Jamie Oliver paid himself more than £5million months before his restaurant empire collapsed sparking the loss of 1,000 jobs.
Accounts show the TV chef and wife Jools raked in huge dividends from his business empire in 2018.
Yet in May this year his restaurants went into administration with all but three of the 25 outlets closing and creditors facing losses of up to £83million.
One worker said at the time: “I’m really angry. Jamie won’t be looking for a job and struggling to pay his bills, it’ll be poor saps like us who worked for him. He and his management team got greedy.”
(Image: SplashNews.com)
But even as the restaurants struggled Jamie, 44, worth an estimated £240million, picked up other lucrative deals, including a £5million contract with oil giant Shell to create a food-to-go range.
Latest accounts filed at Companies House cover image licensing, publishing and overseas interests – but not the restaurants.
Of the £5.2million paid in dividends last year, £3.2million was from licensing that uses his name on products including barbecues and cookware.
Paul Hunt, chief executive of Jamie Oliver Holdings, hailed what he called a “resilient set of results”.
Dad-of-five Jamie reportedly lost £25million of his own money trying to prop up the restaurants.
A spokesman for Jamie declined to comment about the dividend.
