What is Phil Taylor's Net Worth?
Phil Taylor is a former professional darts player who has a net worth of $7 million. Phil Taylor played in events organized by the British Darts Organisation and then the Professional Darts Corporation, which he helped found. Nicknamed "The Power," he dominated professional darts for more than three decades, winning 214 professional tournaments and a record 16 World Championships. In 2015, the BBC rated Taylor as one of the ten greatest British sportsmen of the previous 35 years.
Early Life
Phil Taylor was born on August 13, 1960 in Stoke-on-Trent, England to Liz and Doug. After dropping out of school at the age of 16, he held a few jobs, including making ceramic toilet roll handles.
Professional Darts Career, 1987-1993
In 1986, Taylor moved into a terraced house near the pub of professional darts player Eric Bristow. He began playing darts not long after that, sometimes at Bristow's pub. Bristow started sponsoring Taylor, and in 1987 the pair traveled to Las Vegas for the North American Open. Taylor won his first title in 1988 at the Canadian Open by defeating then-World Champion Bob Anderson. The following year, he reached the quarterfinal of the British Open and the semifinal of the World Masters. This set Taylor up for his first World Championship, in 1990. In the final, he faced his mentor Eric Bristow, whom he managed to defeat to claim his first world title. Taylor went on to dominate the Open events throughout the rest of 1990.
Coming off of his incredible success in 1990, Taylor was unable to win as many titles in 1991. However, he regained the World Championship title in 1992 by defeating Mike Gregory in the final. By 1993, Taylor had grown displeased with the British Darts Organisation, the governing body of darts competitions in Britain. As a result, he and a group of other top players broke away from the body and formed their own organization called the World Darts Council, later renamed the Professional Darts Corporation. In the 1993 World Championship, the last unified World Championship to be held, Taylor lost to Kevin Spiolek in the second round. After that, Taylor and his fellow WDC players founded their own World Championship.
Professional Darts Career, 1994-2018, 2022
Following his loss in the first WDC World Championship in 1994, Taylor began to dominate the event, winning the title for a record eight consecutive years from 1995 to 2002. His streak came to an end with his loss to John Part in the 2003 World Championship final. Meanwhile, Taylor won the World Matchplay, the second major WDC event, for five consecutive years from 2000 to 2004. In the latter year, he regained the World Championship title by edging out Kevin Painter in the final. Taylor would win two more World Championships in 2005 and 2006, in addition to the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix in the latter year. He was unable to extend his success into 2007, when he had the most fallow year of his career in terms of title wins. The following year, Taylor failed to reach the final of the PDC World Championship for the first time in his career. However, he managed to turn things around in 2008 by winning multiple titles, including his fourth consecutive Premier League title, his second career US Open, and the inaugural European Championship. In 2009, Taylor won his 14th career World Championship and third career UK Open. He also won the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, European Championship, and Grand Slam of Darts, among other events.
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Taylor started 2010 on an auspicious note by winning his 15th World Championship title. He went on to win the Premier League, World Matchplay, UK Open, European Championship, World Grand Prix, and the Grand Slam of Darts, all by the summer of 2010. Taylor won a record 12th World Matchplay in 2011, plus a fourth consecutive European Championship and his second Championship League title. Toward the end of the year, he again won the Grand Slam of Darts. In 2012, Taylor claimed his sixth Premier League title, fifth UK Open, 13th World Matchplay, and third Championship League title. He continued to dominate in 2013, winning the World Championship, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, and Championship League, among other tournaments. Taylor didn't perform quite as well in 2014, with his only major titles being the World Matchplay and the Grand Slam of Darts. He continued competing with variable success until 2018, when he appeared in a record 29th World Championship. In the final, Taylor was defeated by Rob Cross in his debut. After the tournament, Taylor retired from competitive darts. However, he came out of retirement in 2022 to enter the inaugural World Seniors Darts Championship, which he lost.
Other Media Appearances
Among his other appearances in the media, Taylor made several appearances on the ITV game show "Bullseye," and in 2009 made a guest appearance on the ITV soap opera "Coronation Street." In early 2012, he showed up on the Irish children's reality program "OMG! Jedward's Dream Factory."
Indecent Assault Conviction
Following an exhibition darts match in Fife, Scotland in October of 1999, Taylor was accused by two female companions of indecent assault. Although he denied the charges, Taylor was found guilty in Dunfermline Sheriff Court in 2001, and was fined £2,000. Consequently, his nomination as a Member of the Order of the British Empire was annulled.
Personal Life
In 1988, Taylor married his wife Yvonne. The couple had four children before separating in 2014 and divorcing in 2016. During the tumultuous divorce proceedings, Taylor's youngest daughters Kelly and Natalie said they felt neglected by their father and were living on state handouts. They claimed their older siblings, Lisa and Christopher, were being financially supported by Taylor at the same time.
