Where did Bethenny Frankel get her money?

Reality television star Bethenny Frankel is most known for her stint on Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City. She quickly became a fan favorite in Season 1 for her blunt personality and her go-getter attitude. However, the Skinnygirl CEO got her first start on NBC's The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, produced by Mark Burnett. Bethany would go on to win runner-up on the reality game show in 2005.

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After Season 3 of RHONY, Bethenny left and went on to film another show centered around her new life as a mother and a wife and then returned as a housewife in Season 7. Upon coming back to the series, she was newly divorced and became an essential part of the franchise until Season 10. Bethenny did not return to the Bravo franchise for Season 11 and decided to create a fresh start outside of Bravo.

Where did Bethenny Frankel get her money?

Source: HBO Max

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It seems like Bethenny couldn't stay away from reality television and has teamed up with Mark Burnett again, who's producing her new show The Big Shot with Bethenny, which will stream on HBO Max. The series will follow Bethenny as a group of people compete to be the next vice president of operations for Skinnygirl. Over the years, the business mogul has become quite wealthy in her own right. So, how did she make all her money? Keep reading to find out how she went from debt to millions.

Bethenny Frankel made her money by refusing to sign her initial 'RHONY' contract.

For the first season of The Real Housewives of New York City, Bethenny Frankel only earned $7,250, but she was able to keep complete control of her brand. She was smart to stray away from the contract she was supposed to sign that gave the network part of the brand in exchange for exposure. Bethenny also refused to sign the part in her contract that stated she would have to provide Bravo with a percentage of all profits earned from businesses she promoted while on the show. 

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The promotion of Bethenny’s Skinnygirl Cocktails on RHONY became a total success, and in 2011, she sold the line to Beam Global for a whopping $120 million. When she sold her low-calorie cocktail company, she was wise enough to maintain the right to license the brand name for other products. This move allowed Bethenny to profit from a budding line of Skinnygirl spinoffs that have also made her money.

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Some of her Skinnygirl spinoff products include snacks like popcorn, seltzers, jeans, and supplements. In addition to her Skinnygirl Cocktails, she has also published several books, like Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl, A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life, and Skinnydipping,to name a few.

Bethenny has also made some of her money flipping numerous multi-million-dollar pads. 

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Town & Countryreports that in 2020, she sold a loft in SoHo for $3.65 million and her sprawling Hamptons property for $2.28 million, and five years ago, she sold a penthouse for $6.95 million in Tribecca, according to Curbed. Celebrity Net Worth reports that Bethenny is currently worth $70 million. We're sure that amount will be higher before the year is out, now that she has her own reality competition show.  

The Big Shot with Bethenny premieres on HBO Max April 29.

Based on the amount of money I myself have spent on Skinnygirl Margaritas, I can only assume that Bethenny Frankel is wildly rich. Which...she is! Between a truly massive Real Housewives of New York salary, her beverage business, and residuals from my weekly rewatch of Bethenny Getting Married, Bethenny is a multi-multi-multi-millionaire. Oh, and she’s also rich because of deli meat and salad dressing, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Let’s dive in!

Bethenny Frankel Made $40,000 Per Episode of RHONY

And she filmed a LOT of episodes. Bethenny joined the Bravo show for seasons 1 to 3, came back for seasons 7 to 11, and then left for good in 2019. It’s been a whole thing, but ultimately, she was there for eight seasons and 152 episodes at—according to Celebrity Net Worth—$40k a pop. So yeah...she earned somewhere around $6 million total for her time on the show!! No wonder she kept coming back for more.

Watch RHONY on Hulu

And speaking of TV, please be advised that Bethenny is coming off a new HBO Max show called The Big Shot With Bethenny, which is an Apprentice-like competition in which she finds someone to work alongside her at Skinnygirl. Sign moi up.

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Skinnygirl Is a Legit Empire

While she earned a ton of money on Housewives, the lion’s share of Bethenny’s net worth comes from being the CEO and founder of Skinnygirl, a company that sells cocktails, DVDs, a novel, clothes, salad dressing, and literal lunch meat, all of which I encourage you to purchase immediately.

According to Forbes, Bethenny sold Skinnygirl liquor company to Beam Suntory for a reported $100 million in 2011. But here’s the thing: She ingeniously kept the rights to the Skinnygirl name so she could launch other products. As she told Forbes, “It would be great for Beam to sell Skinnygirl shot glasses as a complement to the cocktail. But they can’t. Only I can.” I mean you can practically hear the "mwahahahahhahaha" in her voice.

She Once Earned $55 Million in a Single Year

Back in 2011, Bethenny made so much money that she ended up on Forbes Celebrity 100 issue, with the magazine reporting she’d made $55 million that year alone (partly because of that aforementioned sale!). Then in 2016, she made $8.5 million, making her 2016’s sixth highest-paid reality star.

Meanwhile, I’m just here like:

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Also, Bethenny’s Instagram Pays

Forbes estimates that Bethenny earns between $10,000 and $30,000 per sponsored post on Insta—at least, as of 2016. However, she only had 1.1 million followers back then, and nowadays, she has 2.3 million, so $$$ for gems like this Scotch Tape #ad most likely have increased:

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Bethenny Frankel’s Total Net Worth? $70 Million

Between the deli meats, the cocktails, and the TV shows, Bethenny has $70 million to her name—making her one of the wealthiest Bravo Housewives. Kay, amazing, I’ll leave you with this:

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You love all the dirty on celebrity bank accounts. So do we! Let’s overanalyze them together.

Mehera Bonner Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade. 

How did Bethenny Frankel get money?

After gaining more fame via RHONY, Frankel built more businesses, including her Skinnygirl brand, and her latest attempt at serious fortune has worked out brilliantly. Read on to learn how much she's made from her reality TV stints and what she's earned from Skinnygirl.

How much did Bethenny get paid for housewives?

$1+ Million Per Season (The Real Housewives of New Jersey) Bethenny Frankel was a part of The Real Housewives of New York from the start. In season 1, Bethenny had no idea what to expect from the franchise or from Bravo and signed on to season 1 for just $7,250, according to Reality Blurb.

How much is Bethenny Frankel worth 2022?

Bethenny Frankel is an American reality television personality and entrepreneur who has a net worth of $80 million.

How did Bethenny Frankel start her career?

In 2003, Frankel started a baking business called "BethennyBakes", focusing on "healthy" cookies and meal delivery in New York City, which was featured on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, a reality competition series, in 2005. Frankel was one of two finalists on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.