
Monday, August 04, 2008
Someone Wealthier than You: Dana White and His Rise to Multi-Millions
When you see Dana White, the bald headed President and co-owner of the UFC on TV, he always leaves you with the same impression. He's loud, obnoxious, confident, and most probably wealthy. You're right about the wealthy, but how much is he worth? Dana started at the bottom, way at the bottom. In the 80's, Dana was an aerobics instructor (don't get too excited, it was boxaerobics) and amateur boxer in Las Vegas. By 1995, he was the owner of three Las Vegas-based boxing facilities, named The Gym. White later started his own sports-management company, managing pro boxing prospects. Through his boxing channels he eventually went on to manage mixed martial artists Chuck Lidell and Tito Ortiz. According to wikipedia
As a manager for UFC fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White soon contacted Lorenzo Fertitta, a childhood friend, an executive at Station casinos and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month Lorenzo Fertitta and his older brother Frank Fertitta III bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns 10% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC
In hindsight, the $2 million that the Fertittas paid for the UFC seems like a steal but it wasn't always smooth sailing. At one point, the UFC was $40 million in debt and the Fertittas were on the verge of getting out. Many people say the change of rules helped launch the new UFC but in actuality the rules had already been changed by the time Zuffa made the purchase. It was the gradual acceptance of Mixed Martial Arts that has made the UFC the company it is. That gradual acceptance was led by the UFC financed show "The Ultimate Fighter" and other events on Spike TV. It also helped that White was everywhere and anywhere necessary to help promote the company. Unfortunately, White may have done too good of a job. New fight leagues are popping up everywhere and many are willing to outspend the UFC to get the best fighters. The UFC doesn't seem too worried and their Pay Per View counts continue to grow.
Now let's take a look at the assets of Dana White
1. 10% of the Zuffa (owners of Pride, UFC, and a few other MMA leagues) Accordingly the company's EBITDA margin (EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; an EBITDA margin is akin to a profit margin) more than doubled from the mid-teens in 2005 to more than 40 percent of gross revenues in 2006. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Zuffa is believed to have grossed $190 million in 2006 and posted a before-tax profit of $76 million. You can double that in 2007. Pride was purchased for $70 Million (there was a shady loan involved with the purchase) . Let's put the value of UFC about $1 billion (probably light) and add it to Pride's $350 Million X 10 percent. White's value $135 Million
2. Salary as President of UFC . Complete guess but I would say that it's lower that most people think due to his being an owner as well. I'll say $2 million a year but most likely has bonuses that reflect the fact he is the one who brought UFC to the table for purchase
3. Owner of 3 Private clubs called "The Gym" in Vegas. Value $4 Million
Ironically, White is private when it comes to finances. It is the only thing he is private about but I would put his net worth at 150 million depending on his "private investments" . He also let it be known that he still packs a punch and trains daily in Mixed Martial Arts. He has even challenged his former client Tito Ortiz to a public match. It's this "I can conquer the world" approach that has led him to riches and worthy of being our "Someone Wealthier than You" selection.
For more on MMA please visit Cage Potato








Comments
...
It's "know" by the way, jackass. These comments crack me up. Of coarse the UFC doesn't compare to the NFL in revenue. The company is only 15 years old...only about 7 years under current management. It's only a matter of time.
...you clearly no nothing about.
It's "know" by the way, jackass. These comments crack me up. Of coarse the UFC doesn't compare to the NFL in revenue. The company is only15 years old...only about 7 years under current management. It's only a matter of time.
where to begin
first of all the nfl has a 22 billion dollar per year TV contract so why the games are "free" for you and me, they are not "free". second, i nor anyone i know would ever watch or buy a dvd of a fight, and im sure way more nfl dvds are sold per year that all mma dvds combined. as for the traveling expenses, the ufc has to rent an arena, pay unionized stage hands to set it up, and pay for advertisments, something that network television, espn, newspapers and radio do basically for free for the nfl. and i dont know what a $100,000 person stadium is. not to mention the fact that the stadium is named FedEx field, do you think that is free. plus the redskins are sponsored by coca-cola, sprint, bank of america, etrade, papa johns, siemens and a host of smaller companies who pay to be the "offfical" whatever of the washington redskins.
Retard Math
The Redskins and Cowboys are part of a league that we get to see primarily for free (aside from the DirecTV package and NFL network which still goes more towards the League rather than an individual team).
UFC has events 16+ times a year 12 of which are usually pay per view. So In order to see these events you at least have to have cable of some sort to see the free fights and pay for each event to see the bigger fights. Could you imagine if you had to pay for a Cowboys vs Green Bay monday night game? Or, do you think that you would ever buy or rent a DVD for said game. More likely with UFC type events, oh and Zuffa owns the IFL library and the WEC. So, It is at least plausible that Zuffa is approaching 1 billion $$$.
Also the NFL teams in question have way more overhead. $100,000 person stadium probally takes a bigger payroll to opperate for one game as the UFC takes in an entire year. Not to mention the upkeep of the facilities, taxes, insurance and travel expenditures.
the ufc is bigger across the
the ufc is bigger across the world than either the washington redskins and dallas cowboys.No one outside of america cares about them.The ufc is huge in England,Ireland and across europe!! yOUR DUMB YOU REALLY ARE AN ASS.
You should learn proper
You should learn proper grammar before you go around insulting people.
It's "you're" dumb
Hey man, I see what you're saying, Pride's worth might be a little bloated. But if you're going to insult someone's intelligence, please don't sound stupid yourself. Your words should be chosen properly, otherwise, you're going to look like an idiot.
"Your" and "you're" have different uses, I hope you are able to tell the difference now, Jackass.
your dumb
pride was purchased for 70 million and now somehow that defunct company which has nothing but a video libary has balloned in value, according to you, to 350 million. your an idiot and this article is ridiculous. the washington redskins and dallas cowboys are worth a little over a billion dollars and they both include huge nearly 100,000 person stadiums, training facilities and merchandise, but somehow UFC is equal to that when they barely fill 15,000 person arenas. and ask yourself what do you see more of redskins and cowboy jerseys or ufc apparel. please kill yourself and never write an article about something you clearly no nothing about.
Post new comment