Gordon Ramsay is known for being a little bit of a hardcore ‘meanie’ thanks to his intolerance for unprofessional behavior and imperfect kitchens. Some might not find him to their taste, but who is to say that a man who likes a clean kitchen and perfectly prepared food is unlikable? I’d much rather eat my food properly cooked, but that’s just me. So while he might use inappropriate language and make people feel pretty small at times, there is no denying the fact that Gordon Ramsay, the owner of several restaurants, is a successful man who knows what it takes to run and operate a restaurant. Most of his restaurants are located throughout the world, many of them in high-end hotels. However, while most people are perfectly aware what he owns and that all his restaurants are quite successful, they don’t realize just how he got his start in the restaurant business. It might surprise you to learn he stole his first employees.

After he became the head chef at Aubergine, where he owned 25% of the restaurant, he became ready to own more restaurants. When his protégé, Marcus Wareing, was fired from a sister restaurant owned by the same people, Ramsay became upset and managed to convince the staff at both restaurants to get together and walk out on their jobs so that they could come work for him at a restaurant he was opening in London; Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. He’d earned two Michelin stars as head chef of Aubergine, but this new restaurant would become the first – and only to date – to earn him 3 Michelin stars in 2001.

Today, he is the owner of 23 restaurants across the globe, though he has owned 43 restaurants since 1993, making him one of the most successful chefs and restaurateurs in the world. He’s had as many as 12 Michelin stars at his restaurants throughout the years, and he currently holds 9.

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