Gordon Ramsay Isn’t Leaving His Kids His Money So He Won’t Spoil Them—Plus Other Strict Rules He Uses to Parent
Gordon Ramsay has made quite a name for himself in the culinary world. Not everyone loves him – his fellow famous British chef Mary Berry has called his TV shows “violent, cruel, and noisy.” But Ramsay doesn’t mind offending people. That “tell it like it is” attitude extends to his kids. Ramsay has some harsh rules in place, all in the name of preventing them from being spoiled.
Gordon Ramsay’s climb to fame
Gordon Ramsay was born in Scotland in 1966, and according to Biography, his first career choice was being a soccer player. He played with a pro club until a knee injury when he was 18 years old made him unable to continue.
To start over after that loss, he went back to school and earned a degree in hotel management. From there, he worked in kitchens under some of the best chefs in Europe. In 1993, at the age of 27, he became head chef of a restaurant called Aubergine. Within 14 months, the restaurant earned its first Michelin star, and Ramsay was on his way to culinary stardom.
His cooking ability and unapologetic brashness have won him prestigious awards and made him an international TV star. He’s headlined shows such as Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, and Hotel Hell. On top of these achievements, he’s written 20 books.
His money and his children
Gordon Ramsay has been married since 1996, and he and his wife Tana have five children together. But if Megan, Holly, Jack, Matilda, and Oscar ever expected their famous, successful dad to make their lives easier, they were disappointed.
AP News reports that Ramsay has made it clear that he has no intention of giving his children any of his money when he dies.
“It’s definitely not going to them, and that’s not in a mean way; it’s to not spoil them,” he explained. “The only thing I’ve agreed with Tana is they get a 25 percent deposit on a flat, but not the whole flat.”
His thrifty ways don’t just affect their future inheritance either. They don’t get much cash from him, even as kids.
“Meg’s at uni and has a budget of £100 a week; the others get about £50 a week and they have to pay for their own phones, their bus fare. The earlier you give them that responsibility to save for their own trainers and jeans, the better.”
Other ways Gordon Ramsay avoids spoiling his children
According to Refinery 29, Ramsay has been listed as one of Forbes’ highest-paid celebrities. In one year alone, he earned a jaw-dropping $54 million. But his kids don’t get to enjoy many of the perks of wealth, because he doesn’t feel like they’ve earned that privilege.
“They don’t sit with us in first class. They haven’t worked anywhere near hard enough to afford that,” he said. “At that age, at that size, you’re telling me they need to sit in first class? No, they do not. We’re really strict on that,” he explained. “I turn left with Tana and they turn right and I say to the chief stewardess, ‘Make sure those little fuckers don’t come anywhere near us, I want to sleep on this plane’.”
The children are rarely allowed to eat at their dad’s elite restaurants, although they have pitched in to wait tables for charity events. Ramsay has said if they’re interested in the restaurant industry, they will have to make it on their own and not expect any help from him.
Time will tell if Ramsay’s unorthodox parenting methods will help his children grow up to be the self-reliant people he wants them to be.
