeepsie, NY and Malibu, California.

Sandra acquired her Malibu property in November 2019 for $3.375 million. She listed this home for sale in May 2023 for $7.5 million.

Read more: Sandra Lee Net Worth

Tom Colicchio is an American celebrity chef who has a net worth of $20 million. Tom Colicchio co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City and also served as its executive chef. He has also founded Crafted Hospitality which includes a number of notable restaurants around the United States. He is also known for being the head judge on the reality series "Top Chef" on Bravo and is a main consulting producer for Top Chef Masters.

Early Life

Colicchio was born on August 15, 1962 in Elizabeth, New Jersey to parents Beverly Ann and Thomas Patrick, both of whom have Italian heritage. He grew up with his older brother Michael and his younger brother Philip John. His father worked as a union organizer. He attended Elizabeth High School, graduating in 1980.

Career

Colicchio knew he was interested in pursuing a career as a chef. He worked his way up through the restaurant ranks until he was serving as a sous-chef to chef Thomas Keller at Rakel in the mid-1980s. As his career developed and he took more leadership roles in the kitchen, he began envisioning opening up his own restaurant with his business partner, Danny Meyer. In July of 1994, the two opened Gramercy Tavern in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan in New York. Colicchio was a co-founder, co-owner, and executive chef of the restaurant. Gramercy Tavern was voted the Most Popular Restaurant in New York City in both 2003 and 2005. In 2006, Colicchio sold his interest in the restaurant and is no longer affiliated with it.

Meanwhile, Colicchio had been working on other endeavors. In 2001, he opened the first Craft restaurant with his group, Crafted Hospitality, one block south of Gramercy Tavern. The following year, he opened Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In 2003, he opened 'wichcraft, a sandwich shop concept.

In 2006, Colicchio got involved with the "Top Chef" franchise at its inception. He served as the head judge of the televised cooking competition. He later served as the main consulting producer on Bravo's spin-off series, "Top Chef Masters." In 2010, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Programming as the executive producer of "Top Chef." He has also been involved with other television and film projects. In 2011, he made a cameo appearance in the 23^rd season of "The Simpsons" as himself. He also appeared in an episode of "The Smurfs" the same year. Colicchio also appeared in the tenth episode of the fifth season of "Billions" as a chef character.

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In 2013, he appeared in the documentary film "A Place at the Table" and was also an executive producer on the project. The film was directed by his wife, Lori Silverbush, and concerns the issue of hunger and food insecurity in the United States. As a companion to the film, a book entitled "A Place at the Table: The Crisis of 49 Million Hungry Americans and How to Solve It" was also released. Colicchio contributed content to the book. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He also served as the host of the reality series "Best New Restaurant" in 2015. He later appeared as himself in the fifth episode of the first season of the HBO series "Treme."

He continued opening new restaurants through Crafted Hospitality in different cities around the United States. He currently owns the Craft restaurant with locations in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as Craftsteak and Tom Colicchio's Heritage Steak in Las Vegas. In New York, he operates Small Batch in Garden City and also 'wichcraft and Temple Court in New York City. In 2010, he won the 2010 Outstanding Chef award from the James Beard Foundation. He has also been involved with opening over ten additional restaurants in New York City, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, and San Francisco that have since closed.

Colicchio has authored three cookbooks in his lifetime. He published his first book in 2000 entitled "Think like a chef." In 2003, he published "Craft of cooking: notes and recipes from a restaurant kitchen." In 2009, he wrote "Wichcraft: a craft sandwich into a meal—and a meal into a sandwich." He has also gotten involved in podcasting. In June of 2020, he launched his podcast "Citizen Chef" via the iHeartRadio Podcast Network. On his show, he discusses issues relating to food, politics, and other current events.

Personal Life

In 2001, Colicchio married filmmaker Lori Silverbush. Together, the couple have had two sons together – Luka Bodhi in 2009 and Mateo Lev in 2011. He additionally has another son, Dante, whom he had with a former girlfriend in 1993.

Colicchio has devoted his time and resources to philanthropic work as well. He serves on the Food Council at City Harvest and the Culinary Council at Food Bank for New York City, both hunger-relief organizations. He has also been involved with organizations devoted to improving food supply chain issues to alleviate hunger.

Read more: Tom Colicchio Net Worth

Geoffrey Zakarian is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author who has a net worth of $4 million. While you may have expected a bigger net worth number, keep in mind Geoffrey filed for personal bankruptcy in 2011 as a response to a class action lawsuit by his former employees. With a modern style rooted in French cuisine, Geoffrey Zakarian serves as the executive chef of several restaurants in New York City, Atlantic City, and Miami. On television, Zakarian has appeared frequently on various Food Network programs, including "Chopped," "The Next Iron Chef," and "Cooks vs. Cons."

Early Life and Education

Geoffrey Zakarian was born on July 25, 1959 in Worcester, Massachusetts to Polish-American mother Viola and Armenian-American father George, a musician. He has a brother named George and a sister named Virginia. As a teenager, Zakarian attended Burncoat High School, graduating in 1977. He went on to attend Worcester State University, from which he earned a degree in economics. After spending some time in France and deciding he wanted to become a chef, Zakarian enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, from which he earned an associate degree.

Career Beginnings

Zakarian began his culinary career as an apprentice chef under Daniel Boulud at Le Cirque. From 1982 to 1987, he rose from Pastry Sous to Chef de Cuisine under Alain Sailhac.

Executive Chef and Restaurateur

Zakarian had his first executive chef position in 1987, at the 21Club. The next year, he became the executive chef of the Midtown Manhattan restaurant 44, located at the Royalton Hotel. In the 90s, Zakarian opened the Blue Door restaurant at the Delano Hotel in South Beach, Miami, and became the executive chef of Patroon in Manhattan. Kicking off the new millennium, Zakarian worked with famed French chef Alain Passard at Arpège, a Michelin three-star restaurant in Paris.

In 2001, Zakarian opened his first restaurant, Town, located at the Chambers Hotel on the East Side of Manhattan. The restaurant closed in 2009. In 2005, at the Carlton Hotel, he opened another acclaimed restaurant called Country. Among his other restaurateur work, Zakarian opened the New York City restaurants the Lambs Club and the National; Tudor House in Miami; and Point Royal in Hollywood, Florida. He is also a consultant at the Water Club in Atlantic City.

Television Career

As a celebrity chef, Zakarian has made frequent appearances on television programs on Food Network. His most prolific involvement has been with the reality cooking game show "Chopped," on which he has served as a judge for numerous seasons beginning with the show's premiere in 2009. Zakarian has also been a judge on the spinoff series "Chopped Junior," as well as the series "Top Chef" and "Cutthroat Kitchen." Additionally, he has been a contestant on some shows, including "Iron Chef America" in 2010 and "The Next Iron Chef" in 2011. Zakarian was the winner of the latter, beating Elizabeth Falkner.

Beyond judging and competing, Zakarian has also hosted some Food Network shows. Since 2014, he has co-hosted the cooking-themed daytime talk show "The Kitchen" with fellow Food Network chefs Sunny Anderson, Jeff Mauro, and Katie Lee. Marcela Valladolid was a co-host from 2014 to 2017, and Alex Guarnaschelli joined the show in 2020. With Sunny Anderson, Zakarian co-hosted the series "Top 5 Restaurants" from 2015 to 2016. In the latter year, he began hosting the series "Cooks vs. Cons," on which judges attempt to determine if a dish was made by a professional chef or an amateur cook.

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Legal Issues

In 2011, Zakarian filed for personal bankruptcy after a class action lawsuit was filed against him by his former employees, who claimed that he violated labor laws. The suit was ultimately settled out of court. Zakarian later got into some trouble for pulling out of a planned restaurant at Donald Trump's hotel in Washington, DC after Trump made demeaning comments about immigrants. Trump sued Zakarian for lost rent and other damages; the suit was settled out of court.

Personal Life

Zakarian was previously married to Heather Karaman for about a decade. In 2005, he wed his second wife, marketing executive Margaret Williams. Together, they have two daughters named Anna and Madeline and a son named George.

In 2006, Zakarian released his first recipe book. Among his other activities, he serves as the chairman of the City Harvest Food Council, a food rescue organization committed to combating hunger in New York City. Zakarian also has a line of kitchen products and a line of food products.

Read more: Geoffrey Zakarian Net Worth

José Andrés is a Spanish celebrity chef who has a net worth of $50 million. José Andrés gained his most widespread recognition in 2010 for founding the not-for-profit organization World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to people in the wake of natural disasters. For his work with the organization, he was given a National Humanities Medal by the US government in 2015. Meanwhile, as a restaurateur, Andrés owns restaurants in such cities as Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Washington, DC.

Early Life

José Andrés was born as José Ramón Andrés Puerta on July 13, 1969 in Mieres, Asturias, Spain. When he was six, he moved with his family to Catalonia. There, in Barcelona, he enrolled in culinary school at the age of 15. When he was required to serve in the Spanish military at age 18, Andrés did so as a cook for an admiral. He subsequently met chef Ferran Adrià, for whom he worked at the restaurant El Bulli from 1988 to 1990.

Career Beginnings in America

After being fired from El Bulli in late 1990, Andrés decided to come to the United States. He arrived in New York City with a mere $50 and landed a job cooking at an outpost of the Spanish restaurant Eldorado Petit. In 1993, Andrés was hired to lead the kitchen at the new Washington, DC tapas restaurant Jaleo. He went on to help the restaurant owners open other restaurants over the years, including Oyamel and Café Atlantico. At the latter establishment, Andrés began his "minibar" concept, which involves the serving of his most creative small plates.

Rise to Fame

Thanks to the success of his restaurants in the US, Andrés became increasingly well-known in the country. He leveraged his newfound celebrity to launch his own cooking show, "Vamos a Cocinar," in 2005. The same year, he published his first book, "Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America." In 2006, Andrés teamed up with Robert Wilder to establish ThinkFoodGroup; the pair subsequently opened restaurants in Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico. Andrés went on to appear on a few television programs, including "Iron Chef America," "Made in Spain," and "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations."

World Central Kitchen

In 2010, Andrés founded the not-for-profit organization World Central Kitchen in response to the recent Haiti earthquake. The organization works by providing meals to people in the wake of natural disasters, and by collaborating with local chefs to solve hunger crises. Since being founded, WCK has provided meals in such countries as Ukraine, Cambodia, Zambia, Uganda, Peru, Nicaragua, Cuba, and the United States. In the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017, Andrés and the organization emerged as leaders in disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico. He and World Central Kitchen later became the subjects of the 2022 documentary film "We Feed People," directed by Ron Howard.

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Teaching

Since 2010, Andrés has taught some gastronomy-related courses at various educational institutions. He began by teaching a culinary physics course alongside chef Ferran Adrià at Harvard University. In 2012, Andrés and food writer Colman Andrews created a curriculum on Spanish cuisine for the International Culinary Center in New York City. Andrés has also taught at George Washington University.

Honors and Accolades

Andrés has received a surfeit of honors and accolades for both his cooking and his philanthropy. He achieved his first major prize, the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef of the Mid-Atlantic Region title, in 2003. The following year, he was named Chef of the Year by Bon Appetit magazine. Andrés earned another Chef of the Year title, this time by GQ magazine, in 2009. The year after that, he won the Vilcek Prize in Culinary Arts, and after that was named Outstanding Chef by the James Beard Foundation.

For his work with World Central Kitchen, Andrés received the National Humanities Medal from the US government in 2015. Three years later, he was named James Beard Humanitarian of the Year. Andrés's other laurels have included the Julia Child Award and the Princess of Asturias Award. He has also been bestowed with several honorary degrees, including from George Washington University, Tufts University, Harvard University, and Georgetown University.

Personal Life

With his wife Patricia Fernández de la Cruz, whom he met while living in Washington, DC, Andrés has three daughters. The family resides in Bethesda, Maryland. Since late 2013, Andrés has been a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Read more: José Andrés Net Worth

Jacques Pepin is a French chef, television personality, and author who has a net worth of $20 million. Beginning his career as the personal chef of French President Charles de Gaulle, he went on to work at numerous restaurants in Paris and throughout the United States, including the Howard Johnson's chain. In the US, Pépin is famous for his various television cooking series, including his collaborative show with fellow chef Julia Child, and for his many cookbooks. From 2013 to 2014 he frequently appeared as a chef on the TV series Rachael Ray. For Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home Pepin won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2001 for Outstanding Service Show Host and was nominated for the same award in 2000. He was recognized as a Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a Chevalier de L'Ordre du Merite Agricole from the French government. He has also won many awards including the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early Life

Jacques Pépin was born on December 18, 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, France as the second of three sons of Jean-Victor and Jeannette. As a child in postwar France, he worked at his parents' restaurant Le Pélican. When he was 13, he began an apprenticeship at Le Grand Hôtel de l'Europe, and at 16 trained under Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athénée in Paris.

Career Beginnings

While he was in the military from 1956 to 1958, Pépin became known for his culinary aptitude. As a result, he was ordered to work in the Office of the Treasury. This led to his appointments as the personal chef of three different French presidents, including Charles de Gaulle. In 1959, Pépin moved to the United States to work at Le Pavillon in New York City. One of the restaurant's regular customers was businessman Howard Johnson, who hired Pépin to help develop food lines for his chain of eponymous restaurants. Pépin took this job in lieu of becoming the White House chef for John F. Kennedy. He ultimately served as the director of research and development at Howard Johnson's for ten years. During this time, Pépin opened a specialty soup restaurant and lunch counter in Manhattan called La Potagerie.

Education

In New York, Pépin decided to complete his education, and enrolled at Columbia University. He graduated with his BA in general studies in 1970, and went on to earn his MA in French literature in 1972. Although Pépin subsequently entered a doctoral program at Columbia, his proposed thesis on French cuisine in literature was rejected for being "too frivolous."

Rise to Fame

Pépin started achieving greater fame in the mid-70s when he ventured into writing, culinary education, and television careers. He made appearances on such game shows as "What's My Line?" and "To Tell the Truth," and offered classes at cooking schools and shops across the United States. In 1976, Pépin released his first cookbook, "La Technique," which was followed by "La Methode" in 1979. A few years after that, he became a dean at the newly established New York City culinary school the French Culinary Institute. The same year he began in that position, Pépin launched his first television series on Jacksonville, Florida's local PBS station. He continued to publish successful cookbooks, and also became a columnist for the New York Times and a guest author for several food magazines.

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Television Success

Pépin increased his profile on television in the 90s. Early in the decade, he began his series "Today's Gourmet," which was filmed in San Francisco, California. In 1994 and 1996, he and his chef friend Julia Child starred in 90-minute PBS specials filmed before live audiences in Boston, Massachusetts. Also in 1996, Pépin launched three television series featuring his adult daughter Claudine; the duo won James Beard Foundation Awards for their work. Perhaps Pépin's best known series was "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home," which began in 1999 as another collaboration with Julia Child. The series won both a James Beard Foundation Award and a Daytime Emmy Award.

Pépin has starred in a number of other cooking series over the years, including "The Complete Pépin," "Jacques Pépin: Fast Food My Way," and "Jacques Pépin Heart & Soul." He also appeared as a guest judge in season five of the reality competition series "Top Chef." In 2017, Pépin was the subject of the PBS documentary "Jacques Pépin: The Art of Craft."

Later Career

Pépin has continued to cook, write, educate, and make television appearances in his later years. He has taught on various cruise ships and has continued his teaching at both the International Culinary Center and Boston University. Additionally, Pépin has made forays into drawing and painting. He has been awarded with a number of honorary doctorates, including from Boston University and his alma mater Columbia University.

Personal Life

In 1966, Pépin married Gloria Augier, with whom he had his daughter Claudine. Augier passed away in 2020. Pépin and his daughter have appeared together frequently on cooking shows, and co-founded the non-profit Jacques Pépin Foundation along with Claudine's husband Rollie Wesen. The Foundation works to support organizations that provide culinary training to underserved populations, and offers grants, curricular materials, equipment, and more to culinary programs throughout the US.

In 1974, Pépin weathered severe injuries after he crashed his car into a ravine while trying to avoid hitting a deer. Although he recovered, his left shoulder was left with restricted mobility. Pépin credits the accident with catalyzing his decision to become an educator and author.

Read more: Jacques Pépin Net Worth

Nobu Matsuhisa is a Japanese chef and restauranteur who has a net worth of $200 million. Nobu Matsuhisa runs a global culinary empire of high-end sushi restaurants in his name. Renowned for his fusion of traditional Japanese dishes with Peruvian ingredients, his signature creation is black cod in miso. In addition to his namesake restaurants, Nobu has also expanded into the international hospitality industry with upscale hotels. He owns the Matsuhisa Restaurants and Nobu Hospitality with his family as well as the Nobu Restaurants with Robert De Niro among others.

Early Life

Nobu Matsuhisa was born on March 10, 1949 in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He has two older brothers. When Nobu was seven, his father was killed in an automobile accident, and he was subsequently brought up by his mother. The family began traveling around the world following the patriarch's death, exposing Nobu to a vast array of global cultures in all their beauties and deficiencies.

Career Beginnings

Following his graduation from high school, Nobu landed a job as a dishwasher at the Matsue sushi restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Eventually, he gained training as a sushi master there. Some seven years into his job, Nobu was invited by a regular customer of the restaurant, who was Japanese-Peruvian, to open a restaurant of his own in Peru. Heeding this advice, Nobu moved to Lima, Peru in 1973 and opened a Matsue restaurant with his sponsor. Because he was unable to locate many of the key ingredients he had used back home in Japan, Nobu was forced to improvise. As a result, he began cultivating his idiosyncratic cooking style combining Japanese and Peruvian cuisines.

After three years of operation, Nobu had to close his restaurant in Lima. He subsequently moved to Argentina, and then to Anchorage, Alaska, where he was able to open a new restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant burned down about two weeks after its opening due to an electrical fire. Relocating to Los Angeles, California in 1977, Nobu worked for a while at the Japanese restaurants Oshou and Mitsuwa.

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Restaurant Expansion

In 1987, Nobu opened his first Matsuhisa restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. It went on to become one of the trendiest spots in town, as well as a favorite of celebrities. One of those celebrities, Robert De Niro, soon became Nobu's enduring friend and business partner. A particularly big fan of the chef's black cod in miso, the Oscar-winning actor convinced Nobu to expand his culinary empire to the East Coast. In a joint venture with De Niro – as well as investor Meir Teper and fellow restaurateur Drew Nieporent – Nobu opened his first Nobu-branded restaurant in New York's Tribeca neighborhood in 1994. Three years after that, Nobu expanded overseas to London. The chain subsequently opened locations in Malibu, Tokyo, and Las Vegas. A Matsuhisa restaurant was also opened in Aspen, Colorado.

Nobu restaurants continued to open in locations around the world in the 21^st century. Restaurants were added in cities such as Miami; Dallas; Dubai; Hong Kong; Waikiki; San Diego; Melbourne; Perth; Mexico City; Kuala Lumpur; and Chicago. Meanwhile, Matsuhisa-branded restaurants opened in cities including Denver, Munich, St. Moritz, Mykonos, and Paris.

Hotel Chain

After establishing his culinary empire, Nobu branched out into the hospitality industry, opening upscale hotels in places around the globe. Locations include Chicago, Las Vegas, London, Malibu, Warsaw, Perth, Barcelona, Manila, and Doha. Among the crown jewels of the hotel chain is the Nobu Hotel Miami Beach, which features Japanese architecture, panoramic ocean views, and cutting-edge appliances and amenities.

Nobu's hotels have served as sites for his popular culinary event World of Nobu. The global festival brings in dozens of chefs from Nobu restaurants worldwide for events such as themed dinners, master classes, and tastings. Proceeds from World of Nobu go toward various philanthropic organizations.

Books

Nobu has published numerous cookbooks over the years. As part of his commitment to philanthropy, funds raised through sales of his books are donated to different charities. Causes supported by Nobu have included natural disaster relief for victims of hurricanes and wildfires. Beyond cookbooks, Nobu also penned a memoir that was released in 2014.

Acting Career

Due to his high profile as a celebrity chef, Nobu has made some appearances in films. In 1995, he showed up alongside his real-life friend and business partner Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's crime film "Casino." Later, Nobu had small parts in the spy comedy sequel "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and the period drama "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Controversy

Some environmental conservationists have criticized Nobu and his restaurants for selling Atlantic bluefin tuna, which was for a time an endangered species. The restaurant responded by putting a warning on its menus, an action that was widely considered insufficient by activists.

Personal Life

With his wife Yoko, Nobu has two adult daughters.

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Antoni Porowski is a Canadian chef, actor, model, author, and television personality who has a net worth of $8 million. Antoni Porowski is best known as the food and wine expert on the reality series "Queer Eye," which began streaming on Netflix in 2018. He co-owned the New York City restaurant The Village Den from 2018 to 2021, and he has published the cookbooks "Antoni in the Kitchen" (2019) and "Antoni: Let's Do Dinner" (2021). Porowski has appeared in the films "Elliot Loves" (2012), "Daddy's Boy" (2016), "Blood Surf" (2016), "The Pretenders" (2018), "Horror Time" (2018), and "Sleepaway Slasher" (2020), the television series "Blue Mountain State" (2010), "The Blacklist" (2014), and "Lip Sync Battle" (2019), and the miniseries "Queen" (2022). In 2018, he starred in Keala Settle, Kesha, and Missy Elliott's "This Is Me (The Reimagined Remix)" music video, followed by Taylor Swift's "You Need To Calm Down" music video in 2019.

Early Life

Antoni Porowski was born Antoni Janusz Porowski on March 14, 1984, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Both of his parents are Polish, and his father is a doctor. Antoni has two older sisters, and growing up, he spoke English, French, and Polish. When Porowski was 12 years old, the family moved to Glade Springs, West Virginia, and he later attended Marianopolis College in Quebec and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Concordia University. Antoni then returned to America and studied acting at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, graduating in 2011. Porowski is a self-taught cook, and he told "Grub Street" in 2018, "Food has always been such an important part of growing up. Whenever we would travel with my parents, we'd always come back with recipes, cookbooks, and really weird ingredients from all these different places, so I've always been very passionate about cooking. When I was in college, and I wasn't as spoiled anymore, I had to fend for myself, and a good way to continue entertaining was to have dinner parties at my house, so I had to learn how to cook. I basically taught myself. A lot of Julia Child, a lot of PBS."

Career

Antoni made his acting debut in the 2008 short film "The Diary," then he guest-starred on "Blue Mountain State" in 2010. He appeared in the short films "The Apartment" (2011), "Withdrawal" (2013), and "To My Father" (2015), and his first feature film was 2012's "Elliot Loves." Porowski guest-starred on "The Blacklist" in 2014, then he appeared in the films "Daddy's Boy" (2016), "Blood Surf" (2016), "The Pretenders" (2018), and "Horror Time" (2018). Antoni also worked as a busboy at a Polish restaurant and later worked as a sommelier and waiter before becoming the manager of the sushi restaurant BondSt.

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In 2018, Porowski began starring on "Queer Eye" alongside fashion expert Tan France, culture and lifestyle expert Karamo Brown, grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness, and design expert Bobby Berk. The series was renewed for its seventh season in April 2022, and it won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Structured Reality Program in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The series also won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2019. Antoni opened the fast-casual restaurant The Village Den with Lisle Richards and Eric Marx in 2018, but it closed in 2021. In 2019, "People" magazine named him the year's Sexiest Reality Star, and he appeared on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" and lent his voice to the "Disclosure the Movie: The Musical!" episode of the Netflix animated series "Big Mouth." In 2020, Porowski appeared in the horror movie "Sleepaway Slasher" and the short film "Withdrawal," and in 2021, he announced that he had joined the Equaversity Foundation, which is dedicated to "international fundraising to support the LGBT+ community in Central and Eastern Europe." In 2022, Porowski played Antoine in two episodes of the Netflix miniseries "Queen," and he was cast in the Michael Showalter-directed biographical drama "Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies."

Personal Life

Porowski used to live in the same neighborhood as "Chopped" host Ted Allen, who was the food and wine expert on the original version of "Queer Eye" from 2003 to 2007. The two became friends, and Antoni worked as an assistant to Ted and his husband, Barry Rice. Porowski has said that his sexuality is "a little more fluid along the spectrum." He told "Gay Times" in 2018, "Some people want to define themselves and they should as it is part of their identity. For me personally, I've never really had a label for myself." Antoni was in a relationship with graphic artist Joey Krietemeyer for seven years, and they split up in 2018. Later that year, Porowski dated former "Flipping Out" star Trace Lehnhoff, and in 2019, he began a relationship with advertising executive Kevin Harrington.

Awards and Nominations

In 2016, Porowski was named Best Lead Actor for "To My Father" at the Documentaries Without Borders Film Festival. Antoni and his "Queer Eye" co-stars earned Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2020, 2021, and 2022. They have received six Gold Derby Award nominations, five for Reality Host (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022) and one for Reality Host of the Decade (2019). The "Queer Eye" cast has also earned three Online Film & Television Association Award nominations: Best Individual Host or Panelist in a Reality or Non-Fiction Program (2018 and 2020) and Best Host or Individual Performance in A Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Program (2021). Porowski was nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite Reality TV Star in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

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Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality who had a net worth of $50 million at the time of her death (adjusted for inflation) in 2004. Her debut cookbook, 1961's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," is credited with popularizing French cuisine in America, and she went on to publish 16 more cookbooks as well as the memoir "My Life in France," which was posthumously published in 2006. Julia starred on numerous television shows, including the Emmy-winning "The French Chef" (1963–1973), "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs" (1995–1996), and "Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home" (1999–2000). Child was portrayed by Meryl Streep in the 2009 Nora Ephron-directed film "Julie & Julia."

Early Life

Julia Child was born Julia Carolyn McWilliams on August 15, 1912, in Pasadena, California. Her mother, Julia Weston, was the daughter of Massachusetts lieutenant governor/Weston Paper Company founder Byron Curtis Weston, and her father, John McWilliams, Jr., was a land manager who graduated from Princeton University. Julia had a younger brother, John, and a younger sister, Dorothy. Child attended Polytechnic School and Katherine Branson School (a boarding school in Ross, California), and she played basketball, tennis, and golf during her youth. After graduating from high school, Julia majored in history at Smith College in Massachusetts, earning her degree in 1934. Child did not learn to cook until her thirties, when she met her future husband, Paul, who was "known for his sophisticated palate."

Career

After college, Julia moved to New York City and took a job as a copywriter in W. & J. Sloane's advertising department. In 1942, she joined the Office of Strategic Services as a typist because she was too tall to enlist in the U.S. Navy's WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) or the Women's Army Corps. Child was later promoted to a top-secret researcher under General William J. Donovan, the head of OSS, and she also worked as a file clerk and assistant to shark repellent developers for the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section.

Julia received the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service while serving as the head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat. When too many underwater OSS explosives were being set off by sharks, Child solved the problem by experimenting with various concoctions that were sprinkled near the explosives. This shark repellent is reportedly still in use today.

After attending the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, Julia studied with master chefs such as Max Bugnard, and she joined Le Cercle des Gourmettes, a women's cooking club. There, she met Simone Beck, who asked Child to work on a French cookbook for Americans that she was writing with her friend Louisette Bertholle. The trio began teaching cooking classes for American women in 1951, and a decade later, they published "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," followed by "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two" in 1970.

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After the success of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," Julia began writing magazine articles as well as a column for "The Boston Globe." She published numerous cookbooks, including "The French Chef Cookbook" (1968), "Julia Child & Company" (1978), "Baking with Julia" (1996), "Julia's Menus For Special Occasions" (1998), "Julia's Breakfasts, Lunches & Suppers" (1999), and "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home" (1999).

In 1962, Child appeared on a book review show on a Boston TV station, and she got her own TV series after viewers enjoyed her cooking demonstration. "The French Chef" premiered on Boston's WGBH in February 1963, and it aired 201 episodes over 10 seasons. Julia then starred on "Julia Child & Company" (1978–1979), "Julia Child & More Company" (1979–1980), "Dinner at Julia's" (1983–1984), "Cooking with Master Chefs: Hosted by Julia Child" (1993–1994), "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs" (1995–1996), "Baking with Julia" (1996–1998), and "Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home" (1999–2000). In 1981, Child and vintners Richard Graff and Robert Mondav co-founded the American Institute of Wine & Food to "advance the understanding, appreciation and quality of wine and food." Three of Child's shows were filmed in her kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 2001, she agreed to donate the kitchen to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Personal Life

Julia married Paul Cushing Child on September 1, 1946, in Lumberville, Pennsylvania. The couple met while Paul was stationed in Kandy, Ceylon, with the Office of Strategic Services. They moved to Washington, D.C., and after Paul joined the United States Foreign Service, he was assigned to be an exhibits officer in Paris. While living in France, Julia took cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu, graduating in 1951. Paul retired in 1961, and the couple moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1994, Paul died in a Lexington, Massachusetts, nursing home after a long illness. The following year, Julia launched The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and Culinary Arts "to further her far-reaching impact as a teacher and mentor after her death." After she passed away in 2004, the Foundation began making grants to nonprofit organizations and giving out the Julia Child Award.

Death and Legacy

On August 13, 2004, Julia passed away from kidney failure at an assisted living home in Montecito, California. She was just two days away from her 92nd birthday. Child was cremated, and her ashes were placed in an underwater mausoleum near Key Biscayne, Florida, called the Neptune Memorial Reef. In 2014, the U.S. Postal Service released a set of "Celebrity Chefs Forever" stamps featuring Julia, James Beard, Joyce Chen, Felipe Rojas-Lombardi, and Edna Lewis.

Awards and Nominations

Child was nominated for three Primetime Emmys, winning Achievements in Educational Television – Individuals for "The French Chef" in 1966. Her other nominations were for Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – General Programming for "The French Chef" (1972) and Outstanding Informational Series for "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs" (1994). Julia won two Daytime Emmys – Outstanding Service Show Host for "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs" (1996) and "Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home" (2001) – and she earned two nominations in that category for "Baking with Julia" (1997 and 1999).

In 1965, she received a Peabody Award for "The French Chef," and she won a U.S. National Book Award for Current Interest (hardcover) for "Julia Child and More Company" in 1980. In 2000, Child received the Knight of France's Legion of Honor award, and she became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2003, she was honored with the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2007. Julia received honorary doctorates from several universities, including Harvard University, Brown University, and Johnson & Wales University.

Read more: Julia Child Net Worth