- Gordon Ramsay had an underprivileged childhood.
- Today, he is a billionaire with an influential restaurant and television empire.
If Gordon Ramsay had a dollar for every time he yelled the F-word… he’d probably still be a billionaire.
This world-famous chef has amassed a considerable fortune, ranking 19th on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s highest-paid celebrities. Ramsay’s net worth is unknown, but estimates range from $220 million to $750 million.
But this star chef wasn’t always surrounded by the trappings of success as he is today.
Ramsey grew up in an abusive household and sometimes relied on handouts from neighbors. It was through dedication and perfectionism that he rose to the top of his game.
“I want to be remembered in perfect condition, because doing it right is an absolute bitch. But when you get it done, it’s the most beautiful thing on earth,” he told GQ Told.
This is how the foul-mouthed Michelin-starred celebrity chef rose to the world.
Gordon Ramsay grew up in a council house on the outskirts of Glasgow.
Gordon James Ramsay was born in 1966 in Johnston, a town on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland.
His mother was a nurse, and his father, also called Gordon, was a pool manager, welder, and store owner.
In his autobiography, Humble Pie, Ramsay revealed that his father abused and neglected his children.
“When he was drunk, he beat us, threw things at us, and we had to run for our lives. We spent many nights and weekends hiding in a room at DHSS,” Ramsay said. told the Daily Telegraph in 2008.
When Ramsay was nine years old, he moved with his parents and three siblings to Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He never reconciled with his father, who died in 1997.
After an injury ended his hopes for a career in football, Ramsay decided to pursue a career in cooking.
Ramsay dreamed of becoming a professional footballer since childhood and was selected for the youth national team by the age of 12. He continued to train with the Scottish Rangers team for several months, but a knee injury ended his sports career.
Instead, he turned to the kitchen, a decision he later called “a complete coincidence.”
After studying hotel management at North Oxfordshire Institute of Technology, he started working as a chef at Komi in the mid-80s.
Trained under the legendary Marco Pierre White, who taught young chefs how to run a serious kitchen.
Ramsay joined Marco Pierre White’s kitchen when he was 19 years old.
Mr White was the first British chef to receive the coveted three Michelin stars and is often referred to as the first ‘celebrity chef’. He ran the kitchen at his restaurant, Harvey’s, in a then-notorious, high-handed and demanding style that is now considered toxic by some restaurateurs.
White was known for his bad temper, and once brought the notoriously strict Ramsey to tears.
Although the two chefs have had a long-standing feud, Ramsay credits White with instilling in him a spirit of perfectionism and showing him that he could achieve the impossible.
“I stood next to Marco for two years. I was next to him 16 hours a day. It was relentless,” he said on a 2023 episode of the High Performance Podcast.
“I was chasing perfection, and this guy put food on his plate like Picasso. I wanted to have that level of discipline.”
‘I was hungry’ – Ramsay moved from restaurant to restaurant, aiming for Michelin star glory
After working at Harvey’s for several years, he moved to Le Gavroche, a three-star Michelin French restaurant. He also studied with French icons such as Albert Roux, Pierre Coffman, Guy Savoie, and Joel Robuchon.
In 1993, he took his first job as head chef at the London restaurant Aubergine.Just three years later, Ramsey The restaurant has been awarded a two-star Michelin ratingIn 1995, she was awarded the prestigious Katy Award for Newcomer of the Year.
“I was hungry. I was looking for something to improve myself,” Ramsey said in an interview on the High Performance Podcast.
By 1997, he had founded his first restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, and began collecting a few more Michelin stars. However, it was in his 2001 that he earned the coveted three-star honor from the Michelin Guide for his flagship restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
He was the second British chef to receive three stars at the time, after Mr White.
In 2005, Ramsay began appearing on American television screens.He hasn’t been out since then.
After achieving the Michelin milestone, Ramsay began his journey into the world of television.
After a brief debut on the British show “Boiling Point” in 1999, he began hosting British versions of shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen,” “F-Word” and “Kitchen Nightmares.”
“Hell’s Kitchen” crossed the pond to the United States in 2005, and “Kitchen Nightmares” soon followed.
Through screen, his fans fell in love with his cheeky, profanity-filled persona and the heartwarming pride he sometimes took in the chefs brave enough to sign up for the show.
“Hell’s Kitchen” is currently in its 22nd season in the United States, drawing millions of viewers.
according to forbesRamsay’s show accounted for more than $150 million in advertising revenue for Fox in 2020.
Alongside show business, Ramsay continued to build an empire of 58 restaurants.
The chef’s growing celebrity status has drawn hungry fans to his expanding restaurant network.
Ramsay has built a vast empire of restaurants, from a casual bar and grill to a three-Michelin-star white table experience where you can eat for more than $1,000.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ramsay said his restaurant’s sales have declined by $80 million. But now the British chef runs his 58 restaurants in countries including the UK, US, China, Malaysia and France.
His signature restaurant, and one of his most luxurious, is Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London’s affluent area of Chelsea. Other well-known favorites include Hell’s Kitchen, The Fat Cow, Pétrus, and Le Pressoir D’Argent.
The Ramsay empire is still expanding, with a second Gordon Ramsay Burger location recently announced at the Flamingo Las Vegas. The restaurant will be 8,000 square feet and will be the seventh restaurant in Sin City, according to Eater.
Mr. Ramsay’s family helped temper his violent temper.
Ramsey married his wife Tana in 1996 at the age of 29.
Tana, a Montessori-trained former teacher, chef and cookbook author, told the Guardian in 2008 that she was engaged to someone else when she met Ramsay at a New Year’s Eve party in London.
The couple had difficulty conceiving at first, and after undergoing in vitro fertilization, they gave birth to their first child, Megan, in 1998.
Tana gave birth to her sixth child, Jesse, in November last year. They are also parents to twins Jack and Holly, 23. Matilda, 22 years old. and Oscar, 5.
Ramsay, who is known for her violent temper, told People that having children has made her “emotionless.”
But he compared having six children to “running a restaurant where no one leaves.”
Despite earning millions of dollars, Ramsey still works hard today
Another milestone to Ramsay’s success occurred when he received an award. In 2006, he was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the hospitality industry.
However, despite his success, he has at times downplayed his celebrity persona.
”“Don’t call me that. I’m a chef who happens to be on TV, that’s all. I’m a grafter. I work hard. So it’s wrong to give me that title,” he said. Told. telegraph paper “Being called a celebrity makes a mockery of how hard I’ve worked.”
But that didn’t stop him from listing his various celebrity friends, including David Beckham and Gigi Hadid.
in recent years, Ramsay’s TikTok His career is going well and he has over 20 million subscribers. YouTube account.
Ramsay has also supported various charities and dedicated his time and money to help the less fortunate.
Mr. Ramsay has been open about the hardships of his disadvantaged childhood and has shared his wealth with many charities, including those close to his own.
He has long supported the charity Women’s Aid, which runs shelters for victims of domestic abuse, and has supported his own mother in the past.
In 2020, Ramsay secretly donated $50,000 to help with the medical costs of a 14-year-old MasterChef Junior contestant with cancer.
He and his wife, Tana, also run a philanthropic foundation that has so far worked to raise $2 million for Make-A-Wish and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Recently, Ramsay helped a terminally ill woman who found her viral video on TikTok fulfill her bucket list dream of meeting him and eating at his restaurant.
