How Much Is Mario Batali Worth?
Mario Batali recently announced he is stepping away from his restaurant empire in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.
The 57-year-old, who owns 22 restaurants, including the prestigious Del Posto and Babbo in New York City, along with three Eataly markets, has not denied the allegations. He apologized and issued a statement that read, in part: "Much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted."
Prominent chefs like Tom Colicchio and Anthony Bourdain have commented on the situation; Colicchio said "no one should be surprised" and wrote on Twitter, "It was well documented in Bill Buford's book Heat."
The allegations leveled at Batali have earned nationwide attention because he is one of a small handful of top American chefs who is also a household name. He is a prolific entrepreneur, cookbook writer, and even television personality, and Batali's restaurants, books, and television jobs have made him a lot of money.
In 2012, the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group, Batali's company with partner Joe Bastianich, reported annual revenues of $250 million. That year, the first branch of Eataly that opened in New York City in 2010 had already paid back its investors and was on track to do $85 million in annual revenue.
Batali himself has a made a lot of money, too-about $25 million, according to celebritynetworth.com.
While Batali remains an owner of his restaurants, his status as a co-host of ABC's daytime food show The Chew is in jeopardy. The network asked the chef to step away from the show "while we review the allegations that have just recently come to our attention," a spokesperson told Eater.
Another television show Batali had in the works, a Food Network reboot of his Molto Mario series, which previously ran from 1996 to 2004, has been halted, Grub Street reports. A spokesperson said, "Food Network takes matters like this very seriously and we are putting relaunch plans for Molto Mario on hold."
Batali is the author of 11 cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes and the New York Times bestseller Mario Batali Italian Grill.
Since 1994, Batali has been married to Susi Cahn. They have two sons, Benno and Leo Batali, who have a cookbook of their own.
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