Don King Net Worth

How much is Don King worth?

About Don King

Don King is a legend within the boxing world. Born on August 30, 1931, his is a story about an African American man who rose from seemingly nothing to a great fortune. A tale of a controversial figure who many speculate was criminally involved although only ever sentenced in 1967 for voluntary manslaughter. As a boxing promoter, King is known as the architect behind some of the biggest, most lucrative boxing match-ups the world has ever seen. It was his hand and deft mind that guided the storied careers of such icons as Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman.

A household name, and often parodied, King is instantly recognizable for his wild black and white hairstyle and his penchant for clever wordplay and catchy slogans. He has been awarded many accolades at high society events and is known as a genius in the boxing promoting world, despite what rumors may be circulating the grapevine.

King’s rise to fame came late, after an early life which sounds turbulent. As per Wikipedia, “In 1967, King was convicted of second degree murder after he was found guilty of stomping to death an employee, Sam Garrett, who owed him $600.”

While it is not proven, it’s been long speculated that from an early age King became involved in the gambling underworld. It was common to King’s era that even at a very early age young boys would start running numbers for illegal lottery operations in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. By the time King was 30, it’s rumored that he was even running his own successful gambling operation and had a measure of local fame. From what we can gather, he lived a lavish lifestyle with the money he had earned, though neither his modest fame nor wealth at the time came close to what was going to happen later in his life.

In 1967, King was sentenced to prison for manslaughter after killing an employee of his in an argument over money. It was after his 3 year and 11 month stay in prison, in what many see was a search for new meaning in life, that King organized his first boxing match, a charity event featuring Muhammad Ali.

After forging a relationship with Ali he made his name as an up and coming boxing promoter with the Rumble In The Jungle in 1974. Muhammad Ali shocked the world when he beat George Foreman. Don struck the boxing world with his charm, razor sharp wit and his seeming ability to make almost any fight happen.

In 1975 he was behind the Chuck Wepner Muhammad Ali fight which went 15 rounds and included Wepner knocking down Ali by stepping on his foot in the ninth round.

The same fight that made King famous also made him a very rich man. The Rumble in the Jungle grossed around an estimated $100 million worldwide. Of those proceeds, an estimated $60 million was pay-per-view revenue from within the United States, half of which went directly to the fighters and promoters. They split the $30 million between them. The fighters received $5 million each. The rest was divided between King and co-promoter Video Techniques. Assuming an even split, that’s an estimated $10 million dollars apiece, making Don King a solid millionaire.

From that point forward, King was able to pull top dollar as a promoter. He made millions more on savvy business moves, like arranging the first ever heavyweight bout shown on HBO — netting a cool estimated $2 million in the process. Yet, not every dollar of King’s was earned through ingenuity and hard work. Boxing promoters are paid a percentage of their fighter’s purse. While the usual amount is 25%, it is speculated that King may have taken a larger than average percentage. But then again, who’s to argue, King clearly provided a more profitable service to these boxers overall.

Look, Don King is a risk taker, an entrepreneur we do not think that he gets enough credit. Remember that $10 million he secured from the government of Zaire? That was to cover the $5 million purse he had promised to each fighter to secure his position as promoter for the bout. He didn’t have that money when the deal was made, but his confidence that he could convince the host to provide it made him willing to take a huge risk. And these risks often pay off to the one who will bare them.

Speaking of convincing, Don King is a charismatic and effective negotiator. His promotion deals are almost uniformly more profitable than any other promoters, because he knows how to sell his fighters and his services. He has also talked himself out of many court cases, settling out of court more often than not, if at all, and for much less than he would have likely had to pay otherwise. Love him or hate him, he has the gift of gab. And has been phenomenally successful plying his talents.

He is a man with perseverance, who never lets the obstacles of life stop him. Even in prison, as the story goes, he used his time to read and educate himself to be better prepared for when he attained his freedom. He got out and pursued an entirely new profession in his middle age. When he couldn’t stage The Rumble in the Jungle in the U.S., he relocated to Africa. No matter what happens, he is ready to tackle it head-on.

Most useful of all, King is a great judge of character and talent. All his other skills would have yielded much lower returns if he weren’t promoting the greatest fighters in boxing history. No one else has so consistently been attached to champions. But why not? Why nickel and dime when instead you could invest your energy in make or break events that if you lose. You still have the same as what you started with. But if you win, you bank millions.

Summing-Up

Don King, maybe is a man that evokes a mixture emotions for many people within the boxing game and amongst fans alike. Yet overall we think that he has been a positive influence in boxing having brought together some of the biggest names together, making for some of the biggest fights of all time.

He is likely the greatest boxing promoter of all time.