What Is Hulk Hogan's Net Worth and Salary?
Hulk Hogan is an American actor, wrestler, and reality television star who has a net worth of $25 million. That net worth estimate includes his Gawker.com settlement, which was initially $140 million but was ultimately reduced to $31 million before taxes. That number also takes into account the tens of millions Hulk Hogan lost as part of his divorce from ex-wife Linda Hogan.
During his contentious divorce proceedings with Linda, we learned that Hogan's net worth in 2007 was $30 million. Hulk was ultimately forced to fork over 70% of the couple's liquid assets, $3 million in cash to cover property settlements, and a 40% ownership stake in his various business entities. More details on their divorce settlement later in the next section below. Hulk has also admitted that he blew "hundreds of millions" on an extremely lavish lifestyle at the peak of his career in the 1990s.
Hogan was, more than any other individual, the person responsible for turning professional wrestling from a regional curiosity into the "sports entertainment" empire that it is today. During his heyday in the 1980s and 90s, first at Vince McMahon's WWF (where he earned as much as $1 million to appear at Wrestlemanias V and VI) and then later at Ted Turner's rival WCW organization, he was one of the most recognizable figures in the world and was able to branch out into television and films.
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Gawker Lawsuit
In 2012, Hulk Hogan had consensual sex with the wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge. Unbeknownst to Hulk, Bubby secretly prearranged to have the encounter filmed with a surveillance camera. At some point later that year, the website Gawker.com came into possession of the sex tape. An editor decided to post a two-minute edited version of the encounter on their home page. After it was published, Hulk asked Gawker to remove the video. When they refused, Hogan filed a lawsuit claiming that Gawker had invaded his privacy. Hulk claimed that the video, which was posted without his permission, caused him "long lasting humiliation."
Hulk's lawsuit initially sought $100 million in damages. On March 18, 2016, a Florida jury sided with Hulk. The jury initially ordered Gawker to pay a $115 million judgment. A few days later the jury increased the judgement by $25 million, to $140 million. Gawker unsuccessfully appealed the judgment and was forced into a fire sale.
Gawker's CEO Nick Denton and the editor who physically posted the article were found to be PERSONALLY liable for $115 million worth of the $140 million judgment. In 2013, CEO Nick Denton claimed that "invasion of privacy has incredibly positive effects on society." The website also tried to claim that because Hulk was a public figure who had talked about his sex life on his reality show, the sex tape was newsworthy and therefore covered by fair use. The jury disagreed.
In calculating the judgment, the jury took into account the following two facts that were disclosed by Gawker's lawyers:
- 1) Gawker generated around $50 million in revenue in the prior year and was recently valued at a minimum of $80 million.
- 2) Gawker founder/CEO Nick Denton's net worth was $120 million on paper, based largely on the value of Gawker.
On August 1st, 2016, Nick Denton filed for personal bankruptcy. In the filing he listed his only assets as his 30% stake in Gawker and his NYC apartment. He valued them at a combined $50 million, but potentially much less. He listed his liabilities at as much as $150 million. In November 2016, Gawker settled with Hogan for $31 million.
A few months after the initial judgment was rendered, it was revealed that Hulk's lawsuit was funded to the tune of $10 million by PayPal/Facebook billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel held a grudge against Gawker and Nick Denton for outing him as gay. In 2007, Gawker published an article titled, "Peter Thiel is totally gay, people." Thiel said that article and a series of others about his friends "ruined people's lives for no reason." In a 2009 interview, Thiel described Gawker's writers as terrorists. One of his friends convinced him to use his power and money to help other victims of Gawker's coverage defend themselves against the site's attacks.
"It's less about revenge and more about specific deterrence. I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredible damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest."
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Early Life
Hulk Hogan was born Terry Gene Bollea on August 11, 1953, in Augusta, Georgia. When he was still a baby, the family relocated to Tampa, Florida, which Hulk has called home ever since. As a child, his sport of choice was baseball, and he was said to have attracted professional big league talent scouts as a Little Leaguer, but as with many other professional wrestlers, an injury ended his career in more traditional sports. He discovered professional wrestling at age 16, setting himself on the course that would change his life and the entire wrestling world.
Wrestling Career
Hulk Hogan is most famous for being a professional wrestler with the WWF (now WWE). Hulk's popularity peaked in the late '80s and '90s when as many as 30 million people would sign up for a WWF pay-per-view event like WrestleMania. However, his career in wrestling began under much more modest circumstances, wrestling in a match for the CWF promotion in Fort Myers, Florida, in 1977, eventually adopting a masked character known as "The Super Destroyer." After a local TV host compared Hogan favorably to "Incredible Hulk" star Lou Ferrigno, the "Hulkster" character that would make him a star began to take shape, but it wasn't until he joined forces with Vince McMahon Sr. in 1979 that he started using the name "Hogan." The following year, he began wrestling in Japan while still with the WWF, but after taking the role of Thunderlips in "Rocky III" (a job that earned him a cool 15 grand as well as introducing him to a whole audience who may not have ever watched professional wrestling before) without McMahon's permission he parted ways for the first time with the WWF. He came back in 1983 after McMahon's son took over the company with eyes toward more mainstream success for the sport, and he wanted Hogan to be the face of the company.
It worked, and before too long, "Hulkamania" was a worldwide pop culture phenomenon that continued in one form or another into the 21st century.
Acting
Hogan used his popularity to launch an acting career. His first film role was Thunderlips in 1982's "Rocky III." In the '80s and '90s, Hulk released several mainstream projects in an attempt to become a true Hollywood action star, appearing in films like "No Holds Barred," "Suburban Commando," and "Mr. Nanny." He also starred in the TV series "Thunder in Paradise" from 1993 to 1995. About a decade later, Hogan succumbed to the trend of celebrity reality television with the VH1 series "Hogan Knows Best," featuring him and his family. He also made an appearance in ABC's "The Goldbergs" in 2019.
Other Endeavors
Hogan has always been a very savvy merchandiser and marketer and has a variety of different businesses under his belt. In 1995, he opened Pastamania, his own signature pasta restaurant in the Mall of America in Minnesota. It closed after one year.
Hulk has also claimed to have been the original choice to endorse what became known as the George Foreman Grill. Instead, he chose to endorse a meatball maker. This decision essentially cost Hogan $200 million:
In 2006, he launched his own energy drink, Hogan Energy, and shortly after that, a line of frozen cheeseburgers, "Hulkster Burgers," began appearing on store shelves. In 2012, he opened Hogan's Beach, a restaurant in his hometown of Tampa, and after that business relationship dissolved, he opened Hogan's Hangout in nearby Clearwater Beach.
According to the Wrestling Figure Checklist, Hogan has had 171 different action figures produced between the 1980s and 2010s from various manufacturers and promotions.
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Personal Life
Hulk married Linda Claridge in December of 1983. They have two children together: daughter Brooke Hogan and son Nick Hogan. After rumors of Hulk's infidelity, Linda filed for divorce in 2007. At the time, divorce filings showed that Hulk Hogan's net worth was $30 million. That's the same as having a net worth of $45 million today. It was also revealed that Hulk had invested his money in several businesses and real estate around Florida. Hogan still earns money from merchandise sales and residuals with his brand, Hulk Hogan.
In December 2010, Hulk married Jennifer McDaniel after more than two years of dating. In February 2022, Hogan announced on Twitter that they had divorced. He married his third wife, yoga instructor Sky Daily, on September 22, 2023.
Divorce Settlement
When Hulk and Linda Hogan's divorce was finalized, he ended up being forced to pay her 70% of the couple's liquid assets, $3 million in cash to cover real estate settlements, plus an ongoing 40% ownership stake in his various businesses. In a radio interview in 2011, Hulk admitted that the divorce brought him essentially to the brink of bankruptcy. Linda did not receive alimony, but she did receive $7.44 million of the $10.41 million they held in bank and investment accounts. She also got to keep a Mercedes-Benz, a Corvette, and a Cadillac Escalade.
Hulk has since managed to make some financial recovery. In February 2014, he re-joined the WWE for the first time in over five years and landed a job as the host of WrestleMania. In July 2015, Hogan was fired from the WWE after a series of racist comments were made public. He was reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. On January 23, 2023, Hogan appeared alongside Jimmy Hart to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Raw at WWE Raw is XXX.
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Real Estate
In 1992, Hulk paid $2 million for a waterfront property in Belleair, Florida. He quickly demolished the existing home and proceeded to spend the next several years building an opulent mansion that ultimately encompassed more than 17,000 square feet. Construction was completed in 1996. This is the home that viewers saw between 2005 and 2007 on the reality show "Hogan Knows Best."
In 2006, perhaps in anticipation of their looming separation, Linda and Hulk listed the home for sale for an eye-opening $26 million. Two years later, the financial crisis and real estate downturn struck, and by this point, the two had separated and were looking to liquidate assets so they could split and move forward. In August 2009, the price was lowered to $13.9 million. The price was chopped again and again until Hulk finally accepted $6.2 million in April 2012. That's $19 million less than the original list price.
In 2014, Hulk paid $3 million for a home in nearby Clearwater, Florida. In 2016, he paid $1.6 million for the home next door.
