Dana White’s Net Worth (3 Lessons to Fighting Your Way to Millions)

Introduction

Dana White is the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

He and his business partners purchased the struggling mixed martial arts organization for $2 million in 2001. In 2016, they sold the UFC for $4.025 billion dollars.

As of 2019, Dana White’s net worth is approximately $500 million.

Early Life

Dana’s entrance to the fight game started with a wild story, that in many ways is symbolic of the business roller coaster he would spend the next 20 years living.

Although he’d been boxing since he was 17, he didn’t fully jump into combat sports until age 19.

At the time, White worked as a bellman at a luxury hotel. He made good money and described it as a good job, but he noticed most of coworkers viewed the job as a career.

That’s when everything changed:

I was literally standing in the lobby one day, and I’m like, “What the hell am I doing here? This isn’t me. This isn’t what I want.” And I walked out the front door…

One of my good friends asked me, ‘What are you doing? What are you gonna do?’

I said, “I want to be in the fight business.” [My friend] said, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” -Dana White

Entering the fight business (and a run in with the mob…)

So, without even so much as a car to his name, Dana quit his stable job.

He started biking everywhere. Including, to the doorstep of local boxing legend, Peter Welsh.

Dana asked Peter Welsh if he could work with him. His goal was simple, if not insane – to learn everything there was to know about the fight game.

Peter reluctantly agreed. Dana then spent the next three years working for free. Peter put him on every job from boxing corner man, to referee, and even to fight manager.

Around age 25, Dana’s life took another unexpected twist. After one too many intimidating phone calls, Dana bought a one way ticket to Vegas.

Why? He need to flee town to avoid the Irish Mob. (It’s actually a crazy story – hear Dana tell it in his own words:)

Losing Everything, and Starting Over in Vegas

Dana left everything he owned in Boston, and he found himself starting completely over in Las Vegas.

The only thing he had to his name, other than the airplane suitcase he brought with him, was the knowledge of the fight game that he’d learned over the past few years working in boxing.

So, he opened a boxing gym.

Shortly thereafter, his life course would again change significantly when he attended a friend’s wedding. There, he bumped into his old friend Lorenzo Fertitta.

The two had gone to high school together, and were surprised to learn they were both involved in the fight business. Although Lorenzo and his brother Frank were local casino owners by trade, Lorenzo had recently joined the Nevada State Athletic commission, the entity responsible for regulating boxing matches.

In another chance encounter, Dana, Frank, and Lorenzo met some UFC fighters while out at a bar. Through this connection, Dana began managing the fighters, including future UFC champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.

In late December 2000, the UFC’s original owner called Dana. The owner admitted the company was completely bankrupt. Dana White, still just a manager to some of the organization’s fighters, immediately called Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. Dana threw out a wild idea – they should buy the UFC.

One month later, the three purchased the UFC for $2 million dollars, with Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta providing nearly all of the investment from their casino revenue.

Rise to Wealth – Running the UFC

The Fertitta brothers immediately appointed Dana as the new President of the UFC.

At the time, the UFC was still a mostly underground sport. It was unregulated in several notable states, including Nevada. Due to its reputation as “human cockfighting” you could not watch it on cable, and pressure from Congress actually had it banned from pay-per-view.

As President, Dana worked with his now co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who sat on the Nevada State Athletic Commission, to get the UFC regulated in the country’s biggest fighting state. They succeeded, and over the next 3 years, the company grew notably.

However, the UFC was still not profitable.

In fact, the UFC had burned through nearly $40 million dollars.

Although the Fertitta brothers were able to keep the lights on using their casino revenue, one day Lorenzo called Dana. He didn’t want to keep losing millions of dollars. He told Dana they needed to sell.

Dana made some phone calls and found a potential buyer, who was willing to offer $6-7 million for the company.

Lorenzo initially agreed to sell the company and eat the roughly $35 million dollar loss. Then, Lorenzo changed his mind overnight.

They would not sell. They were going to see how far they could take the UFC.

The big turning point…

UFC saw its first turning point with UFC 40. The event featured WWE wrestler Ken Shamrock against Tito Ortiz, one of the UFC’s most popular fighters at the time. The event shattered the UFC’s previous pay-per-view records, and showed hope for the sport.

An even bigger break came in 2005 when Dana secured a deal for a UFC-themed reality television show, which featured up and coming fighters competing for a UFC contract.

Although several networks immediately rejected the idea, Dana was eventually able to convince Spike TV to agree. (Only after the UFC offered to pay all $10 million in production costs themselves.)

For the first time, viewers could watch the UFC on cable television. (Without purchasing a pricey pay-per-view event.)

The first season drew surprisingly strong TV ratings, and culminated with a dramatic season finale – a live bout between Stephen Bonnar and Forest Griffin. The fight was so action-packed that many considered it one of the best fights in UFC history at the time. To this day, Dana credits the event with saving the UFC.

With the UFC’s increased visibility, pay per view purchases and TV ratings continued to soar.

In less than a year, pay-per-view revenues skyrocketed to over $222 million dollars, passing both professional wresting and boxing for the first time in history.