Don King Career and Net Worth

Don King Career and Net Worth, How much money did Don King make off Tyson? are main takeaways from the life of a man who contributed immensely to the sport of boxing.

Don King is an American businessman. Don King has about $150 million in net worth. He goes down easily as the most famous and successful boxing promoters of all time. His controversial moves and idiosyncratic nature often got him into the media spot.
Throughout his career, he has worked with some of the biggest names to ever graced the boxing ring such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes, Julio Cesa Chavez, Andrew Golota, Felix Trinidad, Azumah Nelson and a lot more.
Don King was the brain behind very famous bouts such as “Rumble in the Jungle” and “Thriller in Manila”. Notwithstanding the fact that Don King sharply divides opinions among boxing fans in terms of his legacy, the Champ is unequivocally one of the sensational figures that ever graced the sport.

Don King Early Life
Don King was born on August 20, 1931 in Cleveland, Ohio. After his high school education, he went to Kent State University before dropping out along the way. His entry into the world of organized sports was viewed with skepticism.
Don had ran an illegal bookmaking operation from the basement of a record store which came to an end after King was jailed for murder. King used his time in prison quite as he read and took the opportunity to self-educate. He was given full pardon for his crimes many years after he was out of prison.
A lot of high-profile persons played instrumental roles in cleaning up his image finally. Don, took to boxing promotion immediately he got out of prison. The first of many steps in his promotion career was when King convinced Muhammad Ali for fight in a charity bout to raise funds for a hospital after which he forged a partnership with Don Elbaum.
Elbaum had a number of years as a boxing promoter under his belt having already represented a number of very successful boxers.

Don King Breakthrough
King had his breakthrough after he managed to set up a record-breaking $10 million paycheck for the much-anticipated bout between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in 1974 dubbed “Rumble in the Jungle”.
The bout was promoted as “Rumble in the Jungle” which took place in Zaire, Africa. His success and urge over other promoters was apparently the negotiation he had with the government of Zaire.
King promoted another Ali fight with Chuck Wepner in 1975. Against the popular expectation, Ali was knocked down by Wepner. Fortunately for King and Ali, Ali was knocked down after lasting entire bout, seconds away.
His next feat was the promotion of Ali’s fight with Joe Frazier. He dubbed the bout “Thrilla in Manila” because it was located in the capital of Philippines, Manila. How much money did Don King make off Tyson? The boxing promoter and co-manager bagged a whopping $100 million.

Don King Legal Issues
King murdered two men whilst he was operating his illegal bookmaking operation. In a separate incident, he shot a man while he was attempting to rob one of his underground gambling operations.
Throughout his career, he has been sued by a number fo the boxers he handled. IN 1982, Muhammad Ali took King to court alleging underpayment to the tune of $1.1 million. The case was finally handled out of court with a fine of $50,000.

Don King Personal Life
King’s wife Henrietta passed on December 2, 2010 at age 87. King has a biological daughter, Debbie, a son, Eric, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. He very active politically supporting Obama in 2008 and 2012 elections.

Read more about the controversial boxing promoter.