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

Back Row is on vacation this week, so we're revisiting one of the most popular episodes of the year: a two-parter on Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, in honor of The Row's 20th anniversary. 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 (https://www.backrow.net/subscribe) to get newsletter access included with your subscription, or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ⁠Find Part Two in Apple Podcasts here⁠ ⁠Find Part Two in Spotify here⁠ 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