John Besh was born in Meridian, Mississippi USA on 14 May 1968, and is a chef, TV personality, restaurant owner and author, as well as a philanthropist, actually well known for preserving and promoting the culinary culture of New Orleans. He is also a well-known face as the host of two national television cooking shows.
So how rich is John Besh? Sources estimate that Besh’s net worth stands at $8 million as of early 2017, with the majority of his net worth coming from his culinary career, including his related appearance as a TV personality, during a career which began in the early 1990s
John Besh Net Worth $8 Million
Although he was born in Mississippi, John Besh grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1986 he graduated from the High School of St. Stanislaus College, after which he was enlisted as a reservist in the US Navy. As a part of his military career, he took part in the events of 1990 in Kuwait (Operation “Desert Storm” – a chapter in the Gulf War), where he fought with the rank of a sergeant, participating in the capture of Kuwait International Airport.
John also briefly went to Louisiana State University, but subsequently in 1992 he graduated from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). John Besh now owns a number of restaurants around New Orleans, some of them being August, Besh Steak, Lüke, La Provence, Domenica, Pizza Domenica, Borgne, Johnny Sánchez, Shaya and Willa Jean. August was featured in the “Guide to America’s Best Restaurants” and “America’s Top 50 Restaurants”, published by Gourmet, all contributing substantially to John’s net worth.
An interesting part of Jiohn’s career is his partnership with Baton Rouge-based emergency reconstruction specialists Arkel International to create high-quality, ready-to-eat meals for distribution to thousands of emergency response teams and sustained strategic operations in the US and around the world. In recognition of such far-reaching contributions, the Louisiana Restaurant Association named him “Restaurateur of the Year” in 2008. In 2006 and 2009, he was awarded Food Arts’ Silver Spoon Award for revitalizing the culinary heritage of New Orleans.
Besh is an author of three cookbooks too: “My New Orleans” (2009) – awarded the IACP Award in the American category; “My Family Table” (2011) – IACP Award in the Children, Youth and Family category; and “Cooking from the Heart” (2013).
Besh has appeared on multiple TV shows, such as “Chefs A’ Field”, :Iconoclasts”, “Food Network Challenge”, “Iron Chef America”, “Top Chef”, “Top Chef Masters”, “Treme”, and “Inedible to Incredible”. He is a host of two national public television shows based on his award-winning cookbooks – “Chef John Besh’s New Orleans” and “Chef John Besh’s Family Table”. All have added steadily to his net worth.
In his personal life, John has been married to Jennifer Besh, a lawyer by profession, since 1991, and they have four sons. Besh founded a non-profit organization called The John Besh Foundation, working to protect and preserve the culinary tradition of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region through scholarships and loans, sending minority recipients to the International Culinary Center (ICC), fostering young, talented prospective chefs.
