Joey Chestnut Net Worth in 2023 – How Wealthy is the Actor?

Did you ever think you could earn a lot of money by doing nothing but eating? Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? Well, Joey Chestnut has made it a reality and is one of America’s most popular competitive eaters.

His rise to fame kickstarted in 2007 after he won Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and since then, he has been one of the top-ranked eaters in several Major League of Eating.

If you are curious to know more about Joey Chestnut, his personal life, and his net worth, then keep on reading.

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Early Life

There’s not much information available about Joey Chestnut’s personal life, besides the fact that his birthday is on November 25, 1983, and he was born in Fulton County, Kentucky.

Chestnut completed his high school education in Kentucky, following which he enrolled in San Jose State University. He kickstarted his career in competitive eating during his college days in 2005. The unique thing was that he had to delay his graduation until 2012 since he was constantly away due to these food competitions.

If we had to mention the very first eating competition that Chestnut was a part of, it has to be the “asparagus eating competition.” He secured first place in the competition after beating one of the most popular competitive eaters Rich LeFevre. During the competition, he ate 6.5 pounds of deep-fried asparagus in under 11.5 minutes.

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Career 

Besides the simpler eating competitions, Joey Chestnut’s career kicked off in 2005 when he took part in Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and was placed third in the competition after eating 32 hot dogs.

But, despite not winning, Joey went on to participate in another eating competition where he made a new record of scarfing down “32.5 grilled cheese toasties” in just 10 minutes. He was awarded first for that in the GoldenPalace World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship.

That kicked off his popularity and he started taking part in various eating competitions. His next big win was against Sonya Thomas in the Waffle House World Waffle Eating championship. He also took part in the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship, where he was placed second.

Following a successful career trajectory in 2005, Joey went on to create a U.S. record after completing 52 hot dogs at Nathan’s event in 2006. 

In the next few years, Joey went on to win a series of other eating competitions, including Wing Bowl XV in Philadelphia after finishing 182 chicken wings in under 30 minutes. 

Between 2007 and 2015, Joey won Nathan’s Hot Dog eating competition 8 times, which is nothing short of amazing. Later in 2020 and 2021, he went on to set new records after finishing 75 and 76 hot dogs respectively in 10 minutes.

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Does Joey Train for Competitions?

When you think about the competitions that Joey Chestnut takes part in, you’d think that it’s “just eating.”

However, competitive eating requires a lot of work and resilience. If you thought it was easy as a breeze, it technically isn’t. 

In several interviews with leading news outlets, Joey has confirmed that he trains his stomach and eating habits for these competitions. He said that he reportedly does fasting and then stretches his stomach with milk, water, and then with protein supplements.

For the hot dog eating competitions, which is his specialty, Joey said that he trains his stomach by eating 40 hot dogs in one sitting and then gradually reducing the number as he gets closer to the competition.

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What is the Net Worth of Joey Chestnut?

As of 2023, it is reported that Joey Chestnut has an estimated net worth of $2.5 million. However, this isn’t confirmed reports since there are multiple factors at play when it comes to the earnings and the kind of competitions that Joey partakes in.

According to the statistics and reports, the annual earning of a competitive eater is between $250,000 to $500,000, which we can assume is something Joey Chestnut earns throughout the year as well.

Besides being a competitive eater, Joey is also a businessman and owns a line of condiments that include mustard sauce, dipping sauces, coney sauce, hot sauce, etc. So, that is another source of income for him.

Personal Life

There’s not much information about Joey Chestnut’s personal life besides the fact that he was engaged to his long-time girlfriend, Neslie Ricasa in 2014. However, the couple called it quits in 2015 before getting married to each other.

Currently, Joey lives in Westfield, Indiana. There isn’t much information regarding his real estate and investments that he makes in real time.

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FAQs

1. How much money does Joey Chestnut make?

According to current reports, Joey Chestnut, who is a famous competitive eater, has a net worth of $4 million. Rumors also suggest that he has a monthly income of around $23,000 from his competitive eating competitions and contests he takes part in. There are no reports about his earning from other avenues or sources.

2. Does Joey Chestnut have a wife?

Although Joey Chestnut prefers keeping his private life private, it was reported that he finally popped the question to his long-time girlfriend, Neslie Ricasa in 2014. There are no further reports about the couple and their married life.

3. Do competitive eaters make money?

Starting as a competitive eater, especially when you are competing against big names like Joey Chestnut, making money can be a challenging affair. However, it is all about training your body and having the right mindset to make things happen and start earning a steady income.

4. Has Joey Chestnut ever lost?

Ever since his competitive eating journey, Joey has only lost once at the 2007 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Besides that, he has snagged the first position in every other competition he has taken part in. Later, he also lost the same competition in 2015.

Conclusion

Although, indeed, Joey Chestnut isn’t the most popular personality around, we can’t brush aside the fact that he has managed to secure his place in the world of competitive eating, especially in the United States, setting new records and beating a lot of the renowned competitive eaters around. If you were wondering how much his net worth is, we hope this answers the questions.