Paula Deen has a net worth of about $14 million. This celebrity cook operates a restaurant with her two sons and is an author of several bestselling books on kitchen recipes. She is also an actor and an Emmy Award winner for her television cooking show, 'Paula's Home Cooking.' She started her business empire from a humble beginning in Georgia. She started as a caterer before venturing into the restaurant business.

Paula Deen's business empire is large and well diversified. For instance, she earns about $7 million from her merchandising deals with Wal-Mart, Home Depo and Target Corp. Her television show on the Food Network earns her about $2.5 million a year. However, claims of discrimination against her have undermined all of these lucrative deals.

Deen still earns a lot of income from her other businesses in spite of the claims against her and the loss of these highly lucrative deals. Her restaurant business accounts for about 30% of her income. She also has lucrative businesses in books and magazines. For instance, she runs her own cooking magazine, 'Cooking with Paula Deen.' The magazine has a circulation rate of over 7.5 million people.