Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson has suggested that his publicly reported net worth is inaccurate.
In a resurfaced clip from the Nov. 3, 2021, episode of the “Full Send” Podcast with the Nelk Boys, the former NFL wide receiver disputed the roughly $5 million figure projected by many celebrity net worth websites and blogs.
So How Much Is He Worth?
He then showed the hosts his checking account balance, which stood at approximately $15 million at the time.
Net worth is calculated by subtracting liabilities from the total value of a person’s assets.
While net worth is not the same as the cash sitting in a bank account, Johnson’s reveal illustrated that many financial blogs cannot account for private assets, cash holdings, investments, or unconventional financial strategies.
One thing, however, was clear: Johnson’s online net worth estimates appeared to be misleading, as many of these websites rely on incomplete public data rather than verified financial records.
During his professional football career from 2001 to 2017, Johnson spent 12 seasons in the NFL, earning a total of $54,616,500 in salary, according to Spotrac.
He earned approximately $43.12 million with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2001 to 2010 and another $11.5 million with the New England Patriots in 2011.
In 2012, he signed a one-year, $925,000 contract with the Miami Dolphins but was released before the regular season, preventing him from collecting regular-season game checks.
After his NFL career, Johnson briefly played for teams in the Canadian Football League before ultimately retiring.
He was also an admitted cheapskate.
A self-described “CHEAPEST son of a b—,” Johnson was notoriously frugal from the moment he entered the NFL.
Despite earning game checks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, he resisted lavish spending.
He famously ate McDonald’s regularly, even crediting the fast-food chain for helping fuel his performance and claiming he was never injured on the field because of his simple diet.
Rather than checking into hotels, Johnson has said he would sneak into the Bengals’ stadium and sleep on a couch in the players’ lounge before games.
For his first two seasons in the league, he essentially lived at the stadium to avoid paying for housing.
Johnson has also said he never touched the bulk of his NFL earnings.
To this day, he continues driving the same Smart car he purchased in 2006.
He also opts for inexpensive replica luxury goods instead of authentic high-end items, once famously asking, “Why would I spend $200,000 on a watch when Time is FREE?!”
