No Handouts Here: Steve Irwin's Kids Earn Their Own Money & Didn't Inherit Millions

Prior to his tragic and sudden death at the age of 44, in 2006, legendary environmentalist and zookeeper Steve Irwin was a pop culture icon. His hit show "The Crocodile Hunter" not only turned the lovable Aussie into a household name, but almost single-handedly put Animal Planet on the map. With that in mind, it's unsurprising that Steve was raking in a fair amount at the height of his success. Contrary to what some might expect, however, Steve's children, Robert and Bindi Irwin, did not inherit his millions — and there are a number of very good reasons for that.

For starters, while Steve Irwin certainly earned a lot of money, he only kept a small fraction of it for himself. The bulk of the cash he generated from "The Crocodile Hunter" and other media projects went right back into his wildlife conservation efforts, including the upkeep of the famous Australia Zoo, which his family owns and operates to this day. This trend continued after Steve Irwin's death, at which point he was estimated to be worth about $15 million AUD (equivalent to roughly $10 million USD). Most of that money, again, went back to the zoo.

Today, Steve's children earn their own living by carrying on his legacy. Bindi Irwin, who is the spitting image of her late father, serves as the CEO of the Australia Zoo. Her brother, meanwhile, works as a manager at the zoo, though Robert Irwin has also been taking on Hollywood more than ever before in recent years. He had a cameo in Disney's "Zootopia 2" in 2025, and quite literally followed in Bindi's footsteps by winning "Dancing with the Stars" that same year.

The simple reality of being an Irwin is that there's little room for large inheritances, given the sheer amount of money it costs to keep the family business afloat. The Australia Zoo, after all, is anything but cheap to run. As a matter of fact, it wasn't just Steve Irwin's personal fortune that was fed back into the zoo. The payout for his life insurance policy ended up benefiting his pride and joy, as well. And even then, Steve's widow, Terri Irwin, tragically confessed that even the latter chunk of money barely made a dent in their expenses. "I was in debt [...] and Steve's life insurance, I think, was the sum total of $200,000 which didn't even cover half of one week's payroll," Terri explained to The Australian Financial Review in July 2024. Fortunately, the couple had thought ahead prior to his sudden death in 2006, and she encouraged others to do the same. 

"I really advise people to plan your legacy. You can't be arrogant enough to think that 'I'll deal with that in 10 or 20 or 50 years,'" Terri opined. Of course, there are some things you can't plan for. And, like countless other businesses, the Australia Zoo faced one of its biggest challenges yet in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced its temporary closure. The issue, of course, was that even though the Irwins couldn't sell tickets, the high costs of maintaining the grounds and caring for the animals remained. To that end, an insider claimed to Globe magazine in September 2025 that Robert Irwin's aforementioned efforts to go all in on Hollywood were informed by the need to keep the zoo running.