Having your private life exposed every day to the general public is not easily endured, unless the money is worth it. That being said, while reality TV usually provides its stars with financial stability, not many of them are successful or popular enough to become rich.
The Robertson family from “Duck Dynasty” is one of those very rare cases which we got to see passing from being slightly rich, to becoming multi-millionaires in only a couple of years, thanks to their TV show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXk5mCpBlGw
Although it’s been some time since we saw the entire Robertson entourage on our TV screens, we can’t stop ourselves from wondering what are some of the family’s most well-hidden secrets, including their fortunes and how they achieved such.
Are you curious about that too? Keep with us to know who’s the richest Richardson, how much money the rest of the family has, details about their businesses, and so much more!
Who Is The Richest Robertson?
Ever since the company Duck Commander was put in the hands of Willie Robertson, the family saw their business pass from being slightly successful, to earning them multi-millions in profit.
Although Willie took control of the company in his 30s, he had already secured his spot as Duck Commander’s president in his early years. As his parents Phil and Kay assured in an interview with ABC News, they knew about Willie’s uncanny ability for business when he was in junior high: ‘they called us from school, he had to set up a concession stand, selling candies, and he absolutely shut down the school’s whole snack shop’, so knowing right away that he was their future CEO.
The manliest thing you can ever do, is being the best #Girldad pic.twitter.com/0rGKuhVKCf
— Willie Robertson (@williebosshog) January 29, 2020
As impressive as Willie’s sixth sense for business has always been, he did things the traditional way, by attending the University of Louisiana at Monroe, from where he graduated with a degree in Business.
Ever since Willie became Duck Commander’s president, the company has expanded to fields such as deer and turkey hunting, has sold millions in merchandise for “Duck Dynasty”, sponsored the Duck Commander 500 for The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and even bought the rights to Louisiana’s college football association.
Given his impressive success as a businessman and TV star, Willie and his wife Korie’s net worth is $40 million, making them the richest in the clan.
How Rich Are The Others?
Phil And Kay Robertson
In the 1970s, Phil Robertson invented a duck commander artifact which became so popular that it eventually brought millions for him and his family. However, the success of Duck Commander was first due to Phil’s unrelenting insistence on selling his trade-mark call to many skeptical retailers, then becoming a family business after passing down control of Duck Commander to his third son Willie in the 2000s.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc6no_hNTkw/
Besides his earnings from the company, Phil and Kay’s current fortune is also resulting from their earnings from “Duck Dynasty” and obtained from the show’s merchandise sales, which according to Forbes go up to $400 million. All in all, Phil and Kay’s Robertson have an approximate net worth of $15 million.
Jase And Missy Robertson
Duck Commander is a family company through and through, and as such, it’s unsurprising to see many Robertsons in high executive positions. That’s the case of Jase Robertson, who’s the business’ chief operating officer, who oversaw the manufacturing of the duck calls.
Just another day at the office. #RunninWithTheOps pic.twitter.com/k23VumBGno
— Missy Robertson (@MissyDuckWife) May 22, 2020
Jase’s expertise at duck calls comes from his love for hunting and the outdoors, giving him enough experience to create the Triple Threat, which is an improvement of the classic two-whistle duck call.
While Jase’s interests lie mostly in hunting, his wife Missy has authored multiple children’s books, and in 2015 published “Blessed, Blessed…Blessed”, which relates her family’s path as they dealt with her daughter Mia’s cleft lip and palate. Missy nowadays manages the Logtown Plantation, which she bought with Jase with the intent of it becoming an event hosting lodge. As if that wasn’t enough, Logtown Plantation has expanded to selling Missy’s seasonal clothing line, and a wide variety of home items fitting her country-classy aesthetic.
https://www.facebook.com/LogtownPlantation/photos/its-love-week-jase-robertson-missy-west-robertson/2293803754252892/
Given their conjoint and independent businesses, their earnings from Duck Commander and “Duck Dynasty”, it’s safe to calculate Jase and Missy’s net worth at $10 million.
Si And Christine Robertson
Arguably the best-known member of the Robertson family, it’s unsurprising to know that uncle Si is one of the richest members of the clan. Despite growing up in poverty, dropping out of college, and then facing several difficulties and addictions while fighting in the Vietnam War, Si left those dark times behind, and even helped his older brother Phil to overcome his issues and rebuild his marriage.
Just like the rest of the family, Si is quite the expert at hunting and outdoor activities, which makes him the perfect fit to assemble parts of Duck Commander’s products. That being said, uncle Si is a man of many talents, and music is at the top of his interests, which is obvious given his features in the family’s Christmas album “Duck the Halls”, released in 2013, or by releasing his mini-album “Me and My Smokin’ Hot Honey”, dedicated to his wife Christine.
As if that wasn’t enough, Si’s phrase “My Favorite Color is Camo” became one of the family’s merchandise lines most successful products. All in all, Si and his wife Christine have an estimated net worth of $8 million, resulting from his independent projects, appearances and merchandise earnings from “Duck Dynasty”.
Jep And Jessica Robertson
Despite being the youngest son of Phil and Kay, Jep was clearly different from the other Robertsons. Unlike his father and brothers, Jep’s interest while outdoors was more about filming his family’s adventures rather than taking part in hunting activities. Although his role in Duck Commander was limited as well, and it took him a while to take a main part in the family’s show, that didn’t stop him and his wife Jessica from becoming popular enough to gain their own two-seasons long spin-off “Jep & Jessica: Growing the Dynasty”, premiered in 2016.
Although Jep worked for Duck Commander for the longest time, in recent years Jep Robertson’s interest has taken him down an independent business path. Following “Duck Dynasty”’s cancellation in 2017, he and Jessica moved to Texas to establish Jep’s Southern Roots, a food truck which allegedly made barely $45 per day at the start.
https://www.facebook.com/JepAndJessicaRobertson/posts/496079345207678
Regardless of the rocky beginning, Jep and Jessica’s business eventually sped up to the point of affording their seven-people family a $289,000 house in Austin in late 2021. All in all, Jep and Jessica’s Robertson’s efforts to achieve financial independence turned in their favor, and they now have an estimated net worth of $8 million.
Alan And Lisa Robertson
Even though Alan is the oldest son of Phil and Kay, he’s notably less involved with Duck Commander than his brothers. A huge part of “Duck Dynasty”’s audience didn’t know much about him until season four, when he and his wife Lisa became recurrent members of the show, and also took an active role in the company’s public events.
Despite how distant he seemed from the family’s company, Alan actually spent his early years driving around Louisiana promoting his father’s duck calls during Duck Commander’s beginnings, before leaving to become a preacher.
TRUE🙌🔥 Watch Al & Lisa's episode on our new series, Dysfunction to Dynasty, at https://t.co/huZSAcNqnl 😍#IAmSecond #LiveSecond pic.twitter.com/NlTdIhxipE
— I Am Second (@iamsecond) May 26, 2021
While Alan’s involvement with Duck Commander has increased in recent years, he still works with religious organizations, and holds public events, with he and his wife’s couple counseling service Al & Lisa.
Resulting from their TV appearances, business and life-preaching, Al and Lisa Robertson have an estimated net worth of $3 million.
Sadie Robertson
Instead of following in the steps of her father Willie, Sadie has always leaned to the artistic side. Though her debut in the entertainment world was in “Duck Dynasty”, her first acting role came with the series “College Humor Originals”, followed the next year by her participation in the 19th season of “Dancing with the Stars”, placing first runner-up.
https://www.facebook.com/dancingwiththestars/photos/mark-ballas-and-sadie-robertson/10152742256171740/
Keeping loyal to her family’s Christian values, Sadie has become an important personality in the community, by appearing in religious-themed movies such as “God’s Not Dead 2” and “I’m Not Ashamed” in 2016, on top of singing on her family’s album “Duck the Halls”.
In addition, Sadie is a published author, having written books such as “Live Original” and its sequels, including her most recent work “Pursuing Jesus in a Social-Media Obsessed World”, released in 2022. Sadie’s books inspired her Live Original Tour, which took her around the US, and gained her a career as a public speaker in a wide variety of religious events, on top of releasing her own Christian-themed home decor line.
Regardless of her young age, Sadie Robertson’s successful career in the entertainment world including writing, has gained her a modest fortune of $1 million, which will likely grow as her fame increases.
John Luke And Mary Kate Robertson
Even though he’s the second child of Willie and Korie Robertson, John Luke’s main interest remains on the religious side. He was involved with Christian preaching from an early age, which ultimately gained him enough recognition to become director of Camp Ch-Yo-Ca, founded in 1967 by his maternal grandfather.
While it’s unknown how big of a role John Luke has in Duck Commander, his business Railway Coffee seems to be quite successful; meanwhile, his wife Mary Kate’s personal brand of wellness products has thousands of followers on social media. All in all, John Luke and his wife Mary Kate have an estimated net worth of over $800,000, resulting largely from their entrepreneurship.
Rebecca Robertson
As the oldest child of Willie and Korie, Rebecca holds her ground as a Robertson pretty well. She came to the US as an exchange student, gaining her foster parents’ hearts very quickly, and gaining their support to pursue a career in fashion.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CL5R2R1JN5k/
Nowadays Rebecca owns her very popular brand of mother and children clothes called Me and My, besides featuring other fashion-related products on her social media.
Given her career in entrepreneurship, it’s safe to calculate Rebecca and her husband John Reed’s net worth at well over $100,000.
How Did Their Company Become So Rich?
Just like many successful businesses, Duck Commander was born from Phil Robertson’s ingenuity and hard work. However, despite having a more-than-good idea by creating the duck calls his family is now famous for, back in the mid-1970s he struggled to support his young family with it. According to an interview he gave to ABC News in 2012, he barely made $8,000 in the first year.
Slowly but steadily the business grew, and finally produced millions in profit after being taken over by Willie, but their big level-up came with “Duck Dynasty” in 2012. According to Forbes, the show’s popularity gained them $400 million in merchandise sales in 2013, which isn’t even that surprising considering their average audience was 11 million per episode. As if that wasn’t enough, Bloomberg reported that “Duck Dynasty” produced $80 million from only advertisements during its first year on air, and their salaries were around $200,000 an episode, reportedly between all the family.
While it’s unclear how much Duck Commander’s grew in terms of money as a result of the family’s then-recently acquired stardom, the company expanded from 15 to 75 employees soon after the show’s premiere. The enterprise widened to other fields such as deer hunting, but their duck calls are still their best-selling product, behind only the family’s show merchandise.
Lawsuit
The phrase ‘My Favorite Color is Camo’ isn’t unknown by those who know who the Robertsons are, whether they’re fans or not. Not only does that line represent well what the family is in terms of their hobbies and fashion preference, but also because it gained them millions of dollars by selling merchandise with it.
The line was invented by uncle Si, or at least that’s what most viewers thought until 2014, when the brand Hajn sued A&E for violating their merchandise trademark, registered back in 2011 when the family hadn’t yet debuted on TV.
While that specific legal issue was apparently solved out of court, that wasn’t the first time their brand was in serious risk. Back in 2013, the family had faced a huge public backlash after Phil made several statements regarded as homophobic, resulting in his suspension from the show, and the short-lived suspension of their Cracker Barrel’s products. Though the family recovered from those incidents, those scandals remain in the public’s mind to this day.
Future On TV
In 2017, “Duck Dynasty” was canceled after five years of a successful and sometimes scandalous run on TV. While many people thought that was the end of the Robertsons’ career in the world of entertainment, in 2022 a new show entitled “Duck Family Treasure” was announced to premiere, having Jep, Jase and Si as its main stars.
Although details about the cast’s salary are unknown, if this show turns out as successfully as its predecessor series, then it’ll most-likely secure the Robertsons’ a long-lasting spot on TV once again and with it, their fortunes will only keep growing.
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