Bourdain leaves bulk of $1.2M estate to 11-year-old daughter

NEW YORK - AP

Globe-trotting chef, author and TV host Anthony Bourdain was worth $1.2 million when he died last month and left most of the estate to his 11-year-old daughter, according to court papers filed last week in New York.

Bourdain's will and related papers show assets including $425,000 in cash and savings, $250,000 in personal property, $500,000 in intangibles like royalties and residuals, and $35,000 in a brokerage account. The documents also list a $1.1 million mortgage.

The 61-year-old Bourdain was found dead June 8 in an apparent suicide in his hotel room in Kaysersberg, France, an ancient village where he was working on his CNN series "Parts Unknown."

Bourdain wrote his last will and testament in December 2016 and named wife, Ottavia Busia-Borudain, as executor. By that time, the two had already announced they were separated but said they were still friends.

The court will appoint a guardian ad litem to represent their daughter Ariane's interests, because she's a minor.

Bourdain's will instructs Busia to dispose of his "accumulated frequent flier miles" and other possessions like cars, furnishings and jewelry in a way she believes he would've wanted.

Bourdain was an irreverent and sometimes foulmouthed presence on TV shows starting with "A Cook's Tour" on the Food Network.

"Parts Unknown," his most recent show, was part travelogue, part history lesson, part homage to exotic foods.

Bourdain's breakthrough as an author came with the 2000 publication of "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly."

The book created a sensation by combining frank details of his life and career with behind-the-scenes observations on the culinary industry.

Bourdain was dating actress Asia Argento at the time of his death. She was not mentioned in the will.

After Bourdain's death, she wrote on Twitter: "Anthony gave all of himself in everything that he did. His brilliant, fearless spirit touched and inspired so many, and his generosity knew no bounds."