Don King is synonymous with the world of boxing. As one of the
sport’s most well-known promoters, he is one of the main reasons
for boxing’s explosion in popularity in the 1970s and 80s,
introducing the world to names like Muhammad Ali, George
Foreman, and Mike Tyson. Now 88 years old, where is Don King
today and what is his net worth?

Don King joins the world of boxing

Don King and his checkered past have been well documented. He
ran an illegal bookmaking operation in the 1950s. He was charged
with killing two men 13 years apart. And he served time in
prison.

Upon his release from prison, King decided to pursue a career as
a boxing promoter. King’s first break came when he met Muhammad Ali
and convinced him to fight in a charity event to raise money for a
local hospital. After that initial event, King partnered with
another boxing promoter who had years of experience and a stable of
fighters.

King learned from his mentor and then became a prominent figure
in the sport in 1974 when he out-dueled other promoters by working
with the government of Zaire in securing a then-record $10 million
purse for the first Muhammad Ali-George Foreman bout, known as “The
Rumble in the Jungle.” That single fight, which was viewed on
television by one billion people worldwide, propelled King to the
top of the boxing promotion hierarchy.

His legendary career as boxing’s greatest promoter

A year after The Rumble, King teamed up with Ali again in his
next fight, and promoted the bout against Joe Frazier, which would
be held in the Philippines and, in typical Don King-style, had a
catchy title known as the “Thrilla in Manilla.”

Ali’s worldwide success with King enticed other talented boxers
to join forces with the brash promoter. In the 1970s, King worked
with some of the biggest names in boxing including Larry Holmes,
Wilfred Benítez, Roberto Durán, Salvador Sánchez, Wilfredo Gómez,
Alexis Argüello, and many others.

For the next 20-plus years, talented boxers flocked to King,
hoping to headline a card and earn big paydays in the process. Mike
Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez, Bernard Hopkins and
countless others signed deals with the promoter. What many fighters
would allege years later was King could land the big fights with
the big payouts, but all too often the large amounts of money never
made it to the fighters’ bank accounts.

King’s controversies throughout his career

Not surprisingly, Don King’s questionable ethics before boxing
followed him into the sport. No fighter was exempt from King’s
low-balling tactics, including Ali. In 1982, Ali sued King for
underpaying him $1.1 million for his fight with Larry Holmes. In
the hospital with ailing health, Ali signed off on a deal accepting
a $50,000 cash settlement from King.

That pattern of behavior dogged King throughout his career as a
promoter. Numerous fighters accused him of cheating them of large
amounts of money. Mike Tyson, who has been estranged from King for
years, described him as “ruthless, “deplorable,” and “greedy.”
Tyson sued King for $100 million, alleging he had cheated him out
of millions over more than a decade. King settled out of court for
$14 million.

Other boxers that sued King include Terry Norris, Lennox Lewis,
and Larry Holmes. Holmes once said of the promoter, “King’s an
equal opportunity dirtbag, he screws everybody.”

Where is Don King today and what is his net worth?

At age 88, King has mostly withdrawn from the world of boxing.
He’s been a recluse for the last ten years since his wife of 50
years, Henrietta, died in 2010. His trademark head of gray hair has
wilted considerably.

He lives in Deerfield Beach, Florida and has a staggering net
worth of $150 million, although many boxers still contend that’s
not really all of his money.

While King hasn’t promoted a big heavyweight fight in years, he
said in a New York Times interview, he would be
happy to promote another big fight, but the sport has changed so
much, in particular the fighters and their desire.

“These guys are not dedicated and committed to the sport like
the older guys were. They all want to read the headlines, and when
you go out and extol them virtuously and say things about them,
they believe the things to the extent they don’t have to do
nothing. They believe it’s going to be like osmosis; it’s going to
fall from the sky.”

Don King waxing poetic about boxing. Some things never
change.