By 
Ina Garten may be best known as the Barefoot Contessa these days, and she's certainly a guru of all things cooking. But she didn't start out that way. Garten went from a government job analyzing budgets to building a food and cooking empire—and she's racked up an impressive reported net worth along the way.
Garten was working at the Office of Management and Budget for the White House in 1978 when she saw an ad in the New York Times for a specialty food store for sale in the Hamptons. She drove to the store the next day and fell in love. She had no business experience, but somehow knew this was meant for her. Garten used the money from flipping houses in Washington, D.C. to make an offer on the store, according to the Washington Post. She gave a low offer, thinking it wouldn't be accepted, but she suddenly found herself as the new owner of the Barefoot Contessa.
The store was a huge success, and after 18 years of running the store, Garten sold it to its manager and its chef. Starting in 1996, she began writing cookbooks, and The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, released in 1999, became a best-seller, soon making her a household name. Garten credits its success to the hands-on approach she took to creating it; she told Forbesshe hired her own photographer and publicist for it.
Her successful cookbooks led to her Food Network show in 2002, The Barefoot Contessa, which has been a hit. "I do the TV because it's an important part of the business, but it's the cookbooks I love writing," she told Forbes. She's also hostedCook Like a Pro on the network. Previously, according to a 2013 book about the network, Garten apparently tried to sell a cooking show to Martha Stewart Living and shot pilot episodes, but Stewart ended up nixing the project.
Only Garten and her accountant know her net worth for sure, but various sites have estimated that Garten is pulling in big bucks. Celebritynetworth.com estimates her net worth at $50 million, thanks to her Food Network show, cookbooks, grocery line, and merchandise.
Garten's husband, Jeffrey, is also a financial powerhouse. According to Celebritynetworth.com, Jeffrey is worth $100 million, mostly thanks to his former jobs as managing director of Lehman Brothers and Blackstone group. Previously, Jeffrey worked in economic policy during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations, and is now an author and professor at the Yale School of Management.
Ina and Jeffrey also own some impressive real estate. In 2016, Forbes reported that they bought a $4.65 million apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She recently posted on Instagram about a new custom Lacanche range she installed there, which costs $15,000.
In 2017, they put a second New York City apartment in the area up for sale for $1.975 million. Their primary residence is in East Hampton, New York, where Ina films her television show. They have expanded and renovated their property several times over the years, but it's clear it's where they call home—and where Ina makes her impressive living.
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