What is Frank Gehry’s Net Worth?
Frank Gehry is a Canadian-American architect who has a net worth of $100 million. Many of Gehry’s buildings have become world-renowned tourist attractions, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California. The 2010 World Architecture Survey found Gehry’s works being some of the most important in contemporary architecture in the world, and in the same year Vanity Fair named Frank “the most important architect of our age”.
Some of Gehry’s most well-known works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Span, the MIT Ray and Maria Stata Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies at the University of Cincinnati, the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, the New World center in Miami Beach, Florida, the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Vitra Design Museum and the museum MARTa Herford in Germany, the Dancing House in Prague, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, 8 Spruce Street in New York City, and the Cinematheque francaise in Paris. He is the designer of the National Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington DC. Gehry has won an AIA Gold Medal, National Medal of Arts, Order of Canada, Pritzker Prize, and Praemium Imperiale.
Early Life
Gehry was born on February 28, 1929 in Toronto, Canada. His parents were Sadie Thelma and Irving Goldberg, both Jewish though his mother was Polish and his father born into a Russian family. As a child, Gehry spent a lot of time with his grandparents who encouraged his creativity and interest in building structures and imaginary cities out of scraps of wood and other materials from his grandfather’s hardware store. He also enjoyed drawing with his father and his mother also encouraged his interest in art.
In 1947, Gehry’s family moved to the United States and settled in California. Gehry began studying at Los Angeles City College and then enrolled at the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture. He graduated with his Bachelor of Architecture in 1954. However, he did not begin working in the field immediately as he first served in the United States Army.
Career
In 1957, when Gehry was 28, he was given the chance to design his first private residence with a former classmate. The resulting “David Cabin” features some of the marks of what would later become synonymous with Gehry’s work and style, including protruding and exposed beams. In 1961, Gehry moved to Paris where he worked for architect Andre Remondet. The next year, he established a practice in Los Angeles which eventually became Frank Gehry and Associates in 1967.
Some of Gehry’s earliest commissions were in and around Southern California. He designed Santa Monica Place in 1980 and a number of residential buildings, like the Norton House in Venice in 1984. His own residence in Santa Monica, which was originally build in 1920 but then purchased and redesigned by Gehry in 1977, has become one of his most notable designs. It features a metallic exterior that wraps around the original building.
Throughout the 1980s, Gehry completed a number of notable projects like the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, the California Aerospace Museum, and the California Museum of Science and Industry. He was recognized for his work when he received the 1989 Pritzker Architecture Prize. He continued designing highly-celebrated structures throughout the 1990s, including the Chiat/Day Building in Venice and also began receiving commissions to build things in Europe. He completed the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris in 1994 and the Dancing House in Prague in 1996. He catapulted to a new level of international acclaim in 1997 when he designed the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Bilbao, Spain. A number of critics and commentators have praised the building as being one of the most impressive and aesthetically pleasing designs of the 20th century.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Gehry’s career continued rising into the 21st century. He designed a number of concert halls for classical music including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. He also designed the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago and the New World Center in Miami Beach. Other projects during the mid to late-2000s include the Peter B. Lewis Library at Princeton University, the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington, and the Beekman Tower in New York, which was Gehry’s first skyscraper. He also has been a point person on the multi-decade renovation of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Other major international works include the Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology Sydney and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. In 2014, two museums designed by Gehry opened: the Biomuseo in Panama City, Panama and the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France. In 2020, the LUMA Arles museum in Arles, France.
Gehry has received a number of honorary doctorates throughout his life and career. Some of the institutions who have bestowed this honor upon him include the University of Toronto, Harvard University, Yale University, the City College of New York, Princeton University, Juilliard School, and the University of Oxford, among others. He also has received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, the Order of Charlemagne, the J. Paul Getty Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and has been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.
The impact that Gehry’s work and designs has had on the world of modern architecture cannot be overstated. He is even credited with helping some cities spark a revitalization – notably Bilbao, Spain. Following the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the city and region experienced a large boost in economic growth. Some critics have referred to this effect as the “Bilbao effect.”
Gehry has also does some design work in other fields. He has made a line of furniture and also collaborated with Tiffany & Co. to create a line of jewelry. He also was selected by French fashion house Louis Vuitton in 2014 to design a piece using their iconic monogram pattern.
Personal Life
In 1952, Gehry married Anita Snyder. The couple divorced in 1966. He then married Berta Isabel Aguilera in 1975. Gehry has four children. Having grown up in Canada, Gehry remains an avid ice hockey fan. In 2004, he designed the trophy for the World Cup of Hockey. He is also a member of the California Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey and enjoys sailing on his fiberglass-hulled yacht.