Anthony Joshua is spinning multiple plates at once to try and fulfil his aim of becoming a self-made billionaire. As well as seeing out the latter stages of a successful career in the boxing ring, the 35-year-old is balancing a number of business ventures which have added to his impressive personal fortune.
In an interview with GQ eight years ago, AJ made it clear that becoming a multimillionaire was no longer a lofty enough ambition. He said: “When I first started, the aim was to become a multimillionaire. But now there are ordinary people, grandmas and granddads, who are worth millions just because of property prices. So the new school of thought is that I need to be a billionaire. Being a millionaire is good, but you have to set your sights higher.”
Joshua has made a dent in his overall goal just through fight purses alone. The Brit is believed to have banked well over £200million in career earnings, including an estimated £66m for rematching Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019, £57m for his second fight with Oleksandr Usyk in 2022, £31m for scrapping Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia last year, and £25m for his most recent fight against Daniel Dubois.
The former world heavyweight champion has dedicated much of his life to becoming one of the best boxers on the planet. But he now has his finger in various other pies.
Upon ditching Sky Sports, Joshua signed a mega-money £74m deal with DAZN in 2022, which also made him a shareholder, a special advisor and a brand ambassador for the streaming service.
Through his company, 258 Investments, AJ is reported to have spent £150m on his growing property portfolio in the last two-and-a-half years. And that cash has not just been splashed on houses.
A whopping £30m was forked out for the purchase of a sprawling industrial site in Hertfordshire which oil giants BP once used as their headquarters. Joshua’s purchases could leave him with a valuable list of assets to cash in on in later life.
The Olympic gold medalist has committed a significant chunk of funds to a luxury boxing gym called ‘BXR’, and earlier this year he discussed the prospect of purchasing a stake in his hometown football club, Watford.
Throw in brand deals past and present with the likes of Under Armour, JD Sports, Jaguar Land Rover and Hugo Boss, and the latest estimates put AJ’s net worth at £195m – a £20m increase from a year ago. Although that total is enough to make him one of the richest sportspeople in the country, it still leaves him a long way off his £1billion goal.
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