Celebrity Estate Lessons - Anthony Bourdain

Whenever someone dies unexpectedly, we wonder about their estate and if they had things in place. Or maybe just I do since I write these every week. This is especially true when the person who passed lived an unconventional life, like Anthony Bourdain.

When Bourdain passed in 2018, his net worth was listed as $425,000 in "cash and savings," $35,000 in a brokerage account, $250,000 in "personal property," and $500,000 in "intangible property including royalties and residuals." This comes to a total of $1.21 million, which may seem low for such a big celebrity. These numbers discount his private Trust fund, which contained an undisclosed amount of money (which means this was set up and funded correctly).

He had also written a Will in 2016, leaving this money to his daughter Ariane Busia-Bourdain, who was 11 at the time of his death. It was put into a trust fund for her. She will be able to receive funds at the age of 25 and again at 30. At 35 she will have access to the remainder of the fund.

However, Bourdain and his wife Ottavia Busia separated in 2016 after the Will was written, but they never officially divorced. Bourdain didn't update his Will, even when he started a relationship with Italian actress Asia Argento. The Will left all his personal possessions to Busia to "dispose of in accordance with what [she] believes to have been my wishes." Nothing was left to Argento.