How celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay makes his millions

Gordon Ramsay has several streams of income contributing to his estimated status as a multimillionaire.

With numerous Michelin stars and several TV shows, British chef Gordon Ramsay has cemented himself as one of the most well-known celebrities in the food scene.

The 58-year-old’s success in the restaurant and entertainment industries has made him millions. Although his net worth isn’t confirmed, Forbes estimated he was worth $70 million as of 2020.

Forbes also ranks Ramsay as No. 19 among the world’s highest-paid celebrities, although it’s unclear when the list was last updated.

From his projects as a chef to his career as a television personality, here’s a breakdown of the empire Ramsay has built.

Ramsay started his career as a chef.

Gordon Ramsay got his start as an apprentice under Marco Pierre White.

At 19, in the 1990s, Ramsay began his career apprenticing under famous chef Marco Pierre White.

By 1993, Ramsay was the head chef at the London restaurant Aubergine, and he’d go on to earn the restaurant two Michelin stars.

In 1998, he founded Gordon Ramsay Restaurants with the opening of his first eatery. Today, the company has more than 80 restaurants around the world — many of which have continued to garner acclaim.

In 2001, Ramsay’s flagship restaurant, Gordon Ramsay, received a three-star Michelin rating, which it still holds today. Most recently, his Restaurant 1890 in London earned its first Michelin star in February.

However, not all of his restaurants are fine-dining establishments. Ramsay also owns casual eateries like Street Pizza and Street Burger, along with Gordon Ramsay Burger — which has locations in the United States, Canada, Qatar, South Korea, and more.

Although it’s unclear how much Ramsay makes from his restaurants, Fortune reported in 2023 that his restaurants had brought in £95.6 million (about $119.8 million at that time) that year.

Television is one of the food star’s big sources of income.

The celebrity chef’s most well-known shows include “MasterChef,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” and “Kitchen Nightmares.”

Ramsay’s first introduction to television was on the British documentary series “Boiling Point” in 1999. He went on to judge and host British shows like “The F-Word,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” and “Kitchen Nightmares.”

His foray into American television began in 2005 with the US debut of “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox. The US version of “Kitchen Nightmares” followed, debuting in 2007.

From there, he’s starred on many other shows and has appeared as a judge on several competitive cooking series on Fox. Perhaps most notably, he’s served as a judge on “MasterChef” throughout its 14 seasons. He also judges “MasterChef Jr.” and “Next Level Chef.”

Although it’s not clear what Ramsay has been paid for his shows and appearances, Forbes reported in 2020 that his shows generated more than $150 million yearly in ad sales for the Fox network.

One of his shows has inspired a series of restaurants.

Hell’s Kitchen has seven locations across the US. 

In 2018, Ramsay began opening Hell’s Kitchen restaurants based on the series of the same name. There are now seven locations across the US in cities like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and DC.

The flagship restaurant in Las Vegas is one of Ramsay’s highest-rated US restaurants. It also took the No. 3 spot on Yelp’s list of the most photographed restaurants of 2024.

It’s not clear how much revenue the Hell’s Kitchen restaurants bring in, but the Las Vegas location sold 129,554 beef Wellingtons and 135,000 sticky toffee puddings — two signature Ramsay dishes — in its first year alone, according to Forbes.

The chef has also launched a cooking school.

Gordon Ramsay Academy in England offers various cooking courses.

His first and only cooking school, Gordon Ramsay Academy, opened in September 2021 in Woking, England. Gordon Ramsay Academy offers hundreds of cooking courses for all ages and skill levels.

Classes range from £70 (or about $90) for half-day and junior classes to £485 (or about $615) for full-day courses that offer qualifications.

A second location is set to open in London in 2025.

Ramsay also has a few product lines, including a wine label and frozen foods.

Gordon Ramsay’s and Lisa Vanderpump’s wine collections were featured on “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.”

Further expanding his food empire, the celebrity chef also has a few product lines.

In 2023, he launched By Chef Ramsay, a frozen-food line sold exclusively at Walmart. The collection includes some of Ramsay’s favorite dishes, such as shepherd’s pie and fish and chips.

He also launched a Gordon Ramsay wine label in 2021.

The line was also featured on his show “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” — a reality competition where he offered to invest $250,000 of his own money into entrepreneurship. On it, he and TV personality Lisa Vanderpump served as judges

In fact, “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” was produced by his own television production company.

“Next Level Chef” is one of the shows produced by Studio Ramsay Global. 

In 2021, Fox Entertainment and Ramsay launched Studio Ramsay Global, which produces several of the chef’s shows, including Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars,” and “Next Level Chef.”

It also produces shows starring other chefs, like National Geographic’s “No Taste Like Home.”

Before this, in 2016, he’d launched the production company Studio Ramsay in the UK. It produced projects like “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell and Back,” “The F-Word Live With Gordon Ramsay,” and “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted.”

In 2024, he partnered with Fox to launch Bite.

Fox and Gordon Ramsay have continued to work together throughout the years. 

Ramsay and Fox Entertainment joined forces in 2024 to launch Bite, a global food brand and platform offering a range of culinary content, products, and experiences.

The brand’s digital and social content hub, Bite Digitial Network, features multiple original series, such as “Idiot Sandwich” — a digital culinary competition series based on Ramsay’s viral meme.

He’s made several other investments and has had a range of partnerships throughout the years.

Gordon Ramsay has invested in cookware brands and partnered with several other companies.

Among his numerous business ventures, Ramsay has partnered and invested in several brands.

He invested in HexClad in 2021 — and, in July 2024, Studio Ramsay Global agreed to invest $100 million in the cookware brand.

In 2023, Ramsay joined Borealis Foods, a food tech company, as a shareholder, advisor, and brand ambassador. In September 2024, he also partnered with THOR Kitchen to launch an exclusive line of kitchen appliances.

He could also be making money from his social following.

Social media likely serves as another stream of income for the celebrity chef.

At the time of writing, Ramsay has 40.8 million followers on TikTok and 21 million subscribers on YouTube — so social media could be another source of income for the chef.

In addition to clips from his hit Fox shows and various miniseries, Ramsay’s YouTube channel and TikTok account feature him cooking with celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and Selena Gomez.

The chef continues to expand his restaurant and entertainment empires.

“Kitchen Nightmares” is scheduled to return in 2025. 

The chef is slated to open his first Ramsay’s Kitchen restaurants in Virginia later this year and one in North Carolina in 2025.

Additionally, Ramsay has plans to open five new culinary experiences in one of London’s tallest office buildings in 2025.

He also announced his show “Kitchen Nightmares” is set to return with a new season in January.