Here's How Tinsley Mortimer Really Got Rich

American socialite Tinsley Mortimer is perhaps best known for her stint on Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York, rolling with a crew of rich and powerful women on the Upper East Side. But there's a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to this woman about town. For starters, she is RICH. While it may come as no surprise that Mortimer's bank account is pretty hefty (seeing as that's basically a prerequisite to be on the hit reality show in the first place), they may be astounded to learn that the real-life Gossip Girl is not just kind-of rich, she is VERY rich. Like worth a whopping $35 million rich, as reported by Celebrity Net Worth. 

But where and how did the socialite turned reality television star amass such an exorbitant fortune for herself? Keep reading after the jump to find out. 

Tinsley Mortimer comes from a long line of old money, and she's never been one to shy away from that fact. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Tinsley is a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and her father is an ultra-successful real estate investor. Her professional website further corroborates her well-to-do upbringing, stating that she hails from "a prominent family in Richmond, Virginia" and grew up surrounded by "tennis courts and swimming pools." The site also mentions that she attended boarding school at the prestigious Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and made her debut into society at the Bal du Bois. Fancy.

During her time on The Real Housewives of New York, Tinsley's love of the finer things was often a topic of conversation. Her peers couldn't understand where she found the cash flow to afford luxury handbags and expensive shoes. According to Bravo, after Tinsley's short-lived breakup with Coupon Cabin founder Scott Kluth, the ladies wondered out loud where all of her dough was coming from. 

Later, on an episode of The Real Housewives of New York City After Show, Tinsley and her mother Dale Mercer finally decided to set the record straight once and for all. "I have — thank you, Mommy — family money, thank you, which is nice. But also if they're going to put it on this, I don't have a child that I pay for... Also, they have mortgages and houses. I'm just a single girl on my own," Tinsley declared. Take that, Housewives!

While it's no secret that Tinsley Mortimer was born with a silver spoon, it certainly didn't hurt matters when she married her boarding school sweetheart and Standard Oil heir, Topper Mortimer. As reported by The New York Times, the couple met at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and quickly entered the fast track to marriage. So much so that they actually ran away and got married by the justice of the peace. Unfortunately, once their parents found out, the union was quickly annulled. As luck would have it, the two did remarry after completing their college education and for a time, it appeared that the couple had it all.

Unfortunately, young love did not go the distance in this case, and the couple divorced in 2009, per Vanity Fair. In 2007, the cracks in the surface already appeared to be showing when Mortimer's then-husband expressed his disdain for Tinsley's love of the spotlight to The New York Times. "It's not necessarily the type of goal that anybody should strive for, going out every night for the sake of self-promotion and getting their pictures taken," Topper said. "And I mean, these are girls who went to good colleges. You would think they'd have something better to do." YIKES.

While it's unclear what Tinsley walked away with after the divorce, one can assume she did alright.

While Tinsley Mortimer may have started out with a leg up, she's been pretty successful in her own right. According to Tinsley's website, she has held many lucrative positions in the high stakes world of fashion and design. She snagged a job at Vogue soon after graduating from Columbia, then transitioned to a career in public relations. 

As an often-photographed socialite known for her style, Tinsley "built a successful personal brand that was launched with a line of handbags, Samantha Thavasa by Tinsley Mortimer, and then a clothing collection, Riccimie by Tinsley Mortimer, which was sold exclusively in Japan," her website explains. "Tinsley then became the beauty ambassador for the iconic French beauty line of Christian Dior and helped to create a lip gloss coined Tinsley Pink." Not too shabby for a lady that lunches, huh?

In November of 2019, Tinsley once again said "yes" to a proposal, only this time to wealthy businessman Scott Kluth. Cheers to the two combining forces and bank accounts. Now that's a lot of dough!