David Chang Net Worth and Biography

David Chang is an American restaurateur, author,  and television personality, with an estimated net worth of $60 Million. He is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group and the influential food magazine Lucky Peach. He has also featured in several television programs including the 2018 Netflix original series called Ugly Delicious. Here is how David Chang accumulated his $60 Million net worth.

Bio Data

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Biography

David Chang was born in Arlington, Virginia, USA. He is the son of a Korean couple, Woo Chung Hi “Sherri and Chang-Jin Pil, who immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. He attended Georgetown Prep and then Trinity College, where he majored in religious studies.

As a child, Chang was a competitive golfer who participated in a number of junior tournaments. After graduating from college, Chang did a variety of jobs, including teaching English in Japan and holding finance positions in New York City.

Chang’s interest in cooking began in 2000, with him attending the French Culinary Institute (FCI) in New York City. While he was training, he also worked part-time at Mercer Kitchen in Manhattan and got a job answering phones at Tom Colicchio’s Craft restaurant. Chang stayed at Craft for two years and then moved to Japan to work at a small soba shop, followed by a restaurant in Tokyo’s Park Hyatt Hotel.

Career

David Chang returned to the United States, and worked at Café Boulud, before setting up his own restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York in 2004. Chang opened his second restaurant, Momofuku Ssäm Bar in August 2006 and  Momofuku Ko, in March 2008.

He also opened the Momofuku Milk Bar in 2008, the establishment serves ice cream along with cookies, pies, cakes, and other treats. Revealing his restaurant’s recipes to the world, Chang and former New York Times, food writer Peter Meehan published Momofuku in October 2009.

Chang opened Má Pêche in May 2010, a french restaurant with a specialty in sea foods in New York.

Expanding his empire outside the United States, Chang opened Momofuku Seiōbo in Australia in 2010 and Momofuku Toronto in 2012. Chang launched Fuku, a chain of fast food restaurants specializing in fried chicken sandwiches, in June 2015 and digital-only restaurant Ando in 2016.

Chang expanded to Los Angeles setting up Majordomo in January 2018. In 2019, he opened the 250-seat Majordomo Meat & Fish restaurant in The Palazzo tower of The Venetian Las Vegas. Momofuku restaurant group made the decision to temporarily close its restaurants In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic Later that year, they decided to consolidate some restaurants, and permanently close others.

Media and Television Appearance

David Chang made his first Television appearance in 2010, appearing in the fifth episode of HBO’s Treme alongside fellow chefs Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert, and Wylie Dufresne.  He also served as a guest judge on the reality show Top Chef: All-Stars in the same year.

In 2011, he was a guest judge on MasterChef Australia and hosted the first season of the PBS food series The Mind of a Chef. Chang was also featured in the IFC series Documentary Now! In 2018, Chang created, produced, and starred in a Netflix original series, Ugly Delicious. He also appeared in two episodes of the BuzzFeed web series Worth It, and another Netflix series The Chef Show, produced by Roy Choi and Jon Favreau.

In 2019, Chang produced another Netflix original titled “Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner” with guest stars including Seth Rogen and Kate McKinnon. He also appeared in an episode in Blue’s Clues & You! and hosted the documentary film series The Next Thing You Eat.

In  2011, he co-founded the influential food magazine Lucky Peach, which lasted for 25 quarterly volumes into 2017. Chang also has his own show on the Ringer podcast network (The Dave Chang Show), with a spin-off, called The Recipe Club with guest host Chris Ying.

Honors and Accolades

David Chang is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, thanks to his contribution to the restaurant industry. His third restaurant, Momofuku Ko was awarded two Michelin stars in 2009, which the restaurant has retained each year since. Two of his restaurants, Momofuku Ssäm Bar and  Momofuku Ko, have made it into  S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants  5 times altogether.

He is a recipient of 8 James Beard Foundation Awards including the 2007 Chef of the year. He won the same award in multiple establishments in 2007 and made it into the TIME Magazine 100 most influential people in 2010.

David Chang’s Net Worth

David Chang is one of the richest chefs in the world, with an estimated net worth of $60 Million. He is able to accumulate this huge amount of fortune as the head of the global food brand “Momofuku restaurant group”.

As one of the most prominent celebrity chefs in recent times, Chang also makes money from Television contracts and endorsement deals. In November 2020, he became the first celebrity to win the $1,000,000 top prize for his charity, Southern Smoke Foundation, and the fourteenth overall million dollar winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.