What was Al Davis's Net Worth?
Al Davis was an American football coach and executive who has a net worth of $500 million at the time of his death. Al Davis served as the principal owner and general manager of the NFL's Oakland Raiders from 1972 until his passing in 2011. Before that, he served as the team's head coach from 1963 to 1965, and as part owner from 1966 to 1971. Under Davis's management, the Raiders became one of the NFL's most successful teams, winning three Super Bowl titles and making regular playoff appearances. Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Team and League Administrator in 1992. Al Davis died at the age of 82 in his home in Oakland on October 8, 2011. Today Al's widow Carol and son Mark Davis control 47% of the Raiders. The team moved to Las Vegas in January 2020. Thanks to a contractual stipulation, Mark and Carol have controlling interest in the organization despite not owning more than 50%. At the time of Al's death in 2011, the Oakland Raiders were worth $750 million. Today the team is worth north of $6 billion, thanks in large part to the move to Las Vegas.
Early Life and Education
Al Davis was born on July 4, 1929 in Brockton, Massachusetts to Jewish parents Louis and Rose. He had a brother named Jerry. In 1934, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York when Louis found success in the garment manufacturing trade. There, Davis went to Erasmus Hall High School, from which he graduated in 1947. He subsequently attended Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio for a semester before transferring to Syracuse University. Frustrated by his inability to make the school's various varsity teams, Davis transferred again, this time to Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. However, he soon returned to Syracuse.
Career Beginnings
After earning his master's degree from Syracuse, Davis was drafted into the US Army in 1952. The following year, he became the football coach for his post's football squad at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Davis ended up coaching the team to a record of 8-2-1 before being discharged in 1954. He subsequently worked for a year as a freelance scout for the NFL's Baltimore Colts. Following that, Davis became an assistant to head coach John Sauer for the Citadel Bulldogs team in South Carolina. In 1957, he moved to the University of Southern California to become assistant coach for the Trojans under Don Clark. Staying in Los Angeles, Davis went on to serve as a backfield coach for the AFL's Chargers in the team's debut 1960 season. He remained with the Chargers when they relocated to San Diego in 1961.
Al Davis in 1984 (Photo by Sylvia Allen/Getty Images)
Oakland Raiders
In 1963, Davis signed a three-year contract as head coach of the AFL's Oakland Raiders. Immediately, he got to work attempting to develop the Raiders into a championship team, using techniques he had picked up in the military to motivate his players. Davis's strategies were successful, as the Raiders finished the season 10-4 and Davis was named AFL Coach of the Year. The team had a disappointing 1964 season, but came back in 1965 with a solid 8-5-1 record. In 1966, Davis became the new AFL commissioner, allowing him to ramp up the league's war with the NFL. However, he resigned in short order and returned to the Raiders, becoming part owner as well as head of football operations. Davis went on to select John Rauch as the new head coach. Under their leadership, the Raiders won the 1967 AFL Championship en route to an appearance in Super Bowl II, where they fell to the Green Bay Packers. In both 1968 and 1969, the team claimed the Western Division title.
After John Madden took over as head coach in 1969, the Raiders emerged as one of the most successful franchises in the newly merged NFL, and one of the most successful teams in all of professional sports. The team claimed six division titles in the 70s, and won three Super Bowl titles between 1977 and 1984. Moreover, the Raiders were a fixture of the playoffs for several years.
Notably, Davis was one of the few NFL owners who also served as his own general manager, with the others being the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones and the Cincinnati Bengals' Mike Brown. He became iconic for his signature appearance, which included slicked-back hair, tracksuits, and dark sunglasses. Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
Civil Rights and Diversity
Davis was known to be very socially conscious, and as such made sure to honor diversity and equality in his field. He refused to allow the Raiders to play in any cities that enforced racial segregation for athletes, and was the first NFL owner in the modern era to hire a black head coach, Art Shell. Moreover, Davis was the first owner to hire a female chief executive, Amy Trask, and the second owner to hire a Latino head coach, Tom Flores.
Robert B. Stanton / Getty Images
Legal Battles
Despite his successes on the field, Davis was also hugely controversial within the NFL for his many legal battles. He was involved in numerous lawsuits, suing the NFL on multiple occasions for issues related to antitrust and his team's efforts to relocate. The prolific legal feud between Davis and the league was chronicled in the ESPN documentary "Al Davis vs. the NFL," part of the network's "30 for 30" series.
Personal Life and Death
Following his military service, Davis wed Carol Sagal in Brooklyn. The couple had a son named Mark in 1955.
In October of 2011, Davis passed away at the age of 82 due to congestive heart failure. The next day, the Raiders defeated the Houston Texans, barely holding on to the victory when Raider Michael Huff intercepted Texan quarterback Matt Schaub in the end zone on the game's final play. Many in the media said that Davis was the "11th player" on the field, which had only 10 defensive players during the defining play. Davis's legacy is further carried on by the Al Davis Memorial Torch, created by his son Mark and the Raiders.
