Is Conor McGregor a billionaire?

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor is among the most popular and influential athletes in and outside of combat sports. Although he has amassed a huge fortune through fighting and other business ventures, McGregor is not a billionaire. However, he is the richest MMA fighter by a large margin as he has headlined some of the highest-grossing events in the sport's history. 

According to Celebrity Net Worth, McGregor is estimated to be worth $200 million as of April 5, 2024. He first appeared in the Forbes 2017 list of 30 under 30 and has worked hard to improve his standing on the socioeconomic ladder.

Despite the reduced activity level in the competitive sphere of MMA, McGregor still commands a huge fan following. He last competed in 2021 against Dustin Poirier and topped the list of highest-paid athletes in 2021 with a reported earning of $180 million. The earnings during this period also included the sale of a mega-brand built around McGregor’s name.

How did Conor McGregor accumulate his wealth?

McGregor emerged on the UFC horizon as an outspoken and polarizing figure that the MMA community had never seen before. A combination of unique personality and fan-friendly fighting style transformed McGregor into one of the biggest pay-per-view stars. To put this in perspective, eight of the top ten highest-grossing pay-per-view events in UFC history were headlined by McGregor.

The earnings from MMA fights served as McGregor's first major income source. In the following years, McGregor broke out of the confines of being a UFC fighter and fought boxing great Floyd Mayweather in one of the biggest crossover boxing matches. This helped him extend his popularity beyond the MMA fan base and multiplied his wealth as McGregor received an estimated $85 million for his effort.

Proper 12 Irish whiskey was McGregor’s first business venture outside combat sports. He launched the brand in association with his partners, CEO of Paradigm Sports Audie Attar, Ken Austin, and Proximo Spirits in 2018. It became a leading brand in the Irish whiskey market and helped push the Irish whiskey sales beyond $1 billion in the United States in 2019. McGregor and his partners sold the majority stake to Proximo Spirits in 2021 for a staggering $600 million.

McGregor owns several brands like August-McGregor, Forged Irish Stout, and Black Forge Inn. He has endorsement deals with several notable brands, increasing his net worth.

Recently, Conor McGregor made his acting debut alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the remakes of the 1980s classic movie Road House. McGregor’s performance as an antagonist was widely appreciated. While his fees for the project have not been made public, it is speculated that McGregor could be one of the highest-paid debutants in cinema history.