This Is Who Inherited Robin Leach's Money After He Died
Robin Leach may not have been in the same tax bracket as the rich and famous whose lifestyles he covered in the 1980s and 1990s on his syndicated TV show, but by the time he died in 2018, he'd amassed a fortune in the millions. Leach, who died on August 24, 2018, after suffering a stroke, left an estate worth about $15 million, according to the website Celebrity Net Worth.
While he was not married at the time of his death, three sons, Steven, Ric, and Gregg by his marriage to Judith Desser, survived him along with several grandchildren." Despite the past ten months, what a beautiful life he had," his sons said in a statement to The Los Angeles Times at the time of his death. In his will, Leach asked to be cremated and left the decision of what to do with his remains up to his son Steven, who he named executor, per The Blast. Among the beneficiaries listed in the will were Robin's brother Andrew Leach and his son Steven Leach.
No silver spoon
Robin Douglas Leach was the son of a vacuum cleaner sales manager in London, England but had a knack for journalism early on — he was just 15 when he began his first newspaper job — and quickly rose through the world of U.K. tabloids, according to Forbes. In 1963, he moved to New York City and by the early 1970s had become a millionaire after selling Go Magazine, a music publication he'd started in the 1960s. After making the jump to television he found global fame as the host of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," which he also executive produced, per the Associated Press. The show opened the doors to the mansions of celebrities and the ultra-rich, ending each show with his tagline "Champagne wishes and caviar dreams."
Among his many ventures, Leach was one of the founders of the Food Network, which earned him a tidy sum after he sold his share of the business. He moved to Las Vegas in 1999 and continued to work on various projects until he suffered a stroke while vacationing in Mexico in November 2017. Steven Leach, a San Diego-based realtor, moved to Las Vegas to care for his father and deal with the journalist's finances, per a GoFundMe campaign.
Son cared for him
Even before Robin Leach died in 2018, his son Steven Leach had been handling his affairs. Following his first stroke, Steven took care of his father, traveling with him from Las Vegas to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for specialized treatments, per GoFundMe. But after a second stroke in August 2018, Robin Leach died. "It was really unfortunate after ten months that this came down but we can't control everything and as good as the prognosis looked this was just a double whammy that hit him and was unfortunate," Steven told WTXL.
Robin Leach's last will and testament named Steven as a trustee along with Robin's attorney, per The Blast. Because of this, Steven wasn't able to return to his real estate business for almost a year after his father's death. As of 2021, according to the GoFundMe, Robin Leach's estate was still in probate, meaning none of the funds could be dispersed. It's unclear whether the estate has yet been settled.