2023 has been dominated by several deranged pop culture moments including but not limited to Gwyneth Paltrow’s trial (she lost half a day of skiing, not sure you heard), Kylie Jenner dating Timothée Chalamet, and—perhaps most significantly—Tom Sandoval cheating on Ariana Madix with their Vanderpump Rules costar Rachel “Raquel” Leviss.
If you don’t watch Vanderpump Rules, YOU DO NOW, and perhaps you’re also wondering how much everyone makes for the show. Specifically, Tom Sandoval. We dug into Tom’s net worth and VPR earnings, and...things are complicated?
Tom’s Net Worth Is Reportedly $4 Million
At least according to Celebrity Net Worth, who notes this dude has been worked at SUR for more than a decade and is an original cast member on Vanderpump Rules—meaning he’s been around for any/all salary negotiations.
So What Does Tom Sandoval Make for VPR?
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the core cast of Vanderpump Rules was “barely netting $10,000 for their participation in the entire first season” but went through a round of contract negotiations in 2017 and 2018 to the tune of $25,000 per episode. Quick example: Season 7 in 2018 was 24 episodes, which means the cast made $600,000 each.
Tom also told THR about opportunities that have come his way amid his fame (aside from his investment in TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy’s, he has a mixology guide book with Ariana), saying, “It starts as club appearances, and suddenly you’re paid to post on social. A lot changes.”
He Has More Than $2 Million Tied Up in Real Estate...Sorta
Tom and Ariana purchased a home in 2019 and paid a pretty sizable $2.075 million for it. Awkwardly, they still own said house together—or at least they did as of March 2023, when Tom’s rep told People, “They own the house together, and what happens next with the property will take time to sort out. This isn’t something that’s going to be decided in a weekend.”
To make matters more complicated, VPR viewers may remember that Tom discussed taking out an equity loan against his and Ariana’s home to fund Schwartz & Sandy’s, which Lisa Vanderpump raised concerns about after Ariana said it wouldn’t impact her half.
“I’m not sure that Ariana quite understands the concept of putting your house up as collateral,” Lisa said in an interview. “If they default on their loan, then the bank never goes and takes half the house back. It’s like, ‘Ariana, you stay in bed. We only want Tom’s half.’ It doesn’t work like that.”
Lisa was asked if Ariana took her advice during a post-Scandoval episode of WWHL, and said, “Oh god, I really don’t know about that.” So...it’s unclear what’s happening on the house front!
Tom’s a Super Successful Business Owner
Aside from being a casual reality star and, like, cover band singer, Tom has stakes in two restaurants: TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy’s. And while there was backlash against the businesses after Scandoval, Tom Schwartz recently told Andy Cohen that things are going great.
“I got to say, every time I go in, it’s kind of thriving,” he said on Watch What Happens Live. “And people are coming in—you guys, if you want to talk about this, all day, I’m happy to talk about this. But it’s been great.”
Tom put a lot of money into Schwartz & Sandy’s, saying on the season 10 premiere, “At this point, we invested a million dollars into this project. It’s like the national debt: It’s just numbers flying.”
He also admitted his mom and stepdad “invested a quarter of a million dollars into this business venture,” and he’s keen to give them a return. Guess we’ll...see what happens!
