In 1994, George Foreman began his association with the kitchen appliance that would bear his name, the George Foreman grill.
Foreman, who sadly passed away at 76 as announced on Friday, was primarily known as a heavyweight boxing champion and an Olympic gold medalist, having secured numerous titles during his extensive boxing career. However, his legacy evolved beyond the ring as he became linked with a revolutionary cooking device.
Launched over three decades ago, the George Foreman grill — officially termed the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine — captured the public’s imagination by bringing fast, smokeless indoor grilling to health-minded consumers in the 1990s. Foreman’s robust figure and charming demeanor made him an ideal spokesperson for the product, which found immense popularity among the public.
The George Foreman grill transformed into a cultural icon, amassing significant wealth for the former boxer.
Foreman struck an endorsement agreement with Salton Inc. (which later became known as Russell Hobbs, Inc., now merged with Spectrum Brands) in 1994, though the financial terms were not disclosed. Coincidentally, this was also the year Foreman reclaimed the heavyweight title at 45. By the following year, he was featured in infomercials that showcased the grill, enthusiastically exclaiming, “It’s so good, I put my name on it!”
The grill’s success reached notable demographics, including members of the Trump family, as reported by The New York Times in 2002, which noted the grill’s popularity as “the chicest household appliance on the Upper East Side and certainly the trendiest gift item.” Within 15 years of its introduction, sales skyrocketed to 100 million units, according to Foreman’s 2009 book, “Knockout Entrepreneur.” Even today, various models of George Foreman grills continue to appear on Amazon’s best-sellers list.
Foreman himself noted the grill’s extensive success, telling The Motley Fool in 2002, “No doubt the grill has been more successful,” and remarked that “people recognize me more now” due to his association with the product.
Throughout his enduring endorsement career, Foreman reaped substantial financial rewards.
In the initial years of the grill’s sales, Foreman negotiated a lucrative deal with Salton Inc. Leonhard Dreimann, the company CEO, revealed to Bloomberg in 2004 that Foreman was earning around 40% of the grill’s profits, translating to a monthly income of $4.5 million at the peak of the product’s popularity.
In 1999, Foreman received a remarkable payout when Salton acquired the perpetual rights to use his name for $127 million in cash and $10 million in stock. Foreman received approximately 75% of this payment, which was structured as a long-term capital gain to help mitigate the tax burden for the sellers. This deal came just two years after his retirement from boxing and secured his financial future.
Reflecting on his earnings in a 2014 AARP interview, Foreman stated he made “much more” than $200 million from the grills, with earnings peaking at $8 million per month. While his exact boxing earnings remain uncertain, his highest payday was a $5 million fee for the “Rumble in the Jungle” match against Muhammad Ali in 1974.
Interestingly, the George Foreman grill was almost a different story.
Before Salton turned to Foreman, the endorsement opportunity was initially presented to Hulk Hogan. Had the wrestling superstar returned a call from Salton’s representative in 1994, the world might have seen a Hulk Hogan grill instead. During a 2008 appearance on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” Hogan recounted receiving a voicemail about two potential endorsement deals: one for a blender and one for a grill. Foreman promptly accepted the grill deal, leaving Hogan with the blender, which he humorously described as malfunctioning.
