Jay Shetty Turned a Monk's Robe Into a 100 Million Dollar Media Company

Jay Shetty spent three years as a Hindu monk before walking away from monastic life in 2013 to build what has become one of the biggest names in the wellness and self improvement world. His latest move puts a number on just how big that business has gotten, a combined 100 million dollar deal with Spotify and Netflix spread across three years for his podcast On Purpose, which moves on from a previous arrangement with iHeart Media that had been paying him roughly 21 million dollars a year before taxes and fees.

Shetty is 38 now, and the accent and easy warmth that built his early Instagram and YouTube following starting around 2016 have carried him well past short affirmation clips. On Purpose launched in 2019 and is now relaunching on Netflix, joining a portfolio that includes his 2020 book Think Like A Monk, a number one New York Times bestseller that has sold more than 2 million copies.

Behind the scenes, Shetty founded a production company called Perfect Strangers in February 2026, which now employs 18 people out of a home studio in the Hollywood Hills that reportedly cost around 500,000 dollars to build out inside a house worth roughly 8 million dollars. The company also produces Friends Keep Secrets, a separate podcast hosted by Benny Blanco, Lil Dicky, and Kristin Batalucco, and has TV projects in development at Netflix, including a dating show.

The wellness label extends into products as well as content. Shetty has a sparkling tea brand called Juni, has invested in the blood testing company Function Health, and runs certification courses that run buyers up to 7,000 dollars. His name also carries weight with brand partners including Calm, BIOptimizers, IM8, AG1, and BetterHelp, all companies built around some version of the same self improvement pitch Shetty has built his career on.

Shetty has been direct about how he sees himself now. I am not a monk anymore, he has said. Today I consider myself an entrepreneur. He has also talked about wanting staying power on the scale of the late night hosts and talk show legends who came before him, saying he wants to do this for as long as Fallon and Letterman and Oprah did their shows, and even longer.

The rise has not been without scrutiny. The Guardian published reporting in 2024 raising questions about plagiarism in some of Shetty's content and about how accurately he described his monastic training, along with concerns about claims made in his certification courses. Shetty has denied wrongdoing.

Controversy aside, the business keeps expanding. A media career that started with short videos about letting go of negativity has turned into a production company, a beverage brand, a health investment, and now a nine figure deal with two of the biggest names in streaming, proof that the wellness industry has plenty of room left for anyone who can turn calm into a company.