You Know, Thomas Didn't *Need* To Return To Bravo

Fans of Southern Charm have heard a lot about the storied South Carolina Ravenel family; they have their name on a bridge, they're one of the the oldest and most respected political families in Charleston, and, we've seen Thomas' house, which features his own personal polo field. So, just how much is Thomas Ravenel worth? T-Rav sure loves to act like he's a high roller, but family money doesn't always translate into personal wealth. But despite the odds being Thomas has managed to build his own personal success on top of his highly successful family history.

CelebrityNetWorth.com estimates that Thomas Ravenel is worth two million dollars, but we'll have to take that number with a grain of salt considering the source. Plus, that seems a little low, considering that in the Southern Charm series premiere, he says that his personal polo field cost a million on its own. But supposedly that's the sum of Ravenel's assets, which includes his huge property of ten acres where he lives while hosting polo matches and his real estate business. But astute Bravo fans beware — two million is the exact same figure that CelebrityNetWorth estimated for Whitney Sudler-Smith, which might suggest that they've fudged their figures a little bit. So let's add up Ravenel's moneymaking ventures and see if that figure makes good sense.

First off, his family sure has more than that six figure sum around Charleston. Thomas' father, Arthur Ravenel, Jr., was a former Republican senator and congressman for South Carolina, and he's the one who had that famous bridge named after him. In a piece with Mount Place Magazine, Arthur describes how he proposed and eventually was able to get a bridge worth six hundred million built in his family's honor. Of course, that's not an asset that Thomas can inherit, it's a massive public works project. It does go to show the political expectations that are set up for Thomas — and why his terrible campaign, with its sexy ladies dancing in ads, aren't landing with the high-strung Carolina voters. I don't think when they hear "Ravenel" anymore; all they can hear is the sound of him raising the roof. (OK, that ad never aired locally, but still.)

But Thomas was able to raise money for multiple political campaigns, including this independent conservative after his cocaine-assisted resignation from State Treasurer. Oh, that job's no slouch either — according to Indeed, the average treasurer salary is $68K, which isn't bad considering that Thomas was also drawing income from his previous career at the same time. Because in 1992, Thomas founded Ravenel Development Corporation, a commercial real estate development company. And according to newspaper The State, Thomas sold his mansion for $3.3 million. Seriously?!

So whether that "2 million" figure is accurate or not, Thomas really has proven that even a rich businessman and second-generation politician from Charleston can go on to become a goofy reality star. That's just how T-Rav rolls.

Image: Brianna Stello/Bravo; Giphy