RHONJ: Which Cast Member Has The Highest Net Worth?
The Real Housewives of New Jersey cast members are known for flipping tables and major family blow-ups. Aside from their drama, they are one of the flashiest franchises.
With mega-mansions and blinged-out jewelry, viewers wonder how they live such flashy lives when their major stars have had serious financial issues. The season 10 cast are ringing in major cash as far as their salaries on the show, adding to their growing net worth.
Teresa Giudice
For a short time, Giudice was a paid contributor to PEOPLE Magazine where she blogged on the site regarding the show. Her books have become New York Times Best Sellers, which include four cookbooks Skinny Italian, Fabulicious!, Fabulicious Fast & Fit, and Fabulicious!, and On the Grill – and several memoirs, Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back at It Again, and Standing Strong. She also had her own jewelry line of costume accessories called TG Fabulicious – and a line of dessert wines with Fabellini.
Her net worth was once estimated to be about $11 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Despite the success of her businesses, she and her husband filed for bankruptcy in 2011, claiming to be more than $11 million in debt. Legal documents revealed that she took home large advances and royalties from her books – including a $250,000 advance for Skinny Italian and $30,000 in royalties, according to Earn The Necklace. They were found guilty in 2013 of fraud charges after a guilty plea, with them both serving separate jail sentences. With the bankruptcy filing, loss of income from her business and legal fees, her net worth took a hit. Luckily, she has the show. Reality Blurb reported that she’s paid $62,000 per episode, putting her salary at a little over $1 million for Season 10.
Melissa Gorga
Gorga has had her own success since joining the show in season 3. In her first season, she released a pop single, “On Display,” which charted on iTunes. She released her first book in 2013, Love Italian Style: The Secrets of My Hot and Happy Marriage, where she shares her secrets to a lasting and happy relationship. In the book, she gives the four ingredients that she believes contribute to a good relationship – respect, honesty, loyalty, and passion – mixed with old school values.
Gorga took her love of fashion and all things glitz and glamour to another level when she opened her New Jersey boutique, Envy. The business has not been without its ups and downs. Her former business partner sued her and the store closed for a few months before reopening with just Gorga. She was also accused of selling counterfeit Chanel purses and accessories, which caused a backlash in 2017. The store is now doing well.
She and her husband allegedly had issues, including owing their former mortgage company and fans suspected that like her sister-in-law, she’d file for bankruptcy. They attempted to sell their Montclair, New Jersey mansion. They now live in a mansion in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.
Whatever money troubles she may have had have now seemed to be resolved. She’s said to be paid $600,000 per season and is worth an estimated $1.5 million.
Jennifer Aydin
Aydin has been on the show since season 9 and has flaunted her wealth. She dons Chanel in almost every episode and has a lavish home to match her flashy fashion choices. Her massive New Jersey mansion is equipped with 18 bathrooms. The home is 12,000 square feet with an 8,000 square feet basement that holds nine bedrooms.
The mother of five relies on her plastic surgeon husband to bring home the bacon while she takes care of their home and family. Their family business is Aydin Plastic Surgery in Paramus, New Jersey. Aydin’s husband Bill specializes in aesthetic cosmetic surgery of the face and body, including minimally invasive procedures and reconstruction of breast cancer survivors, and traumatic injuries, including hand surgery, according to the office’s website. Due to her husband’s plastic surgery business, she’s worth an estimated $7 million.
Jennifer Goldschneider
Goldschnieder famously revealed on the show that in addition to her previous life as a lawyer, she has “family money” and declared herself as the “richest cast member.” Her parents invested their money well and set up a trust fund for her to access when she grew older. When she decided to use withdraw money from the trust, she took a note out of her parents book and invested in real estate. She owns a home in the Hamptons, which she rents out for $50,000 a month. She also has properties in New York and runs a real estate management company.
After retiring from her life as a real estate attorney, she found a new passion as a freelance journalist and newspaper columnist. Her writing credits include Good Housekeeping and Huffington Post – along with her own blog, The Mummy Brain. Her accumulated wealth prior to joining the show was an estimated $2 million.
Margaret Josephs
A graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Josephs used her degree to become a fashion designer and entrepreneur. She worked as a dress designer before starting her own line with the Macbeth Collection lifestyle brand. For almost 20 years, her business boomed. Her net worth was an estimated $50 million before experiencing money trouble in 2019.
She was sued for $200,000 from two former friends who claimed she owed them money from a loan. She also owed backed taxes and then declared bankruptcy within her business when Vineyard Vines sued her for $12 million claiming her company copied their logo design. Page Six also reported that her house was in foreclosure in 2018.
Dolores Catania
Catania makes roughly $60,000 per episode, with Celebrity Net Worth estimating her to be worth $4 million. While most of her revenue comes from RHONJ, she has used the show to venture into real estate.
Her and her ex-husband, Frank Catania, are in the home flipping businesses. They buy homes, rebuild them and sell them for a higher profit. They also build custom homes, as shown on the current season of the show. Catania also does sponsored social media posts.
