Mario Batali tells his kids that if they take a banking job for cash, they'll be 'real bitter at 40'
In an interview with Wealthsimple, the celebrity chef explained how he got to where he is today: co-host of cooking show "The Chew," owner of Eataly markets and dozens of restaurants with business partner Joe Bastianich, author of numerous books, and with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $13 million.
"Happiness is so much more important than money," he told Wealthsimple. "I know a bunch of stoned-out bus drivers in San Francisco who are happier than many of my friends in New York who make more than $1 million a year."
He said he's made sure his his college-aged kids "know the value of money and appreciate what it can buy" but worries about their career paths, and that "they'll become obsessed with making money."
Batali said:
He expects his kids to treat their education like a trade, he told Wealthsimple. "You should go to college to learn to be fascinating - and fascinated - which makes you invaluable for every single company," he said. "If you're solution-oriented, with a vocabulary, and can speak and behave in a way that makes people feel good, you can work at any multinational, doing something, for a lot of money."
Batali said, "I like to ask my kids, 'Who's the happiest dad you know? Me! Because I love what I do.'"