Unlike a lot of television stars, you wouldn’t exactly pick neither Mike nor Frank out of a crowd and use them as a shining example of someone who made a ton of money – but they do. For starters, each of them receives an impressive annual salary of $500,000, and that doesn’t include any of the artifacts that they sell.
Mike has the highest net worth of anyone on the show, coming in at an estimated $5 million. Although Frank isn’t far behind, as he’s got one of his own that’s only about $1 million less than his co-stars. Both of the pickers have some serious side hustles going on alongside of their time on the show, as well.
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
On the show, Mike and Frank are always together, acting as if they’re good friends. But according to those that have met the pair in person, things aren’t so buddy/buddy when the cameras aren’t turned on. They also live in entirely different parts of the country – sorry to shatter your dream of them being around one another 24/7!
Mike is married and lives with his family in Tennessee, while Frank stays in Illinois and lives a sort of bachelor-style life. And, if them having their own lives wasn’t disappointing enough – they really don’t even like each other. In fact, things are so shaky between them that there are rumors the show will be coming to an end in the near future. Noooo! Come on guys, you can work it out for the sake of your insanely awesome salaries!
Rumors of Romance
Several speculations exist as to how close the relationship between Frank and Mike actually was. After all, when 2 grown men spend (seemingly) every waking moment of their days together, it’s understandable that fans may come to the conclusion that they were a little more than just coworkers.
Of course, anyone who takes even a second out of their day to look in to the rumors can dispel them pretty much instantaneously. Mike is happily married to the woman that he has been with for several decades, and Frank has a girlfriend of his own. Plus, as multiple fans noted, “just look at the way they act…and dress.” So, it’s pretty safe to say that these guys are as straight as they come. Mike’s wife will be relieved to hear the good news, no doubt.
Un-Reality Show
The show may be somewhat based on reality, but it’s far from being completely real. In fact, a large portion of the show is planned out in advance to make it flow, and to make everything more interesting. For instance, a lot of the scenes of the men in the van are taken on different days than the actual picking.
Of course, American Pickers isn’t exactly a scripted reality show, but it’s not completely candid, either. Producers often set everything up ahead of time, so that Mike and Frank don’t have to deal with a lot of the actual work behind-the-scenes. They’ll film for several hours at a time and put together enough B-roll footage that they don’t have to stick around for too long after
Mike’s Life is Picking
If you’re wondering how it is exactly that Mike Wolfe has created a $5 million net worth for himself based off of picking, it’s probably got something to do with the fact that he’s been doing it since childhood. Before he was even a teenager, he came upon his first lesson in sales when he found a bike and decided to flip it for $5. From that point on, he knew what his mission in life was and he was determined to make his dream a reality.
After the $5 bike, he started working his way up to the bigger and better sales. The first time he made any real money was when he bought another bike for $50 and turned around and sold it for 100 times more than what he paid for it. If he was making that kind of money when he was a kid, it’s no wonder he’s made such a successful career out of picking!