Reality Rich: The 21 Highest Paid Reality Stars of 2019
Jan. 17 2020, Updated 7:44 p.m. ET
Reality TV stars can seemingly get away with anything while getting paid enormously for doing so. Whether it’s arguing, fighting, cheating or just going out and getting drunk every night, reality stars let it all hang out. So how much does a reality star have to get paid to let the world see them as they truly are?
MORE: 10 Richest Pets in the World: Animals Worth Millions! The Insanity Explained!
RadarOnline.com has rounded up some of the highest paid reality stars out there and examined their net worth, and it turns out that acting ugly can sometimes pay beautifully. There are so many stars that RadarOnline.com has updated the list. From Farrah Abraham to the Duggars, these people are all worth millions. Kylie Jenner sits at the top like a queen with a net worth of around a billion dollars — more money than even Dr. Evil could wrap his head around.
MORE: Don’t Get Mad Get Everything; Inside The 16 Most Expensive Divorces Of All Time!
So who makes how much? And will this wealth lead to more feuds? It really does pay to be a reality star.
21. Whitney Port. Estimated Worth: $3.5 Million.
Whitney Port starts off the countdown of richest reality stars. According to Ninja Journal, Port shot to fame in the series The Hills and Laguna Beach. She left the shores of her native California behind to take a job working for Diane von Furstenberg, which led to a whole new reality series — The City.
20. Kristin Cavallari. Estimated Worth: $3.5 Million.
Kristin Cavallari might have been saavy enough to make $3.5 million dollars but has also made the news, according to The Washington Post, because she won’t vaccinate her kids. She brushed off the criticism saying, “but I really don’t care” as if caring is the wrong thing to do.
19. Nicole LaValle. Estimated Worth: $4 Million.
The world knows her better as Snooki, but according to Ninja Journal, LaValle found her fame and fortune on Jersey Shore before parlaying that into sequels and appearances on shows like The View and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
18. Audrina Patridge. Estimated Worth: $5 Million.
According to the Daily Beast, Audrina Partridge raked in a decent $100,000 for each episode of The Hills. She’s also appeared in Dancing With The Stars — where she finished in seventh place — and produced her own reality series, Audrina, that was cancelled fairly quickly. Still, a $5 million net worth ain’t bad.
17. Emily Maynard. Estimated Worth: $5 million.
Viewers first got to know Emily Maynard on The Bachelor’s 15th season where she was selected by Brad Womack. Sadly, the long distance relationship collapsed, but Maynard went to star in her own season of The Bachelorette, which didn’t work out romantically either. According to Cheatsheet, she is now married to Tyler Johnson and worth $5 million.
16. Farrah Abraham. Estimated Worth: $6 million.
Teen Mom proved a good decision for Farrah Abraham who, according to Cheatsheet, is one of the richest of all the teens who have appeared on the show. Abraham has made her money from reality shows including Couples Therapy, Single AF and Celebrity Big Brother UK but also makes tons of cash for every adult video she posts on CamSoda.
15. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. Estimated Worth: $7 million ($3.5 million each).
According to Romper, both Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar made between $25,000-$40,000 for each episode of 19 Kids And Counting. They also speak at a ton of functions, including a seminar for Christian grandparents. Prior to the TV show, they sold used cars and dabbled in real estate, so life seems to have changed drastically.
14. Golnesa Gharachedaghi. Estimated Worth: $12 million.
She found fame with Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset, which features a family of wealthy Iranian-Americans — meaning Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi already had some money before the show began. Daddy, Mahmoud, is a successful architect, but GG hasn’t rested solely on her laurels. According to ET Online, she and sister Leila Gharache have created a line of hair extensions.
13. NeNe Leakes. Estimated Worth: $14 million.
According to Cheatsheet, NeNe Leakes — who shot to fame on Real Housewives of Atlanta — reportedly earns around $1 million for each season of the series. Adding to her worth, Leakes introduced the NeNe Leakes Collection for the Home Shopping Network and has even done some actual acting on shows like NBC’s The New Normal and on Broadway in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
12. Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio. Estimated Worth: $20 million
DJ Pauly D —Paul DelVecchio to his friends — found fame on Jersey Shore. He also served as exclusive DJ for formerly open Moon, Rain, and the Palms Pool at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. This ballooned and soon, according to Celebrity Net Worth, DelVecchio signed a three-album deal with 50 Cent’s record label and starred in his own reality TV series, The Pauly D Project.
11. Bethenny Frankel. Estimated Worth: $25 Million.
- Shake it Off: Kim Kardashian Smirks in First Sighting Since Taylor Swift's 'thanK you aIMee' Diss Track
- The Ultimate Diss Tracks? Taylor Swift Accused of Reigniting Bad Blood Feud With Kim Kardashian on New Album 'The Tortured Poets Department'
- Scott Disick’s Company Hit With $150k Federal Lawsuit Over Kim Kardashian & Tristan Thompson Post
Reality Queen Bethenny Frankel has gone a long way since appearing as a contestant on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. According to Ninja Journal, she’s also appeared on Real Housewives of New York City, written four self-help books and founded Skinnygirl Cocktails. No surprise that she’s currently worth around $25 million.
10. Lauren Conrad. Estimated Worth: $25 Million.
According to Ninja Journal, Lauren Conrad began with Laguna Beach before moving to The Hills. She’s the author of a series of books and owns her own clothing line, so it makes perfect sense that she’s worth $25 million.
9. Kendall Jenner. Estimated Worth: $30 million.
The Keeping Up with the Kardashians series has made multi-millionaires out of almost everyone appearing on it. Kendall Jenner is no exception and, according to Money, her $22 million salary for doing the show made her the highest paid model of 2018.
8. Shaunie O’Neal. Estimated Worth: $35 million.
Shaunie O’Neal, the former wife of basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, made her money from a combination of entrepreneurship (she was an executive producer and star of VH1’s Basketball Wives) and her divorce, which according to Complex, was one of the most expensive divorces in history. Baller.
7. Kourtney Kardashian. Estimated Worth: $35 million.
According to Money, eldest sister Kourtney has a net worth of $35 million. Celebrity Net Worth says a lot of the money the sisters make comes from endorsements. This Kardashian was the first to have a reality show when she starred in Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive in 2004.
6. Khloe Kardashian. Estimated Worth: $40 million.
According to Money, Khloe Kardashian is worth around $40 million. From her denim brand — that at one point was raking in $1 million a day — to her $250,000 Instagram ads and Keeping Up with the Kardashians spinoffs, money doesn’t seem to be in short supply. She even wrote a book in 2015 titled Strong Looks Better Naked, which became a New York Times bestseller.
5. Kris Jenner. Estimated Worth: $60 million.
Kris Jenner — Exec Producer of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and “momager” (she takes a cut of the deals she negotiates) — is worth around $60 million dollars according to Harper’s Bazaar. In 2016 alone, Jenner earned $11.5 million.
4. Andrew Firestone. Estimated Worth: $50 million.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Andrew Firestone — heir to the Firestone fortunes and one of only a few men on this list — is worth $50 million. He appeared on the third season of The Bachelor and proposed to a woman only to break up with her once the cameras had stopped rolling.
3. Lisa Vanderpump. Estimated Worth: $75 million.
Lisa Vanderpump is known for her appearances on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. According to Cheatsheet, she’s allegedly the richest of all the current stars in the Real Housewives franchise, taking home $500,000 per season. But it doesn’t stop there ... Vanderpump and hubby, Ken Todd, also own and run a number of upscale restaurants.
2. Kim Kardashian West. Estimated Worth: $350 million.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Kim Kardashian West owns an empire worth $350 million that all spawned from a sex tape that was leaked in 2007. She’s now married to Kanye West, has her own beauty line and a hugely popular — but now defunct — mobile game. According to Money, hubbie West is worth $250 million.
1. Kylie Jenner. Estimated Worth: $1,000,000,000.
That many zeroes makes a staggering one billion dollars and according to Forbes, is Kylie Jenner's net worth. At just 21-years-old, Jenner turned her success on Keeping Up with the Kardashians into an empire that includes her incredibly successful make up company, Kylie Cosmetics. According to Cheatsheet, Kylie Cosmetics is expected to be worth $1 billion dollars on its own by 2022.