Mike Wolfe is an American actor best known as a finder and rescuer of objects in the popular American TV series, American Pickers. The creator and star of the History Channel hit TV show is almost a household name thanks to long years of reputation as the country’s foremost scavenger. Mike Wolfe has amassed a significant net worth by combing through old barns, overgrown yards, and dilapidated sheds in search of forgotten treasures. In other words, where people see a pack of garbage, Mike and his team members sought and found gold.
Today, he has transformed this nomadic lifestyle into a top successful business, cutting across interiors, product lines, books, and retail stores. Most notable of his achievements is his creation of the widely viewed TV sitcom, American Pickers. Here is the story of how childhood exercise became a multimillion business.
Picking Trash Has Made Mike Wolfe a Rich Man
Thanks to a lifetime of picking trash, expanding it into a viable business, and shaping a TV show out of it, Mike Wolfe has become a rich man. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the media personality and businessman has a total net worth of $5 million. It is a figure that puts him firmly at the top half of business-themed reality TV stars. But while having a net worth of $5 million makes Mike Wolfe one of America’s privileged men, that wasn’t always the case.
He Began Picking Trash to Help His Mother
Born in Joliet, Illinois, to a single mother of three, Mike Wolfe was born on October 12, 1976. He is his mother’s second child, and his siblings include his brother Robbie and sister, Beth Wolfe. Not much is known about his father as his parents separated when he was still very young. Wolfe’s educational background and achievements remain unknown, but looking at his early life story, the now-famous businessman did not grow up on the laps of luxury.
He grew up being used to financial instabilities as the entire family depended on their mother’s meager earnings. To help lessen his mother’s financial burden, Mike began to pick what many would describe as trash. Although picking trash for Mike began as early as when he was four years old, he developed a passion for it as he grew. He would pick dumped items and sell them to antique shops, and with time it turned into a valuable business that marked the starting point of his successful life.
Breaking Down His Income Sources
Antique Archaeology
When Mike Wolfe finally turned his trash-picking into a business, he named it Antique Archaeology. He traveled around the US, searching and picking discarded items, which he would refurbish and sell them at his shop. The company started small, but it has grown into a multi-state venture.
The original location was in Le Claire, Iowa. But the business has a second location in Nashville, Tennessee. Both shops have become specialty shops for antiques, vintage items, and folk art. Their popularity has made them top tourist destinations, and in return, helped Mike Wolfe become a millionaire.
American Pickers
His journey to millionaire status may have begun with Antique Archeology, but the reality TV show, American Pickers, sped it up. The TV series, which premiered on January 18, 2010, has seen him share the screen with Danielle Colby and Frank Fritz, his friend, for a long time. Mike Wolfe is the creator, executive producer and co-host of the series.
The first episode of the series, American Pickers, attracted over 3.1 million viewers while the entire first season had over 5.4 million American viewers. This not only marked the program as the highest-rated non-fiction program of 2010, but it also had Mike named among top American idols.
Since it premiered in 2010, the show has remained on-air, with more than 21 seasons and over 309 episodes. Mike Wolfe’s exact earnings per episode for the show remains unknown. But as one of the show’s stars, it is no doubt a significant amount. When combined with the show’s long-running status, American Pickers has been a substantial boost to Mike Wolfe’s net worth.
Book Publishing
Mike Wolfe’s net worth also comes from being an author. He has written many successful books with the first American Pickers Guide to Picking published in 2011. He published his second book, Kid Pickers: How to Turn Junk into Treasure in 2013. The book details picking guidelines for children. Other books include Art of the Pick and Debt Advice.
How Mike Wolfe Enjoys His Wealth
He owns a house near Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee, where he currently lives with his family. The Tv star reportedly bought the house in 2012 for $175,000. Part of Mike Wolfe’s wealth also goes to being a motorbike collector. The exact value of his collection is yet to be determined. But we know it is substantial enough to earn him an endorsement with Indian Motorcycles.
The reality TV star and businessman is also a philanthropist. He often hosts events that encourage people to raise funds for projects that benefit the ASCPA, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, animal shelters, and Operation Smile. Mike also spends his money maintaining an online community, Kid Pickers, a forum where kids share what they picked.
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Exploring Mike Wolfe’s Love Life
Not much can be said about his love life before he became a famous personality. But as of now, Mike Wolfe is a married man. He is married to Jodi Faeth, who has been his wife since January 30, 2012. We don’t know much about Mike’s wife, but public information shows that the couple has been living together for over a decade.
The couple met in 1994 after an introduction by a mutual friend. However, they remained an unmarried couple for 18 years before they worked down the aisle in 2012 in the presence of family and friends. They had their daughter Charlie Faeth Wolfe eight months before their marriage in 2012, and currently, they are living happily in their home in Leiper’s Fork and Le Claire.
Mike has, however, had his share of controversy surrounding his love life. Due to his closeness to his TV partner, Frank Fritz, many observers suggested that the two of them were lovers. However, the rumor turned out to be false as more information came to light about Mike Wolfe. He and Frank Fritz have been friends for more than two decades, and their dynamic is nothing more than a result of long-term friendship.
