Break out the donkey sauce, gangsters, because the bleached head of Guy Fieri is laughing all the way to the bank. Signing a three-year extension on his already ridiculously high Food Network contract, the Mayor of Flavortown received a whopping $50 million raise, meaning that he’s bringing home the bacon to the tune of $80 million over three years.
Fieri leveraged his power over Flavortown, er, the Food Network over the last year, when his numerous shows, including Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Tournament Of Champions accounted for approximately all Food Network’s offerings these days (sorry, Chopped). Obviously, we’re exaggerating, but Triple D reruns are on a lot. According to Forbes, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives “generated more than $230 million in 2020 ad revenue for the Food Network.” With those numbers, it sounds like the network is getting a steal.
Over the last year, Fieri used his star power to raise money for the struggling restaurant industry (leading us to nominate him as Ellen’s replacement). Guy raised more than $25 million for restaurants and restaurant workers, and he now makes more money than Gordon Ramsay. The latter spent the pandemic, presumably, getting ready to rehab Paula Deen’s career. Ramsay earns a paltry $20 million from his Fox shows, writes Forbes, and more than two-thirds of $70 million yearly income comes from his various restaurants and other deals, which is honestly embarrassing. He also trounced all over Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman and HGTV’s golden couple Chip and Johanna Gaines.
The announcement of the Fieri-sized income comes on the heels of Warners’ big merger with Discovery, which they probably signed by backing a big red convertible full of cash into Fieri’s driveway, followed by the chef saying, “Holy moly, stromboli.”