Do Chef Salaries Equate to Influence & Power?
by Judi Sandall
judi.sandall@chefschoolreview.com
Chef School Review Columnist
The top ten celebrity chef salaries range from less than $100,000 to more than $12 million annually—an impressive range indeed.
A Host of Chef Salaries
How much, exactly, does a chef earn? The short answer is, it depends. According to Forbes.com’s Tastemakers list of the 100 individuals in the U.S. with the most influence on film, music, architecture, winemaking, industrial design, performing arts, literature, art, fashion design, and food, the top ten chef Tastemakers earn the following annual salaries:
- Grant Achatz (less than $100,000)
- José Andrés ($1.1 million)
- Mario Batali ($4.0 million)
- Lidia Bastianich ($1.3 million)
- Wylie Dufresne (less than $100,000)
- Alain Ducasse ($6.5 million)
- Suzanne Goin ($350,000)
- Thomas Keller ($1.25 million)
- Emeril Lagasse ($9.0 million)
- Jean-Georges Vongerichten ($5.0 million)
In terms of chef salaries, celebrity chefs are in a category by themselves. Many have name brand lines of kitchenware, gourmet food, TV culinary show contracts, cookbook royalties, and multiple restaurants that significantly boost their annual bottom line. Several chefs from the Tastemaker list own one or more new restaurants and re-invest a significant portion of their salary, which may not be reflected in their annual earnings.
Three Top Chef Celebrities
Forbes.com also compiled a list of the 100 Top Celebrities in the U.S. They based their power broker selections on a combination of 2004-2005 earnings and various facets of celebrity media exposure—Google Web hits, LexisNexis press clips, Factiva TV/audio mentions, and how many major consumer magazine covers they could claim.
Emeril is the only chef who made both the 100 Top Tastemakers list and the 100 Top Celebrity list. His culinary compatriots, Wolfgang Puck and Charlie Palmer, join him on the Top Celebrity list but Emeril reigns supreme in 4 out of 5 categories—Web hits (636,000), press clips (2,366), TV/Audio mentions (110), and his power rank is 85 out of 100. Wolfgang Puck, however, is the monetary king of the chef salary mountain with annual earnings of $12.0 million.
A Hefty Chef Salary is Tasty
Not every chef will achieve the celebrity that commands these monumental salaries. The average non-celebrity executive chef can earn between $125,000 and $250,000 but, according to foodservice.com, the average annual salary is closer to $60,000. As you can see from the list of celebrity chef salaries, the power to influence does not necessarily equate to the salary a chef earns. Both a chef who earns millions and a chef who earns a more modest salary can make their culinary mark—a couple of million dollars per year wouldn’t hurt, however.
Sources
Forbes.com
Culinary School Programs
About the Author
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She has a BA in English Literature from the State University of New York.
Posted on July 7, 2006 at 11:08 AM
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