How Guy Fieri’s Net Worth Increased With Food Network Contract

One of the world’s richest celebrity chefs, Guy Fieri says, “Some people are just born to cook and talk.” And this is definitely true for the man himself, as the Food Network renews two of his TV cooking shows for a whopping $80 million.

Window display at Guy Chicken, Guy Fieri’s restaurant in downtown Nashville near Broadway (Credit: MelissaMN / Shutterstock)

“Holy moly, Stromboli!” As Fieri would say. Much beloved for his spiky platinum blonde hair and tattoos, Guy Fieri is everyone’s favorite TV chef, and he is now the world’s best-paid one too.

Guy Fieri Worked in Hospitality From a Young Age

Hospitality is in Fieri’s blood. He’s worked in the food and hospitality industry since he was in grade school when he started his first food-based business selling pretzels from his “Awesome Pretzel” cart.

As a teenager, he went to Chantilly, France as a foreign exchange student when he was in high school, and he worked as a dishwasher to fund his trip. He returned from France with a keen interest in food and cooking.

Carnival Cruise Line’s president Christine DeVone Duffy, Rudi Sodamin, Guy Fieri, and Emeril Lagasse at the Carnival Panorama Press Day at Long Beach Carnival Cruise Terminal on December 10, 2019, in Long Beach, California (Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock)

He then worked at a restaurant at the Red Lion Inn until he went to Las Vegas for college, studying hospitality management at the University of Nevada.

How Guy Fieri Met His Wife

His love for cooking was how he began to win his wife over. ”The first time I cooked for her, she was just like, ‘You made all this?’ We both love food, so being able to cook, was one of the things that impressed her.”

Fieri first met his wife, Lori, in a meet-cute straight out of a rom-com. The year was 1992, and he was running a restaurant in Long Beach, California. Lori accompanied a friend who was applying for a job at the restaurant.

Guy and Lori Fieri met in California in 1992 and share two children, Hunter and Ryder (Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock)

Guy said to Delish: “I was talking to her friend and saying ‘Hey, listen, wait a few weeks before you come in,’ and standing behind her is this blue-eyed, blonde girl giving me this mean mug.”

Lori was moving across the country from Rhode Island to Southern California. She was only visiting her friend before carrying on with her cross-country journey. But “she never made it to San Diego,” Fieri added. After dating for three years, the pair tied the knot in 1995.

Guy and Lori both changed their last names upon their marriage. Guy’s surname had been Ferry up until his marriage when he decided to change it to Fieri to honor his grandfather’s Italian heritage. His paternal grandfather, Giuseppe Fieri, immigrated from Italy and anglicized his surname to Ferry when he first arrived in the States.

His Big TV Break

Before debuting on reality TV as a chef, the “Mayor of Flavortown” established himself as an entrepreneur in the food industry when he opened Johnny’s Grill with his business partner Steve Gruber, which expanded to several sites.

Joined by Matthew McConaughey, Hunter Fieri, Ryder Fieri, and Kathleen Finch, celebrity chef Guy Fieri receives his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in Hollywood, California on May 22, 2019 (Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock)

When he won the second season of The Next Food Network Star, he’d already worked in hospitality and as a business owner for over a decade. The award for winning the show included a six-episode commitment to his own cooking show on the Food Network.

Guy’s Big Bite was premiered on the Food Network in 2006. The show was a huge win for Fieri. But Guy’s Big Bite only paid him a little under $1000 per episode for six episodes of the season.

However, it was a step in the right direction for Fieri because he went on to be featured in 14 series on the Food Network and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Structured Reality Program, amongst other accolades.

Guy Fieri Is a Cultural Icon

By 2010, he was the Food Networks rising star, becoming a cultural icon with flaming shirts, spiky platinum hair, and fun sayings like, “We’re Riding the Bus to Flavortown!”

One of the world’s most recognizable and richest celebrity chefs, Guy Ramsay Fieri owns several restaurants, has published numerous cookbooks, and is an Emmy Award-winning television presenter (Credit: Lev Radin / Shutterstock)

He has been on the receiving end of some hate from the late Anthony Bourdain, celebrity food and travel star. Fieri rolled with the criticism and is one of only four celebrity chefs to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His flaming button-ups and platinum blonde spiky hair has made him a cultural icon.

His $80 Million Deal

In 2021, the 53-year-old food icon signed with the Food Network for a three-year contract, earning him $80 million. That’s a $50 million raise from his last agreement with the network.

The contract is for two of his running shows: Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives which is an Emmy Award-nominated show, and Guy’s Grocery Games, a fan favorite.

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri signed the wall at Quahog’s Seafood Shack and Bar in Stone Harbor, NJ, after the restaurant was featured on the Food Network show Diners Drive-Ins and Dives (Credit: ThreeRivers11 / Shutterstock)

The new contract is unusual for Discovery, who is the parent network of the Food Network. They are not known for paying large sums to even their most popular stars.

But Fieri’s shows are proven to be very lucrative. Forbes states that Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives generated over $230 million in ad revenue in 2020 alone for the network.

After signing his three-year deal with the Food Network worth $80 million in May 2021, he and his wife Lori bought a new house in Florida.

“We’ve been trying for a long time to get a place in Florida,” he told People about their new West Palm Beach home.

“It’s been an ongoing joke that whenever I would go to the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, someone would say to me, ‘So when are you going to move to Florida?’ I would always say, ‘We’re looking. We’re looking for a house.’ Because I love Florida. I love the people. I love the culture.”

He’s Changing Lives

Over the next three years, Fieri’s renewed contract will pay him roughly $27 million per year. This is a stark contrast to the $1000 he earned for a single episode of his first TV show, Guy’s Big Bite.

His rise in the industry has been impressive. And he has not kept the success for himself.

Before entering The Next Food Network Star, Fieri owned four restaurants. This fact is a feat in itself, as most restaurants fail before becoming viable.

With this knowledge and experience, Fieri understood the pressures that owners and staff in the hospitality industry underwent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guy Fieri with his wife Lori and their sons Hunter and Ryder at the “Cars 2” Los Angeles Premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on June 18, 2011, in Hollywood, California (Credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock)

With his understanding of how difficult the food industry truly is, he raised over $25 million for food industry workers who experienced unemployment during the pandemic.

He awarded over 43,000 grants of $500 to out-of-work line cooks and servers. With the renewal of his contract and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Fieri can get to doing the work that matters: giving recognition to restaurants.

He told the Hollywood Reporter: “Nothing can replace what this kind of recognition, appearing on TV, can do for these people and their businesses … for their lives. I need to keep doing this because it just needs to be done.”

Guy Fieri’s Business Ventures

The success of his shows on the Food Network has only increased Fieri’s net worth. The TV series is not his only source of income. He is reportedly worth $50 million, and his success on the Food Network has lent a famous name to his other businesses.

His name is on over 80 restaurants worldwide. A few of his current businesses are Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar, Chicken Guy!, Downtown Flavortown, Guy’s Burger Joint, and his most recent project: Flavortown Kitchen.

Guy Fieri’s Branson Kitchen + Bar in the heart of Branson’s waterfront in southwest Missouri is a laid-back eatery serving Guy Fieri’s distinctive and award-winning take on American cuisine (Credit: Rosemarie Mosteller / Shutterstock)

Flavortown Kitchen is a food delivery service that he launched during the pandemic that has risen to success in a short amount of time with over 160 sites. The business has no public presence like waiters, parking, or dining room; only a prep operation and delivery people.

As well as being a TV personality, Guy Fieri has also authored several cookbooks that you can buy on Amazon.

Guy Fieri has become everyone’s favorite TV chef. And he will likely only increase in popularity as he uses his show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, to boost business affected by COVID-19. Viewers will likely see him driving his red Camaro on TV screens for years to come.

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