‘Gilmore Girls’: How Rich Were the Huntzbergers?
Rory Gilmore was an interesting character. She was stuck between the middle-class world she was raised in, and the elite social circles that her grandparents occupied. During the series’ run, she dated a member of the upper crust and was brutally rebuffed by his family. The Huntzberger family had more money than the Gilmores, but realistically, how much money did they actually have? The answer might surprise you.
The Huntzbergers may have been based on the Sulzberger family
While Amy Sherman-Palladino has never outright mentioned who inspired the Huntzberger family, it’s been surmised that the family is, at the very least, partially based off of the Sulzberger family. The Sulzberger family owns and operates The New York Times and, for decades, held more than a dozen other daily newspapers across the United States. With a core purpose of distributing high-quality news, the Sulzberger also owned radio stations and a variety of websites, including About.com. It’s presumed that Mitchum Huntzberger is based on Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., the man who is credited with bringing The New York Times online.
The Huntzbergers, like the Sulzbergers, owned a variety of daily newspapers. They were considered a family of media moguls, and, just like the Sulzbergers, expected to have the next generation take over for the previous one. Logan Huntzberger was supposed to take over for Mitchum eventually, and Mitchum presumably took over for his father. Logan was also one of two children, another similarity the fictional family shares with the Sulzbergers.
How much would the Huntzbergers realistically be worth?
The Huntzberger family fortune is said to be huge. During the run of Gilmore Girls, the family’s wealth was alluded to on multiple occasions. The family held a massive real estate portfolio, owned various yachts, and, by all accounts, Logan was free to spend his money in any way he saw fit. Sheira Huntzberger even suggested that the family fortune was much different than the money that the Gilmore family enjoyed. So, how much were they worth?
According to several sources, the Sulzberger fortune likely tops $200 million, and the business is said to be worth over $1 billion. If one assumes that Huntzbergers are based on the Sulzberger family, then one can assume the family is worth around $200 million, conservatively. The Gilmores, on the other hand, were from family money that likely totaled around $50 million.
Did Logan give up the family business or not?
When Gilmore Girls ended after seven seasons, Rory and Logan end their relationship after Rory declined his proposal. Presumably, Logan moved to San Francisco and started working for a startup, after shirking his familial responsibilities. When fans meet up with Logan again in the show’s revival, however, he’s living and working in London. Based on the revival, it would seem that Logan never walked away from the family business and instead conceded to his father’s wishes. He was engaged to a woman that was part of the “dynastic plan,” too.
The explanation for the discrepancy is pretty simple. Sherman-Palladino did not write the final season of Gilmore Girls and decided to craft the revival as if the seventh season never happened. When Sherman-Palladino left the show, Logan was headed to London to work for his father. The revival, however, never covers how the couple’s relationship ultimately ended, assuming the proposal never happened.
