How much money do chefs make? According to Nation’s Restaurant News, the leading U.S. food-service trade magazine, the average annual salary for an executive chef at a stand-alone restaurant in 2010 was $71,063. All together, now: Do you think that’s what Mario Batali takes home? Do you reckon that’s how many bucks Guy Fieri pays taxes on each year? Yeah, sure.          

The rules are different for celebrity chefs — first of all, simply because they’re celebrities and hence demand the big bucks, but also because, without exception, the most financially successful ones do lots of things at once. In fact — spoiler alert — very few of them ever actually cook in their own kitchens anymore. They’re far too busy thinking up and launching new restaurants (and even, like Charlie Palmer, hotels), writing cookbooks, developing (or lending their names to) products of various kinds, and of course appearing on TV… The most successful chefs in America aren’t just chefs — they’re entrepreneurs, they’re brands. Sometimes they’re virtually whole industries. Being Wolfgang Puck, Tom Colicchio, or José Andrés isn’t just a job: It’s a way of life.