Michael Chow Net Worth, Relationships, Age/Birthdate & Birthday

Michael Chow: The Man Behind the Name ‘Mr. Chow’

Few figures in modern hospitality combine the flair of a global restaurateur, the sensibility of an artist, and the mystique of a cultural ambassador quite like Michael Chow. His journey — from a childhood in Shanghai to founding one of the world’s most iconic Chinese-restaurant brands, while navigating acting, art, design, and cross-continental reinvention — reads like a novel. Below is a deep dive into his life, relationships, creative mission, and estimated wealth.

A Childhood Shaped by Art and Exile

Michael Chow was born on March 7, 1939, in Shanghai, China. His birthdate is often noted in biographical records, and his birthday has become a subtle point of reflection for fans and followers — a reminder of the man whose life spans nearly a century of global history, upheaval, and reinvention.

He was born into a family steeped in artistic tradition. His father, Zhou Xinfang, was a celebrated grandmaster of Beijing opera — a national cultural treasure.  His mother came from a tea-merchant family that was relatively affluent.  More than just by blood, Chow inherited from his father a fascination with performance, drama, and the power of cultural storytelling. 

At around age 13, Michael was sent to London — a journey that severed him from the world he knew, erased even his Chinese name, and left him to forge a new identity abroad.  In London, separated from home and tradition, he gravitated to painting and later studied art and architecture at institutions including Saint Martin's School of Art and the Hammersmith School of Building and Architecture.

This early upheaval — exile, loss of familial contact, cultural dislocation — sowed the seeds of what would become a lifelong mission: to build bridges between East and West, not just through food, but through art, architecture, and experience. 

Reinventing the Chinese Restaurant — as Theater, Art, and Lifestyle

Chow’s early years as a painter were difficult. Despite exhibitions in London and beyond, he encountered racism and cultural barriers that limited his acceptance.  Rather than give up on creativity, he pivoted — not away from art, but toward a new canvas: hospitality.

On February 14, 1968, he opened his first restaurant in London’s upscale Knightsbridge district and named it Mr Chow.  But this wouldn’t be a typical Chinese takeaway. Instead, Chow envisioned a theatrical dining experience, blending cuisine, art, and performance — a nod to his father’s legacy in opera. 

Walls were hung not with traditional Chinese decorations, but with contemporary art by leading artists of the time — from David Hockney to Peter Blake — and waiters were Italians in tailored suits. No chopsticks, no clichés: just glamour, spectacle, and refined dining. 

Word spread fast. Soon, celebrities, artists, musicians, and global tastemakers flocked to Mr Chow. It became more than a restaurant — a cultural institution, a stage, a place to see and be seen. 

Over the decades, the empire expanded: Beverly Hills (1974), New York (late 1970s onward), Miami, Las Vegas, and beyond. Each venue carried the same DNA — a blend of culinary indulgence, aesthetic boldness, and art-world credentials. 

Chow’s restaurants served as a cultural bridge: East meets West, under chandeliers and over white tablecloths — a dinner could be as much about ambiance and social signalling as it was about food. As one critic put it, “expensive is important — very important.”

The Many Lives of “M”: Actor, Artist, Designer, Collector

Chow never abandoned his artistic roots. Parallel to his work building Mr Chow, he pursued acting, mostly in supporting roles across decades. His filmography includes credits in productions like You Only Live Twice (1967), Rush Hour films, Basquiat (1996), and more. 

But perhaps more telling is how he treated every aspect of his work — even his restaurants — as canvases. Chow designed many of the restaurants himself, often drawing on his architectural training and aesthetic sensibility. 

Beyond restaurants, he resumed serious painting later in life. His exhibitions — sometimes deeply personal and retrospective, such as a 2015 show titled Voice for My Father — seek to reconcile displacement, identity, memory, and belonging. 

Meanwhile, he also built a private world as a collector. From contemporary art to art-deco furniture and curated antiques, his home — a sprawling Los Angeles mansion — became a museum of personal taste and global ambition. 

Through all these roles — restaurateur, actor, painter, designer, collector — Michael Chow has woven together what he once lost: identity, heritage, and a sense of belonging. His life is art, performance, business, and memory all rolled into one.

Personal Life and Relationships: Many Chapters, One Continuum

Michael Chow’s personal life reflects his restless search for self and connection, often crossing continents, art circles, and social spheres. According to public records:

• His first marriage was to designer and model Grace Coddington, from 1968 to 1969. 

• He then married Tina Chow (born Bettina Lutz), from 1972 until 1989 — a period during which the couple had children, including daughter China Chow. 

• His third marriage was to Eva Chun, a fashion designer and painter, from 1992 until their split around 2017. 

• In 2019, he married Vanessa Rano — his current wife, according to publicly available information. 

Through these relationships and his children, Chow’s personal life has mirrored the shifting phases of his creative and professional journey — from London in the swinging 1960s to Los Angeles glamour decades later.

While his partnerships changed over time, one thread remains constant: his belief in building bridges — between people, cultures, disciplines. In that sense, his marriages, like his restaurants, were stages on which larger stories played out.

The Empire’s Value: Estimating Michael Chow’s Net Worth

According to recent analyses, Michael Chow’s net worth is estimated to be around US$300 million.  This valuation stems primarily from the success of the Mr Chow restaurant chain — with added weight from his design work, art-selling, acting credits, and sizable real-estate holdings.

His restaurants — which have spanned London, New York, Beverly Hills, Miami, Las Vegas, and more — remain the cornerstone.  Alongside that is his long-cultivated reputation as a cultural curator and tastemaker: designing high-end boutiques, building a lavish home in Los Angeles, collecting art, and staging exhibitions. 

Some of his real estate assets reportedly include a massive mansion in Holmby Hills — once placed on sale — along with a valuable collection of contemporary art and decorative furniture, which contributes significantly to his overall wealth. 

Why Michael Chow’s Story Resonates: More Than Restaurants

Chow’s journey is not simply one of business success. It’s a story about identity, dislocation, ambition, and reinvention.

Having lost his childhood world in post-revolution China and forged a new identity in London, he never accepted the notion that success meant assimilation. Instead, he continuously reclaimed his heritage — through art, architecture, food, and curation — on his own terms.

Through Mr Chow, he offered more than meals — he offered a stage. A stage where East meets West, tradition meets modernity, culture meets commerce. A stage where a dinner could feel like a performance, a gallery show, a social event, and a bridge between worlds. His restaurants became global salons for celebrities, artists, and tastemakers.

Even now, well into his later years, he continues to paint, collect, and design — living proof that identity and creativity aren’t fixed, but evolve over a lifetime.

In that sense, Michael Chow is more than a successful restaurateur or a rich entrepreneur. He is a living testament to the power of hybridity, resilience, and reinvention — a man who transformed exile into artistry, food into theater, loss into creation.