Mike Tyson became the youngest world champion in heavyweight history. By the mid-90s, the boxer was the richest athlete, and approximately half a billion dollars had accumulated in his account. But due to his lavish lifestyle, he lost everything and became bankrupt.
How did Tyson become so rich?
When Tyson became the absolute world champion, he earned tens of millions for fights. In 1988, Mike set the record for the largest payday in history at that time — $22 million against Michael Spinks.
Tyson had so much money that he didn’t know where to spend it: “When I was young, I didn’t know how to handle money. He gave people money, threw parties and orgies. I went crazy then. Was so sick and had no idea I was that sick. I bought a lot of cars for the girls.”
What did Tyson spend millions on?
During his career, Tyson purchased 111 cars for himself, and another 19 for friends. The Bentley Continental SC, which cost $500 thousand, stood out in the collection. Also in the fleet were Ferrari, Lamborghini, Range Rover, Mercedes and Rolls-Royce.
But Tyson considers the wildest purchase to be a bathtub made of pure gold, which he gave to his first wife Robin Givens for Christmas. It cost Mike an incredible $2 million.
Why did Tyson get tigers?
Another crazy thing Tyson did was buying three Bengal tigers, each of which cost $70,000. Another 12 thousand a month was spent on their maintenance. Tigress Kenya was Boxer’s pet: she lived with him for 16 years, but was confiscated when she bit her neighbor.
“Someone jumped over the fence where the tiger was and started playing with it. The tiger didn’t know the girl, so it was an accident. They tried to sue me until they found out about her penetration. When I saw what the tiger did to her hand, I gave her 250 thousand dollars. I was a fool then, there is no way to curb these cats one hundred percent,” said Mike.
According to Forbes, Tyson earned $685 million during his career, but declared himself bankrupt in 2003. Moreover, Mike owed the US tax authorities 23 million, so at the end of his career he agreed to fights that seriously damaged his legacy and led to depression.