Guy Fieri says he doesn't plan to leave any money in his will to his sons Hunter or Ryder unless they get two degrees.
The 55-year-old celebrity chef, speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, quoted Shaquille O'Neal as telling his sons Hunter, 27, and Ryder, 17, that they would need to earn two degrees to gain access to an inheritance.
“Shaq said it best: Shaq said, 'If you want this cheese, you have to get to two degrees,'” the Columbus, Ohio, native said. “Well, both of my degrees mean, you know, post-graduate studies.”
According to Variety, the TV personality signed a three-year, $100 million deal with Food Network last month.
Despite the windfall, Fieri said he told his sons he would “die broke” and leave no inheritance unless they met the educational parameters he set.
Guy Fieri, 55, says he doesn't plan to leave any money in his will to his sons Hunter or Ryder unless they get two degrees. Pictured in Las Vegas in July
The Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host and restaurateur is the father of two sons, Hunter, 27, (R) and Ryder, 17, with wife Lori, 52
The Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host and restaurateur is a father to two sons with wife Lori, 52, and has helped raise his nephew Jules, 22, since the death of his sister Morgan from metastatic melanoma in February 2011.
“I told them the same thing my dad told me,” Fieri said. “My dad says, 'If I die, you can expect me to die broke and you to pay for the funeral.'
“And I told my boys, 'None of what we were… what I built, you're not going to get unless you come and take it from me.'
Fieri said his son Ryder, who is currently a senior in high school, told him, “Dad, this is so unfair.” I haven't even gone to college yet and you're already pushing for me to get an MBA? Can I just get through college?'
Hunter is currently pursuing a master's degree in business administration at the University of Miami, Fieri said.
Fieri credited his nephew Jules with pursuing higher education while attending college in Southern California.
“Jules is in the music industry in LA,” Fieri said. “He’s currently studying law at Loyola Marymount.
“If you want to be a major entertainment agent, you have to have a legal background. So that's what he does.”
The celebrity chef and his younger son Ryder were pictured at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City last February
The TV personality was pictured at the opening of a restaurant in Las Vegas earlier this month
The TV personality signed a $100 million deal with Food Network last month
Fieri told People last month that he was “very humbled” by his lucrative new contract, which follows an $80 million deal he signed in 2021.
“I’m so grateful,” Fieri said. “I feel really lucky. I started at the Food Network almost 17, 18 years ago. And I never thought something like this would ever happen to me.'
Fieri said that when he started his career, he “just wanted to be a chef,” “own my own restaurant” and “be a great dad.”
'And that was it. That's all I really wanted. I had aspirations in all sorts of things, but to believe that this has happened?'