Dana White Net Worth

How much is Dana White worth?

About Dana White

Dana White was born on July 28th 1969 in Manchester, Connecticut. His family were of Irish descent. He was raised mainly by his mother and her family. After high school, Dana had a few failed attempts at going to college but by then he had found his passion for boxing and formal education wasn’t high on his list of priorities. Instead he earned a living as a bouncer, among other things, then a moderately successful boxercise coach.

That is, until he ran into trouble owing money (allegedly to some Irish mobsters who weren’t exactly going to just let it drop!) So, when it seemed like things were going to escalate from bad to worse, (allegedly) White decided to cut his losses and head for Vegas. We don’t know what became of the debt or if this story is true but we assume he paid what was owed. He is definitely a man who pays his dues.

In Vegas, he found work as a manager for fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. Through these contacts, he became friendly with the owner of Semaphore Entertainment Group, which was the parent company of the UFC. It was here he learned that the then struggling UFC was to be sold.

Dana made contact with his childhood friend, who he had reconnected with a short time before, Lorenzo Fertitta. Fertitta was a well-connected executive and co-owner at Station Casinos. Lorenzo’s father was Frank Fertitta Jr. who first opened the Palace Station Casino with the idea of a place where Las Vegas locals could gamble, becoming incredibly rich in the process.

Dana hoped he would see the potential and knew he would have the financial means. Lorenzo and his brother Frank convinced their father and finally The Fertitta Brothers baggged the UFC for the bargain price of $2 million. Dana was positioned perfectly for him to walk in as the president of the UFC, not even a speck on the map of professional fight promotions. Fortunately, he was the right man for the job.

The UFC was struggling at the time to say the least. In fact when the Fertitta brothers acquired it, they had acquired little more than the name as the previous owners had sold many assets to avoid bankruptcy. It used to be pretty fretty and many of the rules weren’t really named down.

But with White at the forefront and Lorenzo Fertitta as CEO, they began to turn it around. The real turning point, it seems, came when they started up the reality TV show, the Ultimate Fighter. The show became a big hit, with massive ratings. It was the cash injection desperately needed to recover deficits. From here, interest in the UFC soared, as did profits.

Some of the original UFC fighters of the day were Marco Ruas, Guy Mezger, Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov, Ken Shamrock, Gary Goodridge, Mark Coleman, Don Frye and Royce Gracie.

As the UFC’s popularity soared, so too did Dana’s bank balance. With a very handsome salary and a 10% stake in the company, White’s combination of know-how in the world of sport and mixed martial arts, as well as his natural savvy as a businessman have made him hugely successful, not to mention incredibly rich.

Dana’s salary is estimated to be as high as $20 million dollars, which is deserved considering the growth of the company and peaking revenue. In 2019, UFC broke their financial records and reportedly had around $900 million in revenue.

Dana White may be a savvy businessman but many point to his big personality that has been key to his success. He speaks his mind and does not take any BS.

He is well known for his feuds with various boxers and going toe to toe with the press, not being a man to hold back on expressing his views. He became the face of the UFC, known for being not aggressive but outspoken, not exactly holding back on the profanities… This, of course, makes for entertaining TV.

The success of the Ultimate Fighter brought about massive interest in mixed martial arts and the UFC steadily grew from there. Viewing in the first season peaked, unsurprisingly, during the live finale when Forrest Griffin took on Stephen Bonnar. Griffin was crowned victor, earning himself a worthy title and a UFC contract. The Ultimate Fighter aired for an incredible 28 seasons between 2005 and 2018.

The UFC also branched out into women’s professional fighting, and in more recent years, Dana’s first love, boxing became a feature of the UFC’s portfolio; really kicking off when he promoted the Floyd Mayweather Vs Conor McGregor fight. This was an unprecedented match up at the time and still is, one of only very few that had a mixed martial artist in the ring with a boxer. Surprisingly despite only being able to use his punching skills, McGregory scored some neat shots that surprised Mayweather and critics.

His accomplishments have been widely acknowledged, he was named Nevada Sportsman of the Year in 2009, as well as received the Patriot Award from the Armed Forces Foundation that same year. From 2008 to 2019 White was named Leading Man of the Year at the MMA Awards. Nowadays the production value of the promotions is cutting edge and considered the best in the world in any combat sport by many.

Although Dana White has had his controversies it’s true, he has done plenty of good in the world with large donations to various charitable causes that don’t often enough get talked about. Not to mention Dana is one of the key people who put MMA on the map, and The Fertitta Brothers are incredibly grateful I’m sure, to the man who in many ways made the UFC what it is today. Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta sold the UFC for $4 billion in 2016. Dana also earned hundreds of millions off of the deal, as deserved.

Summing-Up

Dana White can certainly be said to have had a massively successful career. Perhaps, initially it seemed his destiny would steer him towards professional boxing as he had a natural talent for it. However opportunity knocked at the right moment and he probably made one of the most successful moves of all time: Taking on the role of president of the then ailing UFC (in 2001). As of 2023, Dana White has an estimated net worth of about $500 million.

On a personal level, Dana married his childhood sweetheart in 1996 and they have two sons and a daughter. The marriage seems to have been another success in White’s life, withstanding controversy and an incredibly hectic work life. He very much tries to maintain a private life for his family however and keeps them out of the spotlight.

White’s career as a businessman, although at times under fire has been nothing short of an incredible success story. We’re looking forward to what will come next from the UFC and from Dana in general.