George Foreman

You would not have ever predicted the success of this man when he first came on the boxing scene. I remember him as what I pretty much considered a thug in the mold of Mike Tyson who came after George. We know he became a minister when he left boxing and now is more widely known for his association with Salton, Inc. which makes the George Foreman grill which all of us own at least one of. What we all now realize is the man has become a decent human being with a sense of humor which I find engaging. What few of us realize, however, is the extent to which the man has become a financial tycoon.

The man was very intelligent about money from the start. He took his early boxing purses and put them into a trust which was for his old age. When he retired the first time that money was there for later, but he wanted to raise some money to finance a return to boxing. By this time he was well beyond the age where boxers have success. He tried to find 10 people to invest $50,000 each or 5 guys with $100,000 each with the agreement that they would get 40% of his earnings in return. Nobody would take the chance so he took some of the money he had saved up for his several kids and financed it himself. According to the interview I read this morning in the Wall Street Journal, they missed out on $40 million which he had to keep all for himself.