Entertainment

Rebecca Miller/Bravo

Austen Kroll Is Tackling The Beer Industry

by Caralynn Lippo

Given that the show literally centers around the lives of Charleston, South Carolina socialites, it's understandable that viewers might assume everyone on Southern Charm is fairly affluent. And by "fairly affluent," I of course mean "rich AF." That yacht-lounging and fancy dining doesn't pay for itself, y'know. But with the recent addition of a new face to our group of Southern Charm-ers, many fans are now wondering about Southern Charm newcomer Austen Kroll's net worth.

While an estimate for his net worth isn't available online — unsurprising, given that he's a fairly low-profile figure (or at least was, prior to joining the Southern Charm cast) — viewers do know what Austen's job is and have a sense of what his salary could be. According to Austen's LinkedIn profile, he graduated from the University of Alabama in 2010 with a degree in Business Administration and Management and currently works as a territory sales manager at Red Hare Brewing Co. Red Hare is a beer brewery located in Marietta, Georgia, and Austen has been working there since May 2016. Between graduating college and his current gig, Austen also worked as a banquet server, a bar manager, and a cellar man. The guy is a big fan of beer, basically, which means I already like him.

Based on the information the show has released about its latest cast member, the LinkedIn information seems to be up-to-date. His Bravo profile explains that the Southern Charm new addition "found himself immersed in the local craft beer scene" after arriving in Charleston, "eventually moving his way to selling beer for a regional craft brewery out of Atlanta." That all matches up with Austen's listed job as territory sales manager at Red Hare. But how much does a territory sales manager in the Atlanta area at a craft beer brewery make?

Glassdoor puts the salary for this position in Atlanta at an average of $61,570, while Indeed estimates a significantly higher average annual pay rate of $77,242. Of course, neither of these figures is limiting the data to only brewery sales managers (let alone smaller craft brewers), so the figure is skewed by non beer-industry numbers. Payscale comes the closest to narrowing it down, listing an average nationwide salary of $69,982 for an area sales manager in the alcohol/beer/wine industry.

While those salary estimates aren't astoundingly high, it's important to remember that, like virtually all of the other cast members, Austen probably comes from a wealthy and/or influential family. Case in point: The Kroll family has a "second home on Kiawah Island" right off the coast of Charleston, which potentially could mean that at least some of his net worth is inherited. Modest salary aside, Austen's net worth still might be quite a bit — especially if he's keeping pace with Shep.