Joe Bastianich Net Worth, Biography

Joe Bastianich Net Worth $15 million

Joe Bastianich is a popular American chef, restaurateur, winemaker,  television personality, author, musician, and vineyard owner, best known for his role as a judge on the American edition of the popular television show ‘MasterChef.’

Born and raised in New York City, Joe experienced his childhood in a middle-class Italian immigrant family. His parents were restaurant owners, so he developed an interest in cooking during his childhood days and learned how to cook at the restaurant.

Following his graduation from high school, he enrolled in Boston College where he studied finance. After graduating from college, Joe spent a year working on Wall Street before making a trip to Italy where he got mesmerized by the native culture, wine, and cuisine.

He had already decided to make his dreams a reality by becoming a restaurateur, and it didn’t take long before he opened his own restaurant, ‘Becco,’ in the city of New York.

He achieved success in his chosen profession, ended up opening many more restaurants across the United States and in other countries around the world, and became known as one of the most famous restaurateurs in New York City. His fame multiplied in the 2010s when he started making appearances in the American and Italian versions of ‘MasterChef’.

Also an accomplished author, Joe is also a noted ‘New York Times bestselling author. He is also involved in winemaking, music, and many other profitable ventures. Let’s continue this Joe Bastianich bio with all the cool stuff about this personality that you need to know.

Joe Bastianich’s Childhood & Early Life

Joseph Bastianich was born in Queens, New York, United States on September 17, 1968. His parents, Felice and Lidia Bastianich were Italian immigrants who had moved to the United States from Pola after the Second World War. His parents initially waited in New York restaurants.

Joe grew up in a middle-class home and inherited his interest in cooking from his parents who had opened their own restaurant, ‘Bounavia,’ in Queens, two years after he was born. As a child, Joe would spend some time working at the restaurant, mainly cleaning the dishes while gaining experience in the basics of managing a restaurant.

His mother was good at cooking, and Joe learned the nitty-gritty of cooking from her. Upon growing up, he became enthralled with everything about his native country, Italy, and its culture, food, and wine.

His mother would often make trips to Italy and take Joe along as well. Eventually, he started traveling on his own and explored the culture of the country.

However, Joe Bastianich had not reached a conclusion on his desired career path even after completing his high school education. He joined Boston College in New York where he studied finance. Following his college graduation, he joined Wall Street and spent one year working in the finance sector.

Everything changed with one trip to Italy. He drove around the beautiful country in a car and fell deeply in love with it enormously. He had also grown exhausted from his job at Wall Street and decided to follow in the footsteps of his parents and build a career in the food industry.

The first thing he did was to disclose his intention to join the food business to his parents who did not object but mandated that he go live in Italy on his own to learn more about the culture of his native land.

He thus spent two years working in Italian restaurants and vineyards. With all the experience and knowledge he had gathered in Italy, Joe moved back to the United States and opened his first restaurant in New York.

Joe Bastianich’s Career

As established at the beginning of this article, Joe Bastianich is a known chef, restaurateur, winemaker, television personality, author, musician, and vineyard owner, best known for his role as a judge on the American edition of the popular television show ‘MasterChef.

He has been involved in several ventures almost simultaneously, and here’s the story of his career journey.

Restaurant Owner

After completing his tertiary education, Joe worked on Wall Street as a bond trader for a one-year period. He decided to give up his newly launched career and forge a path in the lucrative food industry.

Upon his return from an extended trip to Italy, he collaborated with his mother and launched his first, named ‘Becco’ in 1993.

He then partnered with another Italian chef Mario Batali to open the Italian restaurant ‘Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca’, which gained the esteemed three stars from The New York Times and became the first Italian restaurant to earn the award in 40 years. Babbo also has received one Michelin star.

After the success of their restaurant together, Joe and Mario opened seven more in New York: Bar Jamon, Otto, Del Posto, Lupa, Esca, Casa Mono, and Eataly (an Italian marketplace).

In 2010, Del Posto earned a four-star review from The New York Times, becoming one of just five restaurants in New York to be honored with that award.

Their culinary empire has grown to 10 restaurants in New York, three restaurants in Los Angeles, four restaurants in Las Vegas, one Italian market in Boston, two restaurants in Singapore, one Italian food market in Chicago, and two restaurants in Hong Kong.

Author

Bastianich has authored and co-authored several books pertaining to his profession and some of his ventures. He is a co-author of two award-winning books on Italian wine.

Within the first week of the release of his memoir,’ Restaurant Man’, in May 2012, the project achieved massive success and became a New York Times Best Seller.

Television Roles

Joe Bastianich, a prominent television personality, appeared as a judge on the American version of the hit television series ‘MasterChef’ aired by Fox until it consumed too much of his time, and ‘MasterChef Junior’ until Christina Tosi replaced him on both series in 2015 after he left the show in November 2014.

However, he made a return as a temporary judge in Season 6 of ‘MasterChef Junior’ on March 2, 2018. He has fully returned to the judging panel on ‘MasterChef’ since its 9^th season, which debuted in June 2018. Joe has also served as a judge on the Italian edition of the series, ‘MasterChef Italia’.

In May 2019, he announced his exit from MasterChef Italia citing that he wanted to work on his passion for music.

In mid-September 2019, Joe Bastianich released his first studio album, titled “Aka Joe”. In late January 2020, he starred in a musical concert tour in Italy, featuring his “New York Stories” album.

Joe also guest-starred as a guest panelist on ‘MasterChef Canada’ in Season one, Episode 14. He co-starred along with Tim Love in the CNBC reality series ‘Restaurant Startup’, for which he served as the executive producer as well as ‘Shine America’.

Additionally, Joe also appeared in a special role in the television film ‘An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success (2015) as a panelist in a fictional season of ‘MasterChef Junior’.

On March 22, 2016, Bastianich presented, with Davide Valsecchi and Guido Meda, the first edition of the automobile television show ‘Top Gear Italia’. He also served as a judge on the panel of ‘Family Food Fight Italia’ and ‘Italia’s Got Talent in 2020.

Family & Personal Life

Joe Bastianich is married to Deanna, and together, they have three children: Miles, Olivia, and Ethan.  His mother, Lidia Bastianich, is also a celebrity chef and has also appeared on many television shows.

Joe along with his wife and children currently live in New York where the majority of his restaurants are located.

Joe Bastianich Net Worth

Joe is the proud owner and co-owner of around thirty restaurants, including Eataly, Felidia, Del Posto, and Becco. With this fact, you can assume his fortune has been summed up mainly from his restaurant business.

His food empire has expanded to ten restaurants in New York, three restaurants in Los Angeles, four restaurants in Las Vegas, one Italian market in Boston, two restaurants in Singapore, and two restaurants in Hong Kong.

Other than that, the celebrity chef is also a musician, television star, and writer. He has made a decent earning from the sales of his albums as well as from his musical concerts. Most of his books are bestsellers and have received a fantastic response.

To add more to his several streams of income, Joe is also involved in the business of winemaking. So, after assembling his earnings from all these ventures along with his income as a television personality, Joe Bastianich’s net worth is estimated at $15 million.

Joe Bastianich is currently 52 years old, and so far, it can be said that he has enjoyed a successful career and has already achieved enormous success as an entrepreneur. There’s no arguing that this ‘Jack of all trades is going to always be remembered as a big name in the business world.