How Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Built Two Billion-Dollar Empires (Part 1)

How Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Built Two Billion-Dollar Empires (Part 1)

From Back Row with Amy Odell by Amy Odell

May 18, 2026 · 1h 1m

About this episode

The episode explores how Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen became billionaires through their early careers and business ventures.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were on television before they could talk and millionaires before they could read. Former Us Weekly editor-in-chief Dan Wakeford, author of the new Celebrity Intelligence newsletter, joins Back Row to break down the Full House casting story, the Dual Star empire, the billion-dollar licensing machine, and the NYU years that changed everything. Part Two — revealing the secrets behind The Row — is available to Premium subscribers. Sign up at Back Row to get newsletter access included with your subscription, or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:40 Dan Wakeford and Celebrity Intelligence 02:47 Why the Olsens are a unique case study 07:50 The Full House casting story 10:07 The reality of child stardom 16:22 How their personalities diverged early 19:49 From pennies to $80,000 an episode 26:27 The home video empire begins 33:28 The billion dollar licensing machine 48:00 Turning 18 and taking control 53:41 NYU and the paparazzi years 57:47 How everything changed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Amy Odell

Guest: Dan Wakeford

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Us Weekly, Celebrity Intelligence, Dual Star

Places: NYU

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