Bob Arum Net Worth - Pulptastic
What is Bob Arum’s Net Worth?
Bob Arum, the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a boxing promotion company, has a net worth of $300 million. Prior to his successful career in boxing, Arum worked in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Despite his legal background, Arum went on to become a highly successful boxing promoter.
Robert Arum: Early Life and Education
Bob Arum was born on December 8th, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York City. He grew up in an orthodox Jewish household in Crown Heights and went to high school in New York. After high school, he attended Harvard Law School, where he worked hard and graduated summa cum laude. During his time at Harvard, he didn’t get along with some of his classmates, whom he described as “snooty.”
After graduating, Arum began his legal career.
Bob Arum’s Career Change from Law to Boxing Promoter
Bob Arum initially worked as an attorney in the Department of Justice during the Kennedy administration. However, after the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy, he switched his practice area.
Arum conducted research into the details of Kennedy’s assassination while working as a lawyer for several Wall Street firms. Despite his involvement with the Warren Commission Report, he realized that a legal career wouldn’t work out for him due to witnessing too many deaths.
The suicide of Floyd Cramer, the president of Washington Heights Savings and Loan Association, further convinced him that he wasn’t suited for a prosecutor role. Bob continued to practice civil law until 1979 while simultaneously venturing into the world of boxing promotion.
Bob Arum’s Boxing Career
In 1962, Bob Arum was assigned by the Department of Justice to confiscate proceeds of a fight between Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson. He then became a boxing promoter himself after meeting Lester M. Malitz, a CCTV pioneer who was working as a boxing promoter at the time. Arum learned the ropes from figures like Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali, and eventually became the vice president and secretary of Ali’s promotion company, Main Bout.
During the 80s, Arum organized many of the sport’s most memorable fights, including Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Durán and Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns. In 1989, he produced the famous rematch between Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard. During the 90s, he worked heavily with well-known fighters like Michael Carbajal, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, and Erik Morales.
In the 2010s and beyond, Arum focused mainly on Hispanic fighters, citing the immense popularity of boxing in the Hispanic community. His most recent boxing stars include Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, and WBC super featherweight world champion Óscar Valdez. In 1999, he was officially inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Controversies Surrounding Bob Arum
Bob Arum has been involved in numerous controversies throughout his career as a boxing promoter. In 2000, he admitted to paying a bribe to the IBF president to approve a fight. He was sanctioned and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, while the IBF president was indicted for racketeering.
In 2001, Oscar De La Hoya successfully sued Arum and was released from his contract with Top Rank. The FBI raided Top Rank’s office in Las Vegas in 2004, alleging that the company was planning to fix an upcoming fight. However, the investigation was closed in 2006 with no charges being filed.
In 2007, Floyd Mayweather accused Arum of underpaying and exploiting him during the early years of his career. Arum also once sued HBO for trying to become a boxing promoter and trying to eliminate his business. The matter was settled out of court, but Arum continued to complain about HBO and stated that boxing promoters didn’t need the network.
Arum was accused of racism in 2009 after he called UFC fans “skinheads.” He also accused the state of California of racism for taking away Antonio Margarito’s boxing license due to illegal hand wraps.
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