Background and career
Gordon James Ramsay (born 8 November 1966) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall and currently holds eight. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has held three Michelin stars since 2001 and is currently run by chef Matt Abé. After rising to fame on the British television miniseries Boiling Point in 1999, Ramsay became one of the best-known and most influential chefs in the world.
Ramsay's media persona is defined by his fiery temper, aggressive behaviour, strict demeanour and frequent use of profanity, including insults and jokes about contestants and their cooking abilities. He has presented television programmes about cookery, such as the British series Hell's Kitchen (2004), Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004–2009, 2014) and The F Word (2005–2010), with Kitchen Nightmares winning the 2005 and 2008 British Academy Television Award for Best Feature. He is part of the American versions of Hell's Kitchen (2005–present), Kitchen Nightmares (2007–present), MasterChef (2010–present) and MasterChef Junior (2013–present), as well as Hotel Hell (2012–2016), Gordon Behind Bars (2012), Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (2018–2020) and Next Level Chef (2022–present).
Ramsay was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality industry. He was named the top chef in the UK at the 2000 Catey Awards, and in July 2006 he won the Catey for Independent Restaurateur of the Year, becoming the third person to win three Catey Awards. Forbes listed his 2020 earnings at US $70 million and ranked him at number 19 on its list of the highest-earning celebrities.
Gordon James Ramsay was born in Johnstone, Scotland, on 8 November 1966, the son of Helen (née Cosgrove), a nurse, and Gordon James Sr., who worked as a swimming pool manager, welder, and shopkeeper. He has an older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister. After the family moved to England, Ramsay lived on a council estate in Daventry for several years. When Ramsay was nine, the family moved again to the Bishopton area of Stratford-upon-Avon.
He has described his early life as "hopelessly itinerant" and said his family moved constantly, owing to the aspirations and failures of his father, who was an occasionally violent alcoholic. Ramsay described him as a "hard-drinking womaniser". In his autobiography, he said that Gordon James Sr. abused and neglected his children and his wife.
How Gordon Ramsay makes money
Forbes listed his 2020 earnings at US $70 million and ranked him at number 19 on its list of the highest-earning celebrities. Ramsay owns a 69% stake, valued at £67 million in 2007. His father-in-law's "away days," wrote Ramsay, "were rarely what I thought they were." Company accounts show Hutcheson borrowed up to £1.5 million from Gordon Ramsay Holdings, though Hutcheson says he reported the borrowings to the company and paid the money back.
