Guy Fieri Says His Kids Won't Inherit His Fortune Unless They Do This

Guy Fieri revealed his perfect recipe for success doesn't include simply passing along his food empire to his children. Instead, they'll need to earn it.

By Hayley Santaflorentina Dec 19, 2023 5:56 PMTags
Watch: Guy Fieri's Top Food Tips for the Super Bowl

Guy Fieri is rolling out, and he's looking for diners, drive-ins and dives degrees. 

The Food Network star recently revealed that if his and wife Lori Fieri's sons Hunter, 27 and Ryder, 17 want to take over his dining empire, they will have to prove themselves in the classroom first.

"I've told them the same thing my dad told me," Guy told Fox News in an interview shared Dec. 12. "My dad says, ‘When I die, you can expect that I'm going to die broke, and you're going to be paying for the funeral.' And 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.'" 

After all, if you can't handle the heat, you best stay out of the kitchen.

And when it comes to the exact menu for success, the 55-year-old took a move from none other than Shaquille O'Neal's playbook. 

"Shaq said it best," he continued. "Shaq said, ‘If you want this cheese, you got to get to two degrees.' Well, my two degrees mean postgraduate."

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But while Guy's eldest Hunter and his nephew Jules, he revealed, are already on their way towards succession being enrolled in MBA and law programs respectively, his youngest Ryder is feeling the pressure. 

"‘Dad, this is so unfair,'" Guy revealed of the high school student's complaints. "'I haven't even gone to college yet, and you're already pushing that I've got to get an MBA?' He's like, 'Can I just get through college?'"

Vivien Killilea / Stringer & Tim Nwachukwu / Staff (Getty Images)

And the TV personality isn't the only celeb trying to buck the "nepo baby" label when it comes to their children. 

In fact, fellow food mogul Gordon Ramsay told The Telegraph in 2016 he would only be helping his children financially by providing a 25 percent deposit on a flat—which he said was an attempt "to not spoil them"—while Mick Jagger recently revealed his eight children likely won't be the recipients of his post-1971 music catalog (which is worth half a billion dollars).

"The children don't need $500 million to live well," the Rolling Stones frontman told The Wall Street Journal in a September interview. "Come on."

Instead, the 80-year-old would prefer the money be donated to charity. Or, as he put it, "Maybe do some good in the world."

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