Emeril Lagasse — BAM! Into a $150M Fortune

Lagasse turned "BAM!" and "kick it up a notch" into a catchphrase empire worth $150 million. At peak, he had 13 restaurants, a line of sauces and spices in every supermarket in America, bestselling cookbooks, and Emeril Live on Food Network — one of the first cooking shows to be shot in front of a live studio audience. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia bought his media properties for a reported $50 million. He pioneered the concept that a chef's personality could be the product. Without Emeril, there's no Guy Fieri, no Gordon Ramsay TV empire, no celebrity chef industrial complex.