Introduction

Mario Batali is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and media personality best known for his shows like Molto Mario and Iron Chef America in Food Network. He also owns 22 restaurants collectively. Lately, he has been subject to criminal investigation by the New York Police Department on charges of sexual harassment by multiple women.

Early Life

Batali was born on September 19, 1960, in Seattle, Washington. He had developed interest in cooking at a young age and went on to attend Rulgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. This interest would soon turn into a career as he went on to work as a cook at the Italian restaurant Stuff Yer Face.

Career

He then went to work as a sous chef for the Four Seasons Clift Hotel in San Francisco. He also worked at its franchise in Biltimore next. It is during this time in 1996 that he started to be involved in a show called Molto Mario which started to air in the Food Network. The show was a big hit and led to Batali in a great situation as it helped him to establish his name in a competitive business. With added popularity, there was higher demand for Batali’s food that led to him forming the B&B Hospitality Group along with partners Joe Bastianich and Lidia Bastianich. The Restaurants within this group have gone on to make a name for its beautiful wine and elegant service worldwide.

After his previous show on Food Network, he took a hiatus from television but later came back as a co-host on the ABC daytime talk show The Chew. He was part of this show for almost 7 years starting from 2011. However, his restaurants have had some controversies over the years. With fame there also comes the responsibility of good ethical business practices. In 2012, a lawsuit was settled among his group and a total of 117 employees who accused him of skimming a percentage of the tip pools in his restaurants over a period of years. Batali lost this lawsuit.

He is also involved in philanthropy though he has a mixed reputation. He has served for a non-profit organization called The Lunchbox Fund as an ambassador which works on providing a daily meal to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa. He also has his own foundation called the Mario Batali Foundation which focuses on children’s educational programs.

Mario Batali Net Worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, he has an estimated net worth of $25 million as of 2018. His net worth in 2012 was $13 million according to Forbes, which shows that he has made tremendous progress financially in the last 5 years with a lot of his investments maturing and reaping fruits. That same year, his company, the B&B Hospitality group recorded an annual revenue of $250 million through its restaurants.

He once stated in an interview that he has enough money to live a great lifestyle and that he had no worries about his financials. He owns a luxurious vacation house on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Personal Life

Batali is also an author and has written a total of 11 cookbooks. Among them the cookbooks, Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes and Mario Batali Italian Grill, which is a New York Times Best Seller, have done really well for him. He married Susi Cahn in 1994, who is the daughter of Miles and Lillian Cahn, the founders of Coach Inc. They have two sons named Benno and Leo Batali.

At a time when Batali should be enjoying the fruits of his work, his reputation has significantly been downgraded by recent accusations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. A total of eight women have accused Batali for such allegations with Batali accepting these charges saying that his past behavior has been deeply inappropriate. This has had serious consequences to his career and life. Many brands have discontinued their partnership with him and his company including Target, The Spotted Pig, and Food Network. On Friday, B&B Hospitality Group announced that it would close its three Las Vegas restaurants in July.