Background and career
George Edward Foreman (January 10, 1949 – March 21, 2025) was an American professional boxer, businessman, minister, and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997, and was nicknamed "Big George". He was a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. He is the namesake of the George Foreman Grill.
After a troubled childhood, Foreman took up amateur boxing and won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Having turned professional the next year, he won the undisputed world heavyweight title with a stunning second-round knockout of the then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973. He defended the belt twice before suffering his first professional loss to Muhammad Ali in "The Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974. Unable to secure another title opportunity, Foreman retired after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977.
Following what he referred to as a born again experience, Foreman became an ordained Christian minister. Ten years later he announced a comeback, and in 1994, at age 45, won the unified WBA, IBF, and lineal heavyweight championship titles by knocking out 26-year-old Michael Moorer, earning Associated Press Athlete of the Year honors. He dropped the WBA belt rather than face his mandatory title defense soon after, and following a single successful title defense against Axel Schulz, Foreman relinquished his IBF title as well on June 28, 1995. At 46 years and 169 days old, he became the oldest world heavyweight champion in history, as well as the second-oldest boxer to win a world title in any weight class after Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight. Foreman also holds the record for the longest interval between world title reigns, spanning more than 20 years. He retired in 1997 at the age of 48, with a final record of 76 wins (68 knockouts) and 5 losses.
Foreman is a member of both the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The International Boxing Research Organization rates Foreman as the eighth-greatest heavyweight of all time. In 2002, he was named one of the 25 greatest fighters of the past 80 years by The Ring; the following year, the magazine ranked him as the ninth-greatest puncher of all time. He was a ringside analyst for HBO's boxing coverage for 12 years until 2004. Outside boxing, Foreman was a successful entrepreneur and known for his promotion of the George Foreman Grill, which had sold more than 100 million units worldwide by 2011. In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the grill for $138 million.
George Edward Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas, on January 10, 1949, to Leroy Moorehead and Nancy Ree (Nelson). He grew up in the Fifth Ward community of Houston, Texas, with six siblings. He was raised by J.D. Foreman, whom his mother had married when George was a small child. By his own admission in his autobiography, George was a troubled youth. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and spent time as a mugger. At age 16, Foreman had a change of heart and convinced his mother to sign him up for Job Corps after seeing an ad for the Corps on TV. As part of Job Corps, Foreman earned his GED and trained to become a carpenter and bricklayer. After moving to Pleasanton, California, with the help of a supervisor, he began to train. Foreman was interested in football and idolized Jim Brown, but gave it up for boxing.
How George Foreman makes money
Every contract has some complication." Tyson signed with King (and by 1998, was suing him for $100 million); and the bout never materialized. Although Foreman never confirmed exactly how much he earned from the endorsement, Salton paid him $138 million in 1999 for the right to use his name.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth, in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
