Who Are The Richest HGTV Stars & How Much Are They Worth?
Before their claim to fame, many HGTV stars were just working in the real estate industry to make a living — not thinking of the monumental success they would achieve. Then when HGTV came calling, their businesses began exploding, and their wallets were better off, too. Who knew these property gurus would develop such a big fan base from flipping houses?
Renovating a house may be tough, but it's nowhere near as difficult as the journeys some of these stars had to endure on the road to success. "Flip or Flop" star Tarek El Moussa, for example, got his start while living in his mom's garage. "I was so motivated living in that garage that within 120 days, I made enough money at the age of 22 to buy my first million-dollar home," he told Fox News. In fact, HGTV has made most of its stars millionaires. From renovations to riches, these are the network's richest stars.
David Bromstad
When David Bromstad won the first season of "Design Star" in 2006, he was pretty much set up for HGTV stardom — not to mention that it also made him a millionaire. "If this show didn't happen, then I don't know where I would be," he admitted in an HGTV promo.
Growing up as an aspiring artist, Bromstad was barely scraping by. However, he knew his dream wasn't too far off. Once he won HGTV's famous design competition, he quickly became famous himself. "I'm completely blessed," he told Adwerx. "I went from starving artist to not-so starving." Though interior wasn't the kind of design he was used to, he has since become seriously skilled at it.
Bromstad is also known for hosting "My Lottery Dream Home" from 2015 to 2023 where he helped new millionaires find the home they've always wanted. He speaks from experience too, now that Celebrity Net Worth lists his net worth as $2 million.
Alison Victoria
At only 10 years old, Alison Victoria's parents let her redesign their basement, which sparked a lifelong passion for design. While the "Windy City Rehab" host has made herself a millionaire since, her home renovations weren't always easy. "Because this business isn't easy," she admitted to Paolo Presta on "A Spoonful of Paolo" in 2019.
Victoria made headlines after viewers witnessed her cut ties with her business partner, Donovan Eckhardt, during Season 2. His failure to get a grip on their finances led to her firing him. "[It's] your reputation that you have built, really from the ground up, since you were a little girl," she told People. "And I'm not going to let one person destroy that."
Though the situation surprised fans, Victoria didn't let it veer her off track. After all, she had created "Windy City Rehab" as a way to showcase the raw side of renovations. "It's my real life, so it's not just TV," she told Presta. Fortunately, Victoria has come out victorious, with Celebrity Net Worth noting her $3 million capital. In 2024, she began filming "Battle on the Mountain," a spinoff series of "Battle on the Beach."
Scott McGillivray
Renovating properties on his own is what made Scott McGillivray a lot of money. Since starting his show "Income Property" in 2008, Celebrity Net Worth cites McGillivray as being worth $4 million.
It all started when McGillivray was in college and couldn't find a place to live. That's when he had an epiphany. "If I lived in the house and rented it out to my friends, I would make money living here versus paying rent every month," he explained to Hoss Magazine. As a business student, he decided to take action. "It just kind of spiraled from there," he said. By the time he was 25 years old, he had 25 properties in his possession. When HGTV came along, McGillivray was able to share his expertise with a wide audience. Though the paycheck is pretty nice, it's helping homeowners that's most rewarding for him. "I love seeing people get a good return on their investment."
Over the past few years, McGillivray has been busy making bank on shows such as "Scott's Own Vacation House" in 2022 and "Scott's Vacation House Rules" in 2023. He was also the executive producer on "Canada's Got Talent" for 17 episodes between 2022 and 2023.
Genevieve Gorder
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Genevieve Gorder is worth a pretty penny, since she's been in the home design business for over 20 years. Gorder rose to fame on the hit TLC show "Trading Spaces" in 2000, before she became an HGTV star thanks to her shows "Dear Genevieve" and "Genevieve's Renovation." However, Gorder was working long before she was on TV. "When I was a kid, we didn't have a lot so at 14 I could work ... I worked at ... a frozen yogurt [shop]," she told Yahoo Finance. At the time, Gorder said she made about $3 an hour which is a far cry from the $5 million she's worth now, per Celebrity Net Worth.
While Gorder is no longer on HGTV, she continued to find success hosting Netflix's "Stay Here," Bravo's "Best Room Wins," and Crackle's "At Home With Genevieve." She's also a notable businesswoman who has her own furniture, rugs, wallpaper, and jewelry collections. On top of that, Gorder frequently partners with brands, like Scotties Facial.
It's clear that Gorder has made it a point to be more than just a TV designer by growing her brand with an array of businesses. "Think of yourself as an octopus," she explained to John Robshaw's Designer Spotlight. "Keep yourself diversified and nimble in our field. Think about additionally designing product, consulting, teaching, making, etc. to keep the choo choo going."
Egypt Sherrod
Real estate runs in Egypt Sherrod's family. This deterred her from diving into the real estate industry as a young adult, so she dove headfirst into radio instead. "But as I got older and wiser, I realized you have to do smarter things with that money, and I grew up knowing that real estate was the foundation of wealth," she continued — and she's right. According to Celebrity Net Worth, it's made her worth $6 million.
Sherrod began by flipping her own houses to make money. However, after wasting cash on commissions for other real estate agents, she decided to become one. She never gave up working in radio on the side, so when HGTV came calling, it was a dream come true to combine broadcasting and renovating houses. "I jumped at the opportunity and felt like it was a gift from God to finally have a platform that shows all the different sides of me," Sherrod added. In 2024, Sherrod joined the cast of "Battle of the Mountain" to lend her renovation skills to the highly anticipated show.
David Visentin
David Visentin was working as a real estate agent when he got a call to audition for "Love It or List It." Though he was new to the TV industry, his sister worked at a network and urged him to try out. "About a week later, my sister called me and said, 'Hey, you're shooting the pilot in a week,'" he explained to Monsters & Critics.
Visentin seemed destined to star alongside designer Hilary Farr. Though the two were known for bickering on the show — after all, it was a competition — it sure looked like he loved it after 15 years on the air. "Me and Hilary have a lot of fun together," he told "The Real Estate Talk Show" in 2013. However, Visentin's time on the show came to an end in 2023 after Hilary Farr retired following 19 successful seasons on-air.
Visentin is one of HGTV's richest stars, with a net worth of $6 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. However, while HGTV gave Visentin a full plate, he still kept himself busy on his breaks from filming. "I sell real estate for a living," he once said, so that accounts for some of his cash, too.
Nicole Curtis
Long before HGTV's "Rehab Addict" made Nicole Curtis a star, her house flips came with many hardships. "There are people who think that all of this came easily," Curtis told Country Living. "I want them to know I was working for $9.75 an hour at Banana Republic, I was waiting tables, I was cleaning toilets."
Luckily, HGTV helped Curtis make her next move. Though Season 1 of her hit series had her dumpster diving for materials to save money, HGTV has eventually made her one of its richest stars.
Curtis was always a real estate agent with a love for renovation — especially for houses that no other homeowners would ever take on. Because of that, she isn't able to make any money from her flips, and instead, still owns every one of them. "I don't sell them, because otherwise I would lose money on every single one of them," Curtis revealed to KTLA 5 in 2018. To make up for lost funds, she lists them as Airbnbs, and obviously, it's working. Celebrity Net Worth estimates she is sitting on a cool $8 million.
Hilary Farr
Hilary Farr is a household name on HGTV because of her success co-hosting "Love It or List It." From her gorgeous remodels and interior design to her sassy relationship with her co-host David Visentin, she made audiences fall in love with her. Farr is now worth a remarkable $8 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Surprisingly, Hilary Farr pursued a career in theatre and film before HGTV, appearing in a few movies, including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." This explains her knack for being on screen. However, when it comes to design, Farr told Baltimore Media Blog that falling into the profession was by chance. "Everyone loved my house in Los Angeles, so I decided to turn [it] into a business," she recalled. Although it was by chance, it appears like she was made for interior design and renovation. Farr was even the first designer to stage homes in Toronto, which gave her the experience to make people love her work and stick with their homes most of the time on "Love It or List It."
After 19 seasons on the show, Hilary Farr retired to focus on her health after battling breast cancer — she's now in remission. When talking about the show, she told People, "It's got me through hard times. It's got the audiences through hard times. It has evolved into a mainstay of people's lives and it's been incredibly gratifying. But now it's time for me to move on and meet new challenges."
Candice Olson
Even though "Divine Design" and "Candice Tells All" are off the air, Candice Olson is still taking on more in the world of decor. HGTV catapulted her own collection and today, made her one of its richest stars, with a massive net worth of $10 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.
While this designer had originally planned to study medicine, her passion for interior decorating altered her path. "That became my whole world when I graduated," she told The Washington Post. She went on to work for a few design firms before creating her own booming business in 1994.
Olson soon ended up appearing on local television, sharing her eye for design with daytime viewers. HGTV caught her on air and gave her a call. However, she wasn't as excited about it as she should be. "I went into TV kicking and screaming," Olson explained in her book "Candice Olson On Design." Television wasn't something she was used to, but, obviously, she was amazing at it. It made her a millionaire.
Jonathan Knight
If you grew up in the late 1980s and early '90s, you probably knew Jonathan Knight as a member of the boy band New Kids on the Block long before he found HGTV fame. Despite achieving success with the group at a young age, Knight was the first to walk away before they disbanded in 1994. After having enough of the chaotic pop star life, he decided to make a major career pivot to real estate development instead. "My career was over. Stumped, I thought, 'How do I reinvent my life?'" he recalled to Architectural Digest.
Knight later realized, however, that his true passion was renovating old farmhouses, which led him to his HGTV show, "Farmhouse Fixer" in 2021. It seems like the gig was a dream come true for Knight, who told Heavy, "I never thought it would even come on air ... It's still so surreal." NKOTB had ended up getting back together before that too, so Knight had to juggle filming his show with touring with the band again.
Of course, that wasn't always easy. Knight explained to People in 2022, "There would be days when I would get off the stage at 11 at night, jump on a plane ... fly all night, film all day, and then get back on a plane and go perform the next show." Since Celebrity Net Worth reports that Knight is worth an impressive $14 million, it's safe to say it's been worth it.
Tarek El Moussa
Tarek El Moussa — the other half of "Flip or Flop" – is also finding massive success since the show concluded after 10 seasons. El Moussa had been flipping houses long before he made it to television. He spent the early days of his real estate career teeter-tottering between success and hitting rock bottom when it came to selling homes, and that's when he realized he needed to start flipping properties to make a bigger profit.
But that also came with an uphill battle during the 2008 financial crisis. "I love proving people wrong. I love it because I don't like negative thinking — I hate it because it prevents people from living the life they should," he told Forbes. That determination is what has led to his massive success, and net worth of $15 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. "I'm going to get us a TV show," he recalled telling his now ex-wife, Christina Hall, after they bought their first flip — and that's exactly what he did.
Since "Flip or Flop," El Moussa has continued with his spin-off series, "Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa," and his new show alongside his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa, "The Flipping El Moussa," which was renewed for a second season. He is also an author and his business, Tarek Buys Houses, flips 50 to 75 homes at a time. Needless to say, he loves what he does. "From 3:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., I'm running nonstop," El Moussa told Business Insider.
Bryan and Sarah Baeumler
In Canada, where many HGTV stars seem to hail from, Bryan and Sarah Baeumler are hard to miss. In 2019, their series "Island of Bryan" became HGTV Canada's most-watched program on the network in over a decade. The series is so successful that it led to Bryan boasting a net worth of $20 million, via Celebrity Net Worth.
Because of the great ratings and raving fans, the Baeumlers were brought to the United States in March 2020. "If the show does as well in the U.S. as it has in Canada, it could just ruin our anonymity," Bryan told the SunSentinel. In the U.S., "Island of Bryan" became known as "Renovation Island" following its name change and rebranding.
The series followed the Baeumler family's move to the Bahamas, where they were renovating a resort they hoped to open. After airing in the U.S., "Renovation Island" drew in 60% more viewers to the network every Sunday night so it's safe to say that the Baeumlers made even more bank after airing in the States. The show ran for five seasons from 2019 to 2022.
Christina Hall
Christina Hall has been keeping busy since her start on "Flip or Flop" in 2013. She became a fan-favorite alongside her now ex-husband Tarek El Moussa for her design and home makeover skills.
Before her TV debut, Hall received her real estate license at a local community college, and at 21, she began selling homes in Southern California. In an Instagram post, Hall said, "I always loved looking at houses with my parents, especially model homes and I always wanted to be my own boss." Although she never thought she'd be on TV, she quickly rose to stardom and is worth $25 million according to Celebrity Net Worth.
After separating from El Moussa, she went solo on HGTV with her two shows, "Christina on the Coast" and "Christina in the Country," and both have new seasons coming out in 2024. Rather than flipping, she is working with homeowners to do what she loves most, which is remodeling and making floorplans more functional. Outside of television, Hall also has her own flooring collection. She always remains focused on her passions and her three children and doesn't plan on putting on the brakes anytime soon. "I feel like I'm really used to operating in a busy environment, and weirdly I enjoy it," Hall admitted to Insider. "I think it just comes down to I really love what I do. And if you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work in that aspect."
Mike Holmes
Though Mike Holmes isn't on HGTV anymore, he's still one of the richest stars to come out of the network — worth a hefty $30 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.
It all started with Holmes' own construction company. As a contractor, he was consistently seeing the same mistakes being made in homes, and knew he could help homeowners "make it right." After all, Holmes' moniker offered the perfect pun for the home renovation business that appeared in the titles of his shows "Holmes on Homes" and "Holmes Makes It Right."
"I appreciate being in the position to educate people on what's right, whether it's how a home should be constructed or how it should be inspected," he told Working RE. Holmes' can-do attitude and "make it right" motto are what made homeowners everywhere trust him. In fact, he was named Forbes' third most trustworthy celebrity in 2012. "It amazes me, after doing my television show all these years, that I'm still seeing homeowners making the same knucklehead mistakes over and over," he told DIY Network. However, without these "knuckleheads," Holmes wouldn't have his millions.
Cortney and Robert Novogratz
When HGTV's "Home by Novogratz" was on the air, it had quite an effect on Cortney and Robert Novogratz. "We acted as the contractors, architects, and designers," Cortney admitted to Forbes about their first flip. It was figuring out how to flip houses on their own that made them stand out. "It was the beginning, although in some ways I feel like I'm just getting started!" So far, they've made themselves $30 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.
Along with their seven children, their own design line, and their second role managing their kids' acting careers — because, come on, they've already had major success on the small screen — this couple obviously likes to stay busy. Jumping into other aspects aside from interior design is what Cortney attributes her success to. After all, it's the perfect way to bring in a big paycheck. "I'll never be the richest," Cortney said, but that's never been what it's all about. "It's about constantly seeking happiness for myself and for those around me." She also has seven mouths to feed!
Chip and Joanna Gaines
Chip and Joanna Gaines are a textbook definition of an HGTV power couple. Married in 2003, the couple has built an empire surrounding their Magnolia brand following the success of their hit TV show "Fixer Upper" which aired in 2013. But it all began with humble beginnings with Chip flipping houses in Waco, Texas, and Joanna running a home decor store named Magnolia. They were discovered by a HGTV production company executive in 2011 and the rest is history.
The couple remains humble despite their combined net worth of $50 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. In an interview on "Today with Hoda & Jenna" in 2023, Jenna Bush Hager asked if they could believe the way they turned Waco into a tourist destination. "No, even when you say that out loud, it feels like we want to hide in the corner like that can't be true," Chip responded. But there's no hiding. In Waco alone they own the Magnolia Market at the Silos, Hotel 1928, Magnolia Table, and Magnolia Home – they also have rental properties people can book to stay at.
Their network goes far beyond Texas; the Gaines are published authors, they curate original series for their Magnolia Network, and their beloved Hearth & Hand with Magnolia brand can be found in Target. If they weren't busy enough with their business endeavors and five children, they also have a new season of their show "Fixer Upper: The Lakehouse" coming out in June 2024.
Drew and Jonathan Scott
Growing up as aspiring actors, real estate was a way for Drew and Jonathan Scott to make money to fund their movies. They paid only $250 for their first flip and got $50,000 out of it. "That's when the light bulb went on saying, 'There's something here,'" Jonathan told Smashing Interviews Magazine.
Following their first few flips, the duo we now know as the "Property Brothers" were called to host several real estate shows because of their background. "At first, I remember thinking, this is lame — I don't want to be a host, I want to be a superstar, I want to act," Drew admitted to USA Today. However, after thinking about the opportunities hosting would give them, they gave it a shot. The show "Property Brothers" aired for eight seasons from 2011 to 2019. Besides this, both twins have served as executive producers on several other home renovation shows like "Trixie Motel" and "Celebrity IOU." This has not only made them highly recognizable figures in the HGTV world but also incredibly wealthy.
So, how much are the "Property Brothers" worth? A whopping $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, making them two of HGTV's richest stars. "It all comes down to slow-motion renovations and tight jeans," Drew joked. "That's the winning recipe."