Gordon Ramsay Says His Kids Don't Deserve to Inherit His Fortune
Gordon Ramsay is perhaps the wealthiest chef on the planet. Last year, he was worth approximately $54 million according to Forbes — as much as Beyonce.
But in a new interview, the "Masterchef" and "Hell's Kitchen" host said he does not spoil his children. They won't see much of his money when Ramsay passes away either.
“It’s definitely not going to them, and that’s not in a mean way; it’s to not spoil them,” Ramsay told the Telegraph. “The only thing I’ve agreed with [wife] Tana is they get a 25 percent deposit on a flat, but not the whole flat."
Ramsay, who turned 50 in November, has three daughters and a son. He said he has taught them all to cook as a life skill (not necessarily a career path), and that he almost never brings them to fine-dining establishments--not even the ones he owns.
“I’ve never been really turned on about the money,” Ramsay said. "That’s not my number one objective, and that’s reflected in the way the kids are brought up."
He is the latest celebrity multi-millionaire to cut his kids out of his will — Money documented a long list of the ultra-rich who won't pass along fortunes to their children, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, George Lucas, and Sting.
Ramsay also has strict rules about his kids touching his wealth trappings even while alive, perhaps a reflection of his rough upbringing: his father has been described as an alcoholic womanizer, and Ramsay left home at age 16.
“They don’t sit with us in first class," Ramsay said of his children. "They haven’t worked anywhere near hard enough to afford that. At that age, at that size, you’re telling me they need to sit in first class? No, they do not. We’re really strict on that.
“I turn left with Tana and they turn right and I say to the chief stewardess, ‘Make sure those little f------ don’t come anywhere near us, I want to sleep on this plane.’ I worked my f------ arse off to sit that close to the pilot and you appreciate it more when you’ve grafted for it.”