Rorion Gracie, born on 10 January 1952, is a Brazilian martial artist, who is best known for introducing Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-jitsu into the US, and as the founder of Ultimate Fighting Championship.
So how much is Gracie’s net worth? As of early 2017, based on authoritative sources it is reported to be $50 million, acquired from his years as a martial arts instructor, author, and producer, which began in the late 1970s.
Rorion Gracie Net Worth $50 million
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Gracie is the son of Helio Gracie, known as the creator and Grand Master of Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. He trained from an early age with his father, and became a master in the martial arts himself. He became one of the few people in the world to become a 9th degree red belt holder in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
In 1978, Gracie moved to Southern California in the US to work in movies. He worked as an extra in various movie and television productions, in the hope of introducing the use of Jiu-jitsu into the entertainment world. Soon he was hired to choreograph fighting scenes, working with actors like Mel Gibson and Rene Russo. His early years as an extra helped his career and also built-up his wealth.
During the late 1980s, Gracie was able to eventually introduce Jiu-jitsu by producing a documentary entitled “Grace Jiu-jitsu in Action 1 and 2” that gained positive responses. The small class that he started at home also gained traction, and has grown to over 600 classes per month. This led him to start the Gracie Jiu-jitsu Academy to accommodate more students, and spread the art further; these advances in sharing Jiu-jitsu to the world have helped his net worth tremendously.
With the success of Gracie Jiu-jitsu Academy, Gracie also created and produced instructional video tapes. Some of the titles in his collection included “GJJ Basics”, “GJJ Intermediate”, “GJJ Advanced”, and “Gracie Total Defense” and “Gracie Street Self-Defense”. To make Jiu-jitsu more accessible, he soon opened Gracie University, an online academy.
In 1993, Gracie had the idea of pitting various martial arts against each other to prove that Jiu-jitsu would defeat them all. With this idea, he created Ultimate Fighting Championship with Art Davie. Subsequently the popularity of UFC also helped tremendously in raising his net worth.
Aside from sharing Jiu-jitsu in the world as a sport, Gracie also hoped that it would help people to defend themselves. The US Army partnered with him to create a course base from Jiu-jitsu that can help army personnel in hand-to-hand combat. This partnership resulted in GST or Gracie Survival Tactics, and is now taught in every military and major Law Enforcement Agency in the country. He also created Gracie Combatives for civilians and Women Empowered for women.
Today, Gracie is still active in creating innovations to advance Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu around the world. He has written several books including “Gracie Jiu-jitsu-The Master Text” and “Gracie Diet” to share his wisdom. He also created a DVD series entitled “Gracie Bullyproof” to share how his father had instilled confidence in him through Jiu-jitsu, and how it can help parents introduce the disciplines of Jiu-jitsu to their children and help them deal with bullying.
In terms of his personal life, Gracie is married to Silvia, and together they have 10 children.
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