Richard Simmons died on Saturday, July 13, at the age of 76. According to reports, he died of natural causes. Because the fitness star was withdrawn from the public eye in later years, many people are wondering about his finances. So, what was Richard Simmons’ net worth when he died? Keep reading to find out.
Richard Simmons Battled Obesity Most Of His Life
Richard Simmons was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Growing up, he said that he described himself as a “food enthusiast.” He often joked that he came out of his mother’s womb “with a fork.”
As mentioned above, Richard Simmons was mostly out of the spotlight in recent years. He did come back into the public eye for a short period of time to talk about his battle with skin cancer. The Sweatin’ To The Oldies creator first came into the spotlight battling his own personal challenges.
Simmons dealt with childhood obesity and was open about his struggles. Eventually, he became known around the world for his fitness routines, many of which helped others shed serious weight. He made a large number of contributions to the world of health and fitness. Overall, he made working out something popular and fun to do.
His fascination with food was further explored in a TMZ documentary called What Really Happened to Richard Simmons. In the documentary, it was suggested that eating became a coping mechanism for a birth defect affecting his leg. He was born with a congenital issue that impacted his foot’s bone structure. This hurt him physically and emotionally.
“Richard found comfort in food and then he gained a lot of weight,” producer Charles Latibeaudiere said in the doc. Being overweight also had a negative impact on Simmons’ self-worth. Additionally, it had a negative impact on his compromised leg, foot, and knee. After enduring relentless bullying in school, he succumbed to an eating disorder.
Despite all of these challenges, he wound up becoming the inspiration for many people to improve themselves and lose weight.
What Was Richard Simmons’ Net Worth?
That being said, Richard Simmons‘ success also had a substantial impact on his finances. At the time of his death, he reportedly had a net worth of $20 million.
Much of his $20 million fortune was earned with his Sweatin’ To The Oldies series. In the set of tapes, he walked viewers through a dance fitness class that was set to oldies music. It was easy to follow, accessible and made him a substantial amount of money.
On top of his career in the fitness world, Richard Simmons also made tons of appearances on talk shows and even appeared on soaps like General Hospital and All My Children.
The fitness mogul also wrote a memoir in 1999 called Still Hungry After All These Years: My Story.
It is believed that Simmons stepped back from the public eye later in life because he wanted people to remember him as his lively self, the one many people saw on television.
However, as he stayed in his Beverly Hills mansion in his later years, he became active on Facebook. He enjoyed staying in touch with fans on social media and recently expressed his thanks for the birthday wishes he received.
His net worth set aside, Richard Simmons made a remarkable impact on people’s lives and that’s his true legacy.
