How did gerald dowden get rich?
Gerald Dowden, whose family is the subject of the reality TV show "Bayou Billionaires," became rich because his property sits on a very large deposit of natural gas. He's paid as much as $116,680 per month by oil and gas companies for them to harvest the natural gas on his land. On the show, Gerald calls these payments "mailbox money," because he gets checks in the mail from the gas company. The deposit of natural gas is the fourth largest in the United States.
Recently, it has been estimated that the Dowdens will earn $57.6 million overall from all of their wells over the years.