She’s making a comeback. Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice has been rehabilitating her finances since her bankruptcy and divorce from ex-husband Joe Giudice — but how much money does she really have? The longtime Bravo babe is currently estimated to be worth $500,000, according to Celebrity Net Worth. How did she get into $11 million of debt and come back strong? Here’s what we know.
Teresa Has a Lucrative TV Career
The mother of four has been appearing on RHONJ since its inaugural season in 2009. She has since appeared on several TV shows, including Celebrity Apprentice, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the NBC medical drama Mercy. During RHONJ‘s tenth season in 2019 and 2020, Teresa was reportedly making $62,000 per episode.
Teresa Is a Successful Author
The reality star has published a whopping seven books since she became a household name — and she has even been on the New York Times bestsellers list for four of the titles. She has four cookbooks — 2010’s Skinny Italian, 2011’s Fabulicious, 2012’s Fabulicious: Fast and Fit and 2013’s Fabulicious: On the Grill — and two memoirs, 2016’s Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again and 2017’s Standing Strong.
Teresa Is an Entrepreneur
The author has also created a line of wines called Fabellini Wines and a haircare brand with Jerel Sabella named for Teresa’s daughter Milania.
Teresa Owns Property
In 2008, Teresa and her then-husband built an almost-10,000 square foot mansion — featuring six bedrooms, five baths, a Cinderella staircase, a pool and a massive chandelier — in Montville, New Jersey. She put it on the market for $2.5 million in September 2020. The yoga instructor has since lowered the asking price on the property to $2.25 million.
Teresa Has Had Financial Issues
In 2009, the TV personality and her husband filed for bankruptcy and claimed they were $11 million in debt. At the time, the family was forced to auction off belongings and their New Jersey mansion to recoup their losses.
Four years later, the former flames were indicted on 39 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements on loan applications. In 2014, they pleaded guilty to 41 counts of fraud following a deal with federal prosecutors. Teresa was sentenced to 15 months in prison, while the couple was also ordered to pay $414,000 in restitution.
In late 2014, the competition bodybuilder sued her bankruptcy lawyer for $5 million, alleging that he didn’t meet with her before he filed bankruptcy documents. Her lawyer called the claims “absurd,” but a settlement was reached.
She served her jail sentence from January to December 2015, with the final four months of her sentence spent in house arrest.
In 2018, Teresa’s 2009 bankruptcy case was dismissed — but she was still ordered to pay restitution to the IRS and New Jersey’s department of treasury.