Sergey Diakov
Joey Chestnut never imagined he'd become a millionaire by eating hot dogs for a living. But that's exactly what happened to the kid from San Jose who went from working construction sites to dominating eating contests around the world. His story is pretty wild when you think about it—a regular guy with an engineering degree who discovered he had this crazy ability to eat faster than anyone else, and then actually figured out how to turn that into real money. These days, Chestnut is basically a household name, especially around the Fourth of July, and he's built himself a pretty comfortable life doing something most people didn't even know you could make a career out of.
Joey Chestnut's Early Days and First Paychecks
Chestnut graduated from San Jose State University back in 2000 with a degree in engineering and construction management. Nothing flashy—just your typical college grad looking to start a career. He landed a job as a construction project manager, pulling in an entry-level salary that was decent but nothing to write home about. For a few years, that was his life: showing up to construction sites, managing projects, doing the whole nine-to-five thing.
Then in 2005, his brother dared him to enter a deep-fried asparagus eating contest in Stockton, California. Sounds ridiculous, right? But Joey won, pocketed a small cash prize, and something clicked. He started hitting up more contests on weekends while still working his day job. The prize money wasn't huge at first—maybe $500 here, $2,000 there—but by the end of that year, he'd made around $10,000 from competitive eating. Not exactly quit-your-job money, but enough to make him wonder if this could actually go somewhere.
The Rise to the Top
Everything changed on July 4, 2007. That's when Chestnut stepped up to Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest and absolutely destroyed the reigning champion Takeru Kobayashi, downing 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Overnight, he went from being some guy who could eat a lot to being a legitimate celebrity. Major League Eating started offering him better deals, companies wanted him for appearances, and suddenly he was actually making real money doing this.
Between 2007 and 2010, his income jumped to somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 a year from prize money and sponsorships. That's when he made the call to ditch construction completely and go all-in on competitive eating. Pretty gutsy move, but it paid off. He wasn't just winning contests—he was becoming the face of the entire sport.
Joey Chestnut Net Worth Hits Its Peak
The late 2010s and early 2020s were when Chestnut really started cashing in. He kept winning Nathan's Hot Dog Contest year after year—16 times total as of 2024—and each win came with a $10,000 prize. But the real money came from everything else. Brands like Hooters and Pepto-Bismol wanted him for endorsements. Corporate events would pay him anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 just to show up and do an eating exhibition.
During his best earning years, somewhere between 2018 and 2023, insiders figure he was pulling in $500,000 to $700,000 annually. When you add it all up—prize money, sponsorships, appearance fees, media gigs—the joey chestnut net worth climbed to that $2-3 million range. Not bad for a guy who started out eating asparagus at county fairs.
What He's Making Now
Here's the thing about 2024—Chestnut actually split from Nathan's Famous after nearly two decades because of some sponsorship drama with Impossible Foods. You'd think that'd hurt his wallet, but not really. He's still the biggest name in competitive eating by a mile, and companies still want a piece of that.
These days he's making between $400,000 and $600,000 a year from various gigs. Private events, corporate appearances, social media sponsorships, his YouTube channel—the guy's diversified. Every July, searches for joey chestnut net worth spike like crazy, which just shows he's still super relevant. He's built himself a brand that goes beyond just eating contests, and that's kept the money flowing even when the Nathan's deal fell through.
How Joey Thinks About Success
When Chestnut talks about making it, he doesn't sugarcoat things. His whole philosophy is about finding the one thing you're better at than almost anyone else and then going absolutely crazy perfecting it. He didn't try to be good at a bunch of different things—he found his edge and hammered away at it until nobody could touch him.
He's big on preparation too. People see him eating 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes and think it's just natural talent, but he trains for that stuff like an athlete. Hours of practice, specific techniques, figuring out the science behind it all. He says one of the biggest lessons he learned was ignoring people who told him competitive eating wasn't a real career. Early on, tons of people laughed at the idea, but he tuned them out and proved them wrong.
The other thing he emphasizes is treating every opportunity like it matters, whether it's the big championship or some random local contest. That professionalism is what helped him turn what could've been a weird party trick into a legitimate multimillion-dollar career. His whole journey basically shows that if you're willing to be the absolute best at something—even something unconventional—and you treat it like a serious business, you can build something real out of it.
Sergey Diakov
