2009 Forbes Celebrity 100: 2 Chefs

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Forbes Magazine's recently published list of the world's richest celebrities, should give the food world pause. In the past decade, the list has included the names of at least four chefs, and sometimes more (See Super Chef's Forbes Celebrity Chefs 2007: Food Network Heaven.) This year it only includes two: Wolfgang Puck Power Rank #95 with Pay at $18 million and non-chef, food entertainer Rachael Ray at #79 with pay of $15 million. Last year, in contrast Rachael Ray was at #76, at $18 million; Wolfgang was at #91, at $16 million. New to the list were Gordon Ramsay at #95, with $7.5 million, and Paula Deen who rounded out the list at #100 with $4.5 million. All across the globe the restaurant industry has felt the full force of the economic slow down. But, the statistics do not tell the whole story. Restaurants are coming up with novel ways to keep their customers, while cutting costs. Celebrity chef empires are no exception. Celebrity chefs have had to close restaurants (see Antony Worrall-Thompson Closes Four Restaurants). At the same time, celebrity chefs have been expanding product lines, bringing in more revenue from endorsements. For instance, Paula Deen has a new line of cookware featured in stores like Walmart. They have sought out new media outlets (like Top Chef Masters) to gain wider exposure for their restaurants. Interesting as it is, the drop from four celebrity chefs to two on the Forbes Celebrity 100, Super Chef is not as interesting as the potential for recovery in the 2010 Celebrity 100. Super Chef bet is that there will be more then two chefs next year. What's your best guess? Previous articles: Forbes: Women Are Heating Up the Restaurant World Forbes Celebrity Chefs 2007: Food Network Heaven Forbes Tastemakers 2 Are British Super Chefs Richer Forbes Celebrity 100 Chefs 2006: Cute? Juliette Rossant: Forbes Tastemakers Celebrity Chefs from 2005 Forbes Celebrity Chef 100 Latest Forbes Celebrity Chef Column Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews --> back to Super Chef