Austin Lee Russell, Popularly known as Chumlee is an American businessman and Television personality well-known for his performance in the History Channel television show Pawn Stars, which deals with day-to-day business at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas. Chumlee is one of the most popular characters from The Pawn Stars, so fans are eager to know about Chumlee’s net worth and salary per episode, which this article discusses.
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Early Life and Careers:
Chumlee or Austin Lee Russell was born in Henderson, Nevada on September 8, 1982, and since his childhood, he was a close friend of Corey Harrison who is the son of Rick Harrison and grandson of Richard Harrison, opened the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in 1989.
Austin started to work in the Pawn shops in 2003 at the age of 21 and before filming the first season of Pawn Stars (July 2009) he already had work experience of 5 years in the pawn shops. His job was mainly testing products, loading them, and writing tickets for items purchased by customers.
In the television series, he was portrayed as the comic foil who suffers a lack of intelligence and incompetence and thus he was referred to as a “village idiot”. Chumlee often claimed that he was being underestimated and had expertise in pinball machines, which he proved in the second-season episode “Pinball Wizards”, which made Corey surprised.
Also Read: Corey Harrison Net Worth (2024): How Did He Lose 192 lbs?
Soon Austin became an integral part of the show and one of the most popular members which led him to form his own company selling novelty items of his design. In 2010, he sold half of the stake of the company to Rick Harrison for $155,000 to maintain the orders of his merchandise more efficiently. It was no surprise that Chumlee’s sales of merchandise have surpassed other members of the show for his huge fan following.
Apart from Pawn Stars, Austin alongside Corey and Rick has appeared in an episode of “iLost My Head in Vegas”, on the American TV series iCarly. However, Pawn Stars become one of the most popular series on History Channel, which has crossed 675 episodes across 21 seasons.
Personal Life:
Wife and Family:
Chumlee keeps his personal life very secret from the publicity. However, as of 2024, it is believed that he is single. He was married to Olivia Rademann, who is an entrepreneur. According to sources, the couple started to date each other in 2016 and finally got married in August 2019.
Chumlee and Olivia don’t share any kids and apart from Olivia, Chumlee has two siblings in his family: Sage and Terra.
Hobbies:
Austin has a huge interest in vintage pinball machines and he showed his expertise in the second-season episode “Pinball Wizards”. He is also an avid shoe collector, and video gamer, and also has an interest in skateboarding, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. He is fond of punk rock and rap music.
Legal Issues and Controversy:
On March 9, 2016, Chumlee’s house was raided by police during an investigation into sexual assault allegations. Police found crystal meth, marijuana, Xanax, and multiple firearms in his residence and he was arrested. On the following day, Austin was released on bond and scheduled to appear in court later.
Again on May 23, 2016, he was charged with 20 felony counts, including drug and weapons charges. His lawyer confirmed that Austin pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and a gross misdemeanor of attempted drug possession, which led to three-year probation and counseling.
Chumlee’s Net Worth:
Austin Lee Russell is a businessman, entrepreneur, and television star who has a net worth of $5 million. The majority of his earnings are generated from his pawn business. Apart from that, he also owns several businesses and appeared in many television series.
What is Chumlee’s salary per episode in the Pawn Star?
It is reported that for every episode of Pawn Star, Chumlee charges an amount of $25,000.
How does Chumlee make money?
However, there are several ways Chumlee makes money, here we mention 6 ways as per reports.
- Television: Since 2009, Austin Lee Russell has been appearing in the television series Pawn Star and is one of the fan-favorite characters of the show. He charges approximately $25,000 for every episode and it contributes a significant portion to his net worth.
- Other Appearances: Due to his popularity, he has appeared in many series as a guest and also frequently appeared at various events, conventions, and autograph signings.
- Brand Endorsement: Arguably, Chumlee is the most popular personality from the Pawn Star and due to his popularity he collaborated with several brands and promoted their products on his social media handle.
- Entrepreneurship: Austin Lee Russell is a successful businessman and entrepreneur. Following his success in the Pawn Star, Chumlee started his venture selling novelty items of his designs. Additionally, in May 2017, he opened his candy shop, Chumlee’s Candy on the Boulevard, Las Vegas.
- Pawn Shop: Even before his television career, he was a pawn shop employee. Chumlee started to work in a pawn shop back in 2003 when he was just 21. Despite his success in television, he is still involved in the pawn business and probably it is his major source of earning.
- Real Estate Investment: In February 2019, he sold his house in Las Vegas for $1.375 million. In 2023, he also bought a luxurious mansion in Las Vegas, worth $1.5 million.
Shoe Collection:
Chumlee is very fond of shoes. He has approximately over 200 pairs of sneakers and high-end dress shoes.
Car Collection:
Austin Lee Russell has exotic car collections such as a 1955 Chevy Bel Air convertible that he purchased for $100,000, a Phantom, a Range Rover, a Cadillac Escalade, a Bentley Continental GT, and a Rolls-Royce Ghost.
Chumlee’s weight loss journey:
After hitting 350 lbs or 160 kg, the 41-year-old Pawn Star decided to transform his body as he struggled with his weight and underwent gastric sleeve surgery in January 2019.
By September 2013, he lost almost 75 lbs or 34 kg weight just by altering his lifestyle habits, improving his diet, and consuming more vegetables and juice instead of red meat. He started to go to the gym six days a week and focused more on cardio and weight loss.
But unfortunately, he couldn’t cope with that boring lifestyle for a long time. He regained weight again in 2019 which led to gastric sleeve surgery. After 2 years of hard work and dedication, he lost 160 lbs or 73 kg weight. In an interview with TMZ in October 2021, Austin revealed that he felt much healthier and better at 190 lbs or 86 kg.
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Is Chumlee related to Rick Harrison?
The 41-year-old Pawn Star is a childhood friend of Corey Harrison who is the son of Rick Harrison. Austin is not directly related to Rick but he started his journey at the pawn shop in 2003 through Rick and Corey.
How did Austin Lee Russell become Chumlee?
When he was 12, one of his friend’s father remarked to him that Austin looked like “Chumley”, the walrus from the animated TV series Tennessee Tuxedo due to his large face and chin. Since then, Austin Lee Russell has been popularly known as Chumlee.