America's Most Successful Chefs Of 2015

The most successful chefs in America aren't just chefs. They're brands, and valuable ones at that. Using all the available data, we ranked the top 25 chefs and other food professionals according to their estimated net worth, and the numbers for some of these chefs may astound you.

He may currently have only one restaurant, the celebrated K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, but this Cajun legend, who first gained fame as executive chef at Commander's Palace, has had customers literally lining up outside for years. His other enterprises include nine cookbooks, a series of cooking shows for New Orleans public television, and the seasoning company he launched in 1983. Magic Seasoning Blends has grown to fill a 125,000-square-foot plant that ships the chef's dry spice blends, rubs, bottled sauces, and marinades to all 50 states and to 30 countries around the world, and it posts something in the neighborhood of $10 million in revenues each year.

From humble beginnings as the proprietor of an East Hampton specialty food store, the Barefoot Contessa now runs an empire that's worth more than $40 million and is one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2015. She's published nine cookbooks (she probably sells more of them than anyone else in America right now), hosts a popular series on Food Network, and markets a line of Barefoot Contessa-branded specialty foods.

This Australian chef, who trained under chef Marco Pierre White in London, worked his way up to the role of head chef at that city's much-lauded Quo Vadis before landing appearances and hosting gigs on shows like Top Chef Masters, Take Home Chef, The Today Show, America's Next Great Restaurant, The Biggest Loser, Around the World in 80 Plates, and MasterChef. He's published six cookbooks and sells his own line of cookware, and his new restaurant, Maude, is one of the hottest tickets in Beverly Hills.

Vongerichten has written five cookbooks, two with Mark Bittman, and runs 26 restaurants in America and abroad — including the Michelin-three-starred Jean Georges in Manhattan — under the umbrella of his restaurant groups Culinary Concepts and Jean-Georges Enterprises. His energy is boundless; most recently, he opened a 30-seat restaurant in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills called JG Tokyo, showcasing seasonal seafood. And if endless eateries were not enough, Vongerichten also claims he invented molten chocolate cake in the late '80s.

Bourdain has certainly made the most out of his bad-boy persona, sliding gracefully into his current role as the elder statesman of culinary-slanted tourism. Bourdain branded his bad-boy image with his first book, Kitchen Confidential, which exposed classified culinary chronicles. He now maintains a tenuous link to the Les Halles restaurants as "Chef-at-Large" (the New York outpost has an estimated $3.7 million in annual sales), but the majority of his income is derived from his book sales (he's even published graphic novels), live appearances (which can command up to $150,000 each), his CNN travelogue Parts Unknown, and other gigs, like a writing stint for HBO's Treme.

This former head chef at Nobu was an Iron Chef in both Japan and America, and went on to open successful mega-restaurants bearing his name in Philadelphia and New York City. Today, his domain includes 10 restaurants in such far-flung locales as Boca Raton, Florida; Napa Valley, California; Hawaii; Tokyo; New Delhi; and Mumbai, and he's developed a series of Japanese-inspired beers for Oregon's Rogue Ales. He also has a cookbook and a line of specialty knives, and will open a restaurant in Disney World later this year.

A fourth-generation Oklahoman isn't the obvious choice to be an ambassador for authentic Mexican cuisine in America, but a stint in Mexico with his wife after doing doctoral work in anthropological linguistics eventually led Rick Bayless from one Mexican-flavored culinary success to another. First there was his book Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico and his initial Chicago restaurant, the successful Frontera Grill. Since then he has published seven more books; opened several other restaurants, including his Los Angeles debut Red O in 2010; and launched a line of Frontera products. He's even getting into the airport act with Tortas Frontera, and oversees sandwich shops and prepared food products under the same Frontera name — an empire worth a reported $30 million and growing. His public television program, Mexico: One Plate at a Time, is in its ninth season, and the fact that he was also the first winner of Top Chef Masters is just gravy.

Widely considered to be one of America's best chefs, Thomas Keller hasn't done too poorly for himself since leaving New York City after the failure of his first restaurant, Rakel. Finding the West Coast a bit more welcoming, Keller is the only American-born chef with two three-Michelin-starred restaurants. He shouldn't have to worry about money for the rest of his life, either. There's Per Se (marking his highly regarded return to the Big Apple) and The French Laundry, of course, along with the three Bouchons, Ad Hoc, five Bouchon Bakery locations, speaking engagements, and book sales estimated at more than $1 million. Even Williams-Sonoma is riding the Keller coattails; they sell Ad Hoc's famous fried chicken kit and Bouchon Bakery cookie mixes. He's also dipped his toes into the retail storefront waters with Finesse, a Napa-based store selling cookware, pantry items, gardening tools, his five cookbooks, and gift cards.

He's not necessarily a household name, but with help from investor Oliver Grace, Palmer has slowly but surely built an empire with annual revenue estimated at more than $30 million. After a stint at the River Café in Brooklyn, Palmer gained fame as chef-proprietor of the original Aureole in Manhattan (once given four stars by The New York Times). Aureole still exists in another New York location (there is also one in Las Vegas), but today Palmer's holdings also include 17 other restaurants in New York; Las Vegas; Reno, Nevada; Washington, D.C.; and California, with a handful of new restaurants slated to open in New York within the coming months.

Although he is a respected chef (he was the co-founder of Manhattan's award-winning Gramercy Tavern and cooked there for years), Tom Colicchio is known to the general public from the comfort of their own homes. He became a TV star as a judge on Top Chef (he is also a producer for the show, and was a producer for one of its spinoffs, Top Chef Masters), and his celebrity has helped him expand his original Craft Restaurant in New York to a total of eight Craft-related establishments on both coasts. Colicchio is said to command $80,000 for public appearances, his foray into casual dining, the 'wichcraft sandwich chain, has also been wildly successful, and he was also recently named MSNBC's first "Food Correspondent."

Though Michael Mina lacks the TV cred or multiple book deals of a Guy Fieri or a Bobby Flay, his company does run 24 restaurants. And those restaurants — all over America, in California; Nevada; Arizona; Florida; Washington State, D.C.; and Wyoming — are no slouches. His eponymous restaurants in Las Vegas and San Francisco are Michelin-starred affairs, and his other locations are consistently recognized by local and national press for excellence. He's expanding beyond the kitchen into a wine-delivery club, but unlike most other chefs on this list, Mina focuses solely on his restaurants.

The winner of season two of Food Network Star is a powerhouse, a celebrity whose "krew" calls him "The Guid" (as in "guido"). The host of Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy's Big Bite has nine restaurants, two New York Times best-sellers, estimated book sales of $1.5 million, lines of apparel and products, a hectic schedule of lucrative public appearances that net him $100,000 each, bodyguards who flank him at all times, and a hairstyle as distinctive as Donald Trump's. And even though his Times Square restaurant, Guy's American Kitchen & Bar, received one of the all-time worst New York Times reviews, it's still one of the most lucrative restaurants in the country. Recently he's been attempting to start a winery in Sonoma County, with limited success.

One of the reigning kings of the Food Network, Bobby Flay has hosted a whopping 13 shows and specials, has five sit-down restaurants across the United States and one in the Bahamas, 18 burger joints (and counting), and 12 cookbooks. He even owns the studio, Rock Shrimp, that produces his shows. With all the TV appearances, it's sometimes easy to forget that Flay built his reputation because of good cooking, and all without a high school diploma. The king of the Food Network was the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year in 1993, just two years after opening his first restaurant, Mesa Grill, on New York City's Fifth Avenue.

A French chef who doesn't own any restaurants in France, Boulud rose to prominence in New York City, where he runs eight establishments, including Épicerie Boulud, which marks his first foray into retail (though he has long sold private-label wine, Champagne, and smoked salmon). His Dinex Group also has restaurants in Boston; Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas; Miami; Palm Beach, Florida; London; Montreal; Toronto; and Singapore, his Feast and Fêtes catering company is known as one of New York's best, and he even has his own line of smoked salmon.

Nobu restaurants are getting to be like Starbucks; sometimes it seems like there's one on every corner. All right, that's an exaggeration, but Nobu Matsuhisa — who virtually reinvented Japanese food for non-Japanese diners (his black cod with miso became one of the signal dishes of the 1990s in restaurants all over the country) — does oversee, with varying degrees of personal involvement, almost 30 restaurants, three with Michelin stars, in locations ranging from Aspen, Colorado, to Athens, Greece, and from Dallas to Dubai. Factor in his four cookbooks, his line of Nobu Matsuhisa Original Dinnerware, his premium sake and beer brands, and his six Nobu-branded hotels around the world and it's obvious why his presence seems ubiquitous. With all that said, his close friendship with Robert De Niro is priceless.

The portraits on Todd English's website look more like a would-be soap star's portfolio than the documentation of a working chef. While English has had some high-profile failures and his personal life has been the source of tabloid fodder, he still oversees a roster of eight restaurants (including a food hall in the basement of the Plaza Hotel), and his Olive Group thrives despite said setbacks. English's most recent moneymaking venture involved selling his culinary services via Groupon for $25,000. All that said, his four cookbooks, his popular PBS show Food Trip, and his own branded cookware and olive oil help fill the coffers.

Emeril is the Cher of chefs, comparable for his exuberant (on stage, at least) personality and because the whole world seems to know him by his first name alone. After gaining many devoted fans through his show Emeril Live — he actually trademarked his familiar exhortation "BAM!," and used the word on his many product lines — he sold his brand to Martha Stewart Omnimedia in 2008, along with the rights to all of his cookbooks and TV shows, for a reported $50 million. He still runs 14 restaurants, including the flagship Emeril's New Orleans (celebrating its 25th anniversary this year) and four Las Vegas outposts, securing his celebrity chef status.

At the height of her powers (about three years ago), Paula Deen was commanding $50,000 per episode of her popular Food network show, Paula's Home Cooking, and had endorsement deals with everyone from QVC to Walgreens to Novo NorDisk (she famously hawked their diabetes drug). It all came crashing down in a major PR disaster in 2013, but even though she lost her flagship show and many endorsements, she's still doing just fine financially. In early 2013 she raised between $75 and $100 million for her then-new company Paula Deen Ventures, her flagship restaurant Lady & Sons is a success, and she just opened a second restaurant called Paula Deen's Family Kitchen. Plus, she launched her own 24/7 paid digital network, went on a national tour, and still sells her Deen-branded products. Believe it or not, her comeback is in full swing.

His countryman Joël Robuchon may be more respected by most food critics, but Ducasse, who can certainly hold his own in the cooking department, operates 22 restaurants and three hotels across the globe, with a total annual revenue of more than $70 million. He has made missteps (his original New York City establishment, Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, was widely criticized for its pretensions and its prices, and eventually closed), but in both 2005 and 2010 he achieved the unparalleled distinction of having three three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the same year. Filling out his bulging résumé are a Parisian culinary school, countless cookbooks, and a thriving consulting company. His two stateside restaurants, Benoit in New York and Mix in Las Vegas, are doing gangbusters.

"The Chef of the 20th Century," as he was dubbed by the Gault Millau guide, is making an equally strong impression in the twenty-first century. Although there are only two Robuchon restaurants in the United States (both in Las Vegas), Robuchon's not hurting, and a flagship L'Atelier will be re-opening in New York this summer. As big in Asia as he is in the West, Robuchon has about 20 restaurants throughout the world, 16 cookbooks, and more Michelin stars (26) than any other chef.

Though Puck, whose name is synonymous with "California Cuisine," has worked the celebrity angle hard, his endlessly creative takes on a multitude of cuisines, from pizza to Asian food, still earn him the respect of the food world. As enterprising as they come, Puck boasts five Spago locations and six Cut locations across the globe (with 27 fine dining restaurants total); numerous cookbooks; a TV career that earned him a cooking-show Emmy and appearances on Frasier, Las Vegas, Keeping Up with The Kardashians, and The Simpsons; and lines of food products, cookware, and appliances (among them a coffee maker and the coffee pods to go with it). Puck has even made forays into fast(ish) food with more than 50 Wolfgang Puck Express locations in the United States, Canada, and Japan, which now even appear in airport terminals. Just one of his enterprises, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, which oversees his casual dining restaurants and food products, is estimated to be worth more than $400 million, and some estimates of the total annual income generated by his various concerns reach more than twice that.

The Batali-verse is ever expanding. Though best-known as a shorts-and-orange-Crocs-wearing Italian chef, the Seattle-born Batali has interests ranging from NASCAR to Spanish cuisine to a foundation whose mission is "to educate, empower, and encourage children." The diversity of both his restaurant catalogue (pizza, tapas, gastro-pub fare, trattoria food, high-class Italian, etc.) and his media presence reveals a multi-talented chef with a multi-faceted personality. He and partner Joe Bastianich run 29 restaurants, among them the elegant Del Posto (the first Italian restaurant to earn four stars from The New York Times since 1974), a recently-opened second location of their flagship Babbo in Boston, and the first two American branches of the Italian restaurant–market complex called Eataly, with many more in the works.

This sordid Scot is better-known in America for his restaurant-based reality shows — among them, FOX Network's Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares — than for the reality of his restaurants, but he is an excellent chef who has garnered a total of 13 Michelin stars and currently holds 7. It is unclear how much involvement he still has with his Los Angeles and New York eateries, but his 12 London establishments surely keep him busy. He's estimated to earn $225,000 per episode for his TV shows, and every year he rakes in an estimated $45 million from his media and restaurant empires. For his next restaurant, he'll be turning his attentions to Bordeaux.

The protégé of daytime talk show doyenne Oprah Winfrey, Ray has become quite a force herself. As the matriarch of financially conscious families and hurried home cooks, Ray made a name for herself with Food Network hits like $40 a Day and 30 Minute Meals. Following in Winfrey's footsteps, Ray launched her own magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray, and a daytime talk show, The Rachael Ray Show, promoting her carpe diem, can-do attitude, in 2005. Though she is one of the few chefs on this list who does not own her own restaurant — as everything would have to be out in 30 minutes or less — Ray reportedly sits on a fortune that would make Winfrey proud, raking in about $7 million per year from sources not including sponsorships and endorsements.

Having finally lived down the lascivious-sounding moniker "The Naked Chef" (which in fact referred to his penchant for simplicity in food, not his uniform while cooking), Oliver has become as well-known for his charity and food activism as for his stripped-down, ingredient-focused cuisine. Although Oliver has more than 30 restaurants in the U.K., Dubai, and Australia, Americans are more familiar with his cooking shows and his reality series about America's child obesity rates, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. With his wife, Jules, he also runs a successful line of children's wear. In 2014, he once again made The Sunday Times' "Rich List," which listed his net worth at a whopping £240 million — about $356 million.