Wally Amos Net Worth: How Did He Become Poor?
It is estimated that Wally Amos, an American television personality, entrepreneur and author, has a net worth of $20,000 He created the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie company. He has also written 10 books.
Childhood: Wally Amos
He was born in Tallahassee, Florida, on July 1, 1936. Until he was 12 years old, he lived with his aunt Della Bryan in New York City following his parents’ divorce. When Wally was a youngster, his aunt Della showed him how to make chocolate chip cookies. After failing his final year of high school, he opted to enlist in the United States Air Force. He earned his GED while stationed at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he served during his service there.
Career of Wally Amos:
Amos was the first African-American talent agent at the William Morris Agency in New York, where he represented Diana Ross and The Supremes (Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, and Simon & Garfunkel), among others. As a means of attracting new clients and employees, Amos began distributing his freshly made chocolate cookies to anybody who would accept an invitation to meet.
To support his growing family, Amos launched a cookie bakery in 1975 in Los Angeles, California. He received a $25,000 loan from Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy to launch his business. The first Famous Amos cookie business opened its doors in Los Angeles in March of 1975. Amos and the cookie business were household names within five years, and their popularity soared. Amos appeared as himself in the television show “Taxi” in the episode “Latka’s Cookies.”
In 1982, Famous Amos sold $12 million worth of merchandise. In today’s terms, that’s almost $30 million.
His services were sought after by organisations around the country at this time as a motivational speaker or author. Unfortunately, this would be the company’s pinnacle achievement. The company’s sales dropped precipitously and it slid into the red in only a few short years. Wally sold out a few of the company’s shares in order to keep it afloat. The Uncle Noname’s Cookie Company, which he rebranded in 1999 as Uncle Wally’s Muffin Company following a court struggle with Lou Avigonne, was launched after he sold the Famous Amos Company. The low-fat muffins may be found in more than 3,500 different stores across the United States of America.
Amos resumed his cookie business in Hawaii under the moniker The Cookie Kahuna at some time in 2014, however the venture was sadly short-lived. Pecan and macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies are just two of the many variations on the classic cookie. Amos was dubbed “The King of Cookies” by KSNV-TV in Las Vegas in 2019. Coming in 2020, the documentary film The Great Cookie Comeback: reBaking Wally Amos by Jeff MacIntyre will tell the story of Amos’ life.
Expansion of the business
John Rosica, an old friend and publicist of Amos’ John Rosica, referred Wally to Literacy Volunteers of America. Amos has taught hundreds of people how to read as a volunteer throughout the course of his career. Since then, he has been an advocate for adult education. In 1987, he began presenting “Learn to Read” with the support of Kentucky Education Television in order to educate other adults how to read.
A Day at the Office
Chris Harris has been married to Christine Amos-Harris since 1979. For Famous Amos’ packaging, she worked with him before to her fame. The couple has four children: Michael, Gregory, Sarah, and blues musician Shawn Amos. The family has lived in Hawaii since 1977. Wally and Christine relocated to Columbia, South Carolina, in 2018.
Breaking news: Wally Amos has been found dead.
To help Wally get his finances back on track, he launched a GoFundMe campaign in March 2017. As seen in the video, Wally’s Cookie Kahuna looks to be insolvent. According to him, he won’t be able to pay his rent or purchase food if he doesn’t have any money. A goal of $50,000 has been established for the GoFundMe.