How Much Money Do The Parents Make On Gossip Girl?

Hey Upper East Siders, Gossip Girl here. After six seasons of dealing with friendship betrayals, public scandals, and rocky romantic relationships, there’s one thing Constance Billiard’s queen bees Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) don’t have to worry about: money. Yet, “Lonely Boy” Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) has to tighten his bootstraps on The CW series. But how much money do they actually have? That would be a question for their loving, if a bit controversial, parents.

The high schoolers’ families work in almost every business you could make good money in, from real estate (Bass Industries) and investment banking to fashion (Waldorf Designs) and plastic surgery. The only industry none of their parents are involved with is the law, which tracks given how much they can get away with. However, the key to their wealth lies not in everyone’s careers but their lineage, as many families are a part of old money dynasties that are rarely mentioned by Blair, Serena, or their posse — unless it’s for their advantage, of course.

While Gossip Girl naturally focuses more on the students’ lives rather than the minutiae of their parents’ careers, the show gives just enough information to estimate how rich each family is. Spoiler alert: Even the Humphreys are still very comfortable, despite what their classmates may have you believe. Here’s the rundown of how much the Gossip Girl families (probably) rake in.

Rufus Humphrey: $2-4 Million

While Dan and Jenny’s father, Rufus, may not have the massive wealth the Upper East Side kids grew up with, Rufus was still very well off compared to us peasants. His former rock band Lincoln Hawks and art gallery dealings are nothing to scoff at, and the Humphreys’ loft apartment with a picture-perfect view of the Brooklyn Bridge is in one of New York’s most desired neighborhoods and likely costs at least $1-2 million. Yes, even the poorest family on Gossip Girl were still millionaires.

Howard Archibald: $5-10 Million

Yes, Nate’s father, Howard, ended up going to jail for fraud, but before prison, he was raking in the dough as an investment banker. The show never indicated how much “The Captain” made from banking, but given the scope of (bad) deals he was negotiating, it’s safe to say it was in the millions. However, it was clear that Nate’s mother was the family’s true breadwinner.

Anne Vanderbilt: $200 Million

Nate’s mother, Anne, is supposedly a part of the famous Vanderbilt family, one of New York’s most shining examples of old money, with her father, William, even buying the family’s penthouse and setting up Nate for a career in politics. In real life, Gloria Vanderbilt had an estimated net worth of $200 million after her death, so it’s safe to assume that Anne was worth a similar amount. There’s a reason why it was so easy for her to bail “The Captain” out of jail in Season 1.

Eleanor Waldorf: $500-700 Million

As the HBIC of Waldorf Designs, Blair’s mother, Eleanor, gets a pretty penny from her luxury fashion house, but she also comes from old money. According to the books, Eleanor’s family were the owners of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel chain, inspired by the real-life Astor dynasty. Today, the Astor fortune is down to $14.5 million (paltry in Gossip Girl world), but the family were billionaires in the 1800s. Even if their status fell to multi-millionaires in the early 2000s, the Waldorfs were certainly well off.

Lily van der Woodsen: $1-2 Billion

Serena and Eric’s mother, Lily van der Woodsen (neé Rhodes, previously Bass and Humphrey), was born into money, married into money, and made money on her own accord. As the daughter of a wealthy record label owner, Lily’s trust fund set her up for life, but when she married her children’s father, William, a renowned plastic surgeon and son of a shipping magnate, she reached billionaire status. Her wealth only grew after she acquired a 20% stake in Bass Industries following her brief marriage to Bart Bass, another billionaire. She certainly has a type (well, except the true love of her life, Rufus).

Bart Bass: $2-3 Billion

Chuck’s father could rank among the richest people in the world — if he were real. Bartholomew Bass’ character was inspired by Donald Trump but based on the real-life Bass family, who have a collective net worth of $10.8 billion as of 2020. It’s unknown if Bart had that much money, but his real estate construction empire, Bass Industries, was worth over a billion dollars alone, which is how Chuck became a billionaire when he became the company’s new majority owner after his father’s death. Of course, Chuck sank the company for a bit, meaning he is not quite as rich as his father.