This Is How Much Money Gold Rush's Parker Schnabel Is Actually Worth
Longtime viewers of Discovery Channel's Gold Rush have practically watched Parker Schnabel grow up. At age 15, the Alaska native appeared on the show's first proper season, not counting the Gold Rush: Alaska show that Gold Rush technically spun off from. By season 2, a 16-year-old Schnabel was in charge of his own mining operation under his grandfather's guidance, and he's been successfully digging for gold ever since.
For 11 seasons, fans have seen Schnabel master the craft of mining while learning to be an effective leader. Risks have paid off, such as his successful 100-ounce wager that helped prompt rival Todd Hoffman to leave the show to focus on his singing career. Viewers have even seen Schnabel tackle adventures outside of the industry, such as his five-episode tour of the Klondike Trail in Gold Rush: Parker's Trail.
Of course, the real appeal behind a show about mining for gold is the metal's inherent value. And considering that some elements of Gold Rush are fake, many fans might find themselves wondering how much gold Parker has managed to keep for himself over the last decade. Here is how much money Parker Schnabel from Gold Rush is actually worth.
Parker Schnabel is worth around $10 million
Mining for gold is an operation that requires a substantial investment but hopefully yields an even larger profit. In each season of Gold Rush beyond the first few, Parker Schnabel and his crew have pulled in thousands of ounces of gold worth millions of dollars. In season 4, Schnabel mined 1,029 ounces of gold, valued at $1.4 million. In 2018's season 8, Schnabel pulled over 6,000 ounces out of the soil, worth more than $7.2 million.
So now that Gold Rush is into its 11th season and Schnabel has been mining gold for over a decade, it should be safe to assume that he's struck it rich, right? The answer is yes and no. Schnabel is certainly doing alright for himself, as his total net worth is around $10 million (via Distractify). However, Schnabel's net worth reflects one of the many untold truths of Gold Rush: just how much of his earnings go "right back into the ground" (via Maxim).
Schnabel has expenses that go into the land he mines, the equipment he uses, and the crew that helps him extract ore from the ground. His primary staff is paid a yearly salary plus bonuses based on yield, meaning that the more gold Schnabel's crew mines, the more the wealth is distributed (via Reddit).