'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
American restaurateur, celebrity chef, author, and TV presenter Guy Fieri recently made headlines after he went on record to say that he won’t leave his fortune to his two kids unless they each get at least two degrees - one college graduate and the other postgraduate.
The Emmy winner who recently signed a three-year deal with Food Network for a whopping $100 million said this during his December 12 appearance on Fox News.
“I have told them the same thing my dad told me… I told my boys none of this that I’ve been building are you going to get unless you come and take it from me,” Guy Fieri stated.
In the wake of this, the focus has shifted to Fieri’s own educational background. As per Mashed, the celebrity chef did not graduate high school but still managed to earn a university degree.
Guy Fieri attended a French high school
Guy Fieri, popular for his Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives appearance came on the Marc Summers Unwraps podcast in May 2023, where he shared about his difficult upbringing and how he was a “hardworking kid” who always came up with innovative business ideas as a boy.
In the podcast, Fieri also added how he attended a year of high school in France at the age of 16 to improve his culinary skills. Not only that, but he said how he traveled across Europe to “expand his lifelong love for food.” However, when he returned to the USA, he never went back to high school and hence never graduated.
Instead, the Guy’s Grocery Games icon took a job at a high-end local restaurant in Los Angeles, while enrolling at a local community college. Eventually, he transferred to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel management. At the same time, he also acquired a GED (General Equivalency Diploma). However, he never attended a culinary school.
Exploring, in brief, the latest Guy Fieri drama
During a recent chat with Fox News, chef Guy Fieri said he would not leave behind his million-dollar fortune to his two sons unless they both get two degrees. He recalled how his dad said that when he died, he was going to die broke, and he had to pay for his funeral, which taught him early on the alue of money and self-reliance.
Fieri added how he said the same thing to his boys - that they weren’t going to get a penny from the empire he has been building unless they are worthy enough to “come and take it from me.”
Apart from his two sons Hunter (27) and Ryder (17), the 55-year-old restaurateur also had a 22-year-old nephew, Jules (son of his late sister Morgan), and he said the same rules applied to all of them.
According to People, his elder son graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is currently pursuing his MBA from the University of Miami. Likewise, his younger son, Ryder, is in high school, “ready to graduate,” as per Fieri’s Fox News interview.
"He's like, 'Dad, this is so unfair, I haven't even gone to college yet and you're already pushing that I've got to get an MBA.’ He says, 'Can I just get through college?'"
As per Business Insider, Fieri was close to his nephew and has even raised him after his sister passed away in 2011 from metastatic melanoma. In fact, he is so involved in his nephew's life that he even attended his college graduation in 2022.
"My nephew, Jules, is in the music industry down in LA, he's in the law program at Loyola Marymount right now. If you're going to be a big-time entertainment agent, you need to have that law background so he's doing that,” Guy told Fox News.
He wrapped up his candid conversation by saying that apart from his father, he was also inspired by basketball icon Shaquille O’Neal, who had a similar philosophy.
"Shaq said it best. Shaq said it about his kids one time, he says, ‘If you want this cheese, you got to get to two degrees.’ Well, my two degrees mean, you know, postgraduate. So, they're on their way,” the Food Network star quipped.
Internet reacts to Guy Fieri’s passing the inheritance rule
While most people online found Guy Fieri’s rule about passing down his inheritance to his kids as the right thing to do, some argued it may be too much pressure for the children. Here are some of the mixed reactions from the comment section of @theshaderoom’s Instagram post on the same.
According to Mashed, Fieri’s worth is roughly $70 million, barring the recent $100 million contract with Food Network. So far, he has built his Flavortown Empire with five Food Network shows, an expanding restaurant chain, and other food-related shows, including Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and Guy’s Grocery Games.
He also reportedly uses his Guy Fieri Foundation to donate money, for instance to Florida High School’s culinary program, encouraging students to take up cooking not just as a lucrative profession, but also as a life skill.
Guy Fieri joins other celebrities in not passing down their wealth unless their kids prove themselves in the classrooms first, including the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Bill Gates, Mick Jagger, Ashton Kutcher, and Jackie Chan among others.
