Mike Tyson has been sued a staggering amount of times which has fans wondering how much his legal troubles have cost the famous boxer.
After Mike Tyson became famous as one of the best boxers of all time, he was nicknamed the baddest man on the planet. Thanks to his fearsome reputation in the ring, Tyson was paid a fortune for his top fights. Once Tyson retired from boxing, his fame allowed him to keep cashing in through things like working with the WWE and joining the Hangover franchise.
Despite all the money Tyson made over the years, he isn’t as rich as some people may assume. The reason for that is throughout the ebbs and flows of Tyson’s life, there have been many headlines about people suing the former boxer. With that in mind, it is only natural to wonder how much those lawsuits have cost Tyson.
How Many Lawsuits Has Mike Tyson Settled?
On top of Mike Tyson being nicknamed the baddest man on the planet, he also was called Iron Mike at the height of his boxing career. Many years later in 2010, another boxer named Mike Landrum sued Tyson for $115 million for stealing and commercializing that nickname. Landrum’s lawsuit ultimately was thrown out but unfortunately for Tyson, he has paid up as a result of many of the other lawsuits filed against him.
One of the earlier examples of Tyson settling a lawsuit comes from 1995 when the boxer reached a deal with Desiree Washington. In her lawsuit, Washington sought unspecified damages for numerous things including battery, false imprisonment, and emotional distress from Tyson. While it is clear that Tyson settled, there is no way to know how much he paid Washington.
In 1998, Tyson settled an assault lawsuit that was filed by Abmielec Saucedo who claimed that the boxer punched him in the face, and Richard Hardick who said Mike kicked him in the groin. Yet again, the terms of the agreement the parties came to were not disclosed publicly.
Two years later in the year 2000, Tyson settled yet another lawsuit, this time from Sherry Cole and Chevelle Butts who claimed that Mike touched them without consent. When Cole and Butts filed in court, they sought $7.5 million in damages. Just like the aforementioned lawsuits, the terms of this settlement were kept private.
Based on what is known about Tyson, it is clear that the aforementioned lawsuits are only a sample of the times he has been taken to court by other parties. On top of that, it is clear that Tyson settled other lawsuits.
While it has been known for a long time that Tyson has paid money to make many lawsuits go away, which is something other celebrities also do, there was no way to know how costly that was. At least, that was the case until a 2020 episode of Tyson’s “Hotboxin’” podcast.
During an episode of Tyson’s podcast, Mike brought up the lawsuit settlements he has paid in the past. Before Tyson claimed that he’d never even met some of the people who sued him, Mike said he paid millions to settle lawsuits.
“I was that guy, trippin’, hitting people ‘cause they’re f—ing with me too much for autographs, I f—ing knocked ‘em out or something, or break their f—ing jaw,” he said. “I started signing those checks and that’s what broke my spirit … these guys getting $4 million, I don’t even know these guys! $8 million, I don’t even know these—who are these guys!?”
Assuming that Tyson’s claims that he paid $4 million to settle one lawsuit and $8 million for another weren’t hyperbole, that is a staggering amount of money. After all, Tyson settled more than two lawsuits over the years. As a result, if Tyson’s podcast comments reflected reality, he clearly has paid at least $12 million to settle lawsuits and likely a lot more than that.
Mike Tyson Is Still Getting Sued
At the height of Mike Tyson’s boxing career, he was making a staggering amount of money. With that in mind, it certainly seemed like Tyson should be one of the richest athletes in the world today.
While it is clear that Tyson and his wife have more money than the vast majority of people in the world today, the fact remains that Mike’s fortune was eaten away over the years. Due to things like Tyson’s history of spending a huge amount of money on his lifestyle and the lawsuits he has settled, Celebrity Net Worth estimates Mike has a $10 million fortune as of this writing.
Since Tyson continues to make money through things like his podcast, it seems like he shouldn’t be in any serious financial peril with his $10 million fortune. Unfortunately for Tyson, however, he is facing a pair of lawsuits as of this writing that could quickly put him in a bad place financially.
Most recently in January 2023, it was revealed that Tyson is facing a $5 million lawsuit in New York under the Adult Survivors Act. According to the woman who filed suit against Tyson, her lawsuit stems from an incident that took place in the early-90s.
The plaintiff claims that Tyson wouldn’t take no for an answer when they were in the back of a limousine. The lawsuit states that the plaintiff suffered “feelings of guilt, loss of self-respect, shame, embarrassment, sadness, anger, depression, anxiety, violent tendencies, drug and alcohol addiction and confusion.”
The other lawsuit that Tyson is currently facing stems from a much-talked-about incident that took place on an airplane. According to a statement Tyson’s camp put out at the time of the incident, it was the plaintiff who caused the problem.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat.”
According to the lawyer for the other person involved in the incident, Melvin Townsend III became overexcited to meet a star. Townsend’s lawyer made it clear they feel that it was unacceptable for Tyson to punch his client in the face, so they are seeking unspecified damages.