The Bear's Matty Matheson's Net Worth Proves It Pays to Do What You Love
Matty Matheson's net worth in 2024 could be higher, per his own admission, but he's wealthy enough to be happy doing what he loves, so who cares?
“I’m sure I could figure out a way to make money some other way,” Matheson told The Wall Street Journal of his cooking fortune. “But I love what I’m doing. I love hospitality, I love feeding people. Everything I do at the core comes from me making people laugh and teaching people how to cook and showing them cooking isn’t perfect.”
The Canadian-born chef has become more famous than ever thanks to his role as the loveable handyman-turned-ma?tre d' Neil Fak on The Bear, but he was already well-established by the time the FX/Hulu series premiered in 2022. Find out how he cooked up his fortune.
Related: Is The Bear Based on a True Story?
How did Matty Matheson become famous?
Matheson was born on Feb. 7, 1982, in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, and he's got cooking in his blood: His grandfather was a restaurateur in DeSable, Prince Edward Island. Matheson spent his early life in Nova Scotia, until his family moved to Fort Erie, Ontario, when he was 11 years old.
After high school, Matheson enrolled in Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto for culinary school. He found he was a gifted cook, but dropped out before graduation to go on tour with a pal's metal band. In 2003, he worked at Toronto's Le Sélect Bistro, where he learned French cuisine, before moving to La Palette in 2006.
Matheson was a charismatic host and great cook, and by 2010 became executive chef at Parts & Labour in Toronto, where he stayed until its 2019 closure, Toronto Life reported. In 2015, he partnered with Shlomo Buchler to open their first Maker Pizza restaurant, eventually expanding the chain to six locations throughout the Toronto area.
His gregariousness landed him appearances on Munchies, one of Vice's early online food shows. In 2016, he began hosting Vice's Dead Set on Life and It's Suppertime! a year later. He also regularly posts cooking videos on his own YouTube channel and has helmed a number of eateries and pop-ups in his native Canada through his Our House Hospitality Company.
All that said, it was The Bear in 2022 that put him on the map for non-foodies. Matheson serves as a producer and culinary consultant on the series in addition to starring as the recurring handyman character, Neil Fak.
Related: What It's Like To Eat at Ever, the Restaurant From The Bear
What is Matty Matheson's net worth in 2024?
Matty Matheson's net worth in 2024 is estimated at a cool $2 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Matheson told The New York Times that the pandemic changed his approach to work and branding overall after his in-person appearances ceased during social distancing lockdowns.
"I was only playing 50% of the game," he said. "And it was very scary and very humbling, coming to the realization that I wasn’t self-sufficient."
Since then, he's expanded his efforts into a clothing line (Rosa Rugosa), his Matheson Food Company brand of pantry goods and sauces, more online video content and more.
Related: How to Make The Bear's Iconic Italian Beef Sandwich
How many restaurants does Matty Matheson own?
Currently, Matheson owns 11 restaurants. They are:
Birria Balam/Fonda Balam, a Mexican restaurant
Cà Phê Rang, a Vietnamese eatery specializing in bánh mì and pho that he co-owns with his mentor Rang Nguyen
6 locations of Maker Pizza
Matty's Patty's Burger Club, a takeout and delivery burger restaurant
Prime Seafood Palace, a steakhouse and seafood restaurant
Rizzo's House of Parm, an Italian restaurant
He previously also owned the pop-up Matty Matheson's Meat + Three from 2020 to 2022.
Related: What to Know About the Feast of Seven Fishes In The Bear
How did Matty Matheson get on The Bear?
FX/Hulu
Matheson's involvement with The Bear began as a culinary consultant, providing restaurant and cooking know-how to the cast, crew and writers and helping create menus for the title eatery in the show. Eventually, he was offered a role on the show, but refused to play a chef. He was relieved when he was offered instead to play Neil Fak, a handyman who pops up in almost every episode. The show hasn't focused heavily on Neil, and that's just how Matheson likes it.
"Acting is really difficult. It's, like, a lot of hard work. I spent hours trying to remember, like, four lines," he told Variety. "As comfortable as I am with everybody, and how helpful everybody is, you want to show up prepared and ready to rock with everybody else—and everyone else is so good. It's very nerve-racking for me, personally."
As far as whether he'd pursue acting any further, he's not looking forward to it unless it's something super special (though he does have an upcoming project called Massimo in the works, in which he'll appear onscreen).
"I definitely like producing The Bear. I like making things. That feeds the engine, but I certainly don’t care about fame," he told The Wall Street Journal. "I’m in a position where I don’t need to act, you know? I wouldn’t want to take a job where I fly in for a day, hang out with some people who I don’t know — it’s too nerve-racking. It freaks me out."
Related: Bobby Flay Shares What He Really Thinks of The Bear
Has Matty Matheson won any awards?
Believe it or not, so far Matheson's awards are for The Bear, not his culinary work. He has two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Producers Guild Award, an Emmy, two Golden Globes and a Peabody for the critical darling and fan favorite Hulu show.
His Emmys awards speech in 2024 was a particularly memorable and endearing one.
View the original article to see embedded media.
"I just love restaurants so much—the good, the bad," he gushed onstage. "It's rough. We're all broken inside, and every single day, we've got to show up and cook and make people feel good by eating something and sitting at a table, and it's really beautiful."
He told CBC afterward, "That's my Super Bowl. I want that feeling, I want people to feel that excitement, I want them to smell it and feel it and taste it. Restaurants to me are still number one, always will be—unfortunately, because it's so tough."
Related: How Many Emmys Did The Bear Win in 2024?
Where did Matty Matheson go to college?
Matheson attended culinary school at Toronto's Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. He told The New York Times that he only enrolled so he could move to the city and because it was the only program that accepted him, and he dropped out to tour with a friend's metal band before graduating.
Was Matty Matheson in Workin' Moms?
CBC
He sure was! Matheson guest-starred in two episodes of the Canadian sitcom Workin' Moms as Mams.
Does Matty Matheson have a cookbook?
Matheson has two cookbooks and one on the way:
Matty Matheson: A Cookbook (2018)
Matty Matheson: Home Cookery: A Home Cookbook (2020)
Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches (coming Oct. 22, 2024)
Did Matty Matheson win a Golden Globe?
He did! Matheson, along with the rest of the cast and crew of The Bear, nabbed Golden Globes for Outstanding Musical or Comedy Series in 2023 and 2024.
