Back Row with Amy Odell
Back Row with Amy Odell
Amy Odell
How Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Built Two Billion-Dollar Empires (Part 1)
1 hour 1 minutes Posted May 18, 2026 at 10:00 am.
Introduction
Dan Wakeford and Celebrity Intelligence
Why the Olsens are a unique case study
The Full House casting story
The reality of child stardom
How their personalities diverged early
From pennies to $80,000 an episode
The home video empire begins
The billion dollar licensing machine
Turning 18 and taking control
NYU and the paparazzi years
How everything changed
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Show notes
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 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
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