Don King is a prominent boxing promoter whose career has faced several controversies
NEED TO KNOW
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King worked with the Jacksons to promote their 1984 Victory Tour
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He reportedly feuded with Michael both during and after the tour
Don Kingis a longtime boxing promoter who has organized several major events over the years — includingThe Jacksons' 1984 Victory Tour.
King made a name for himself in the boxing world after working withMuhammad Alifrom a young age and went on to promote matches with several major names — includingGeorge Foreman,Mike Tyson,Julio César Chávez,Joe FrazierandChristy Martin, among others.
However, many of his former clients later sued him on allegations of fraud and several of them have criticized him for allegedly worsening the boxing climate. Between 1954 and 1966, he killed two people; one was deemed "justifiable homicide," perThe New York Times,and the other charge was reduced to manslaughter in 1972 after he served over three years of his original sentence.
After his legal problems, King was chosen byJoe Jacksonto promote and organize his sons' The Jacksons' Victory Tour in 1984. Joe reportedly encouraged his sons, includingMichael Jackson, to work with King, because he promised the family an advance of $3 million, according toTIME.
The Victory Tour marked the only time all six brothers —Michael,Jermaine, Randy,Tito,MarlonandJackie— went on tour together and was also the last time Michael performed with them before fully embracing his solo career. The Victory Tour andMichael's decision to depart from his familyprofessionally was a major plot point in the 2026 biopicMichael, in whichDeon Coleportrayed King.
Here's everything to know about where Don King is now.
Who is Don King?
King is a prominent boxing promoter who has worked with some of the most successful boxers over the course of his 50-year career. He organized the famed 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight championship fight between Ali and Foreman; a 1975 fight between Ali andChuck Wepner; and a 1975 match between Ali and Frazier.
Over the next 20 years, King continued promoting prominent boxersTyson, Larry Holmes, Chávez, Evander Holyfield, Aaron Pryor and Marco Antonio Barrera, among many others.
However, his career was riddled with controversies stemming from past crimes and fraud allegations. Before his career took off, King served nearly four years in prison for second-degree murder. The charge was later reduced to manslaughter, he was released from prison and pardoned by Gov. James Rhodes in 1983.
A year earlier, Ali sued King and accused him of cutting over $1 million from a fight he earned, perThe New York Times. King allegedly ended the lawsuit by convincing Ali's friend to give the boxer a suitcase of $50,000 in exchange for signing a letter dismissing the suit, according to the 2003 book,The Life and Crimes of Don King: The Shame of Boxing in America.
Since then, several of King's former boxers have sued him on similar allegations of fraud.
Holmes alleged that over the course of his career, King cheated him out of $10 million; they eventually settled for $150,000, per the book. Tyson sued King for $100 million before settling for $14 million, according to NBC Sports. Other lawsuits that King settled for millions of dollars included cases with Terry Norris, Tim Witherspoon and Chris Byrd, among others.
"I found out that someone I believed was my surrogate father, my brother, my blood figure turns out to be the true Uncle Tom, the true n-----, the true sellout. He did more bad to Black fighters than any White promoter ever in the history of boxing," Tyson said of King in a 2001ESPN profile.
When did he work with Michael Jackson?
In early 1983, the six Jackson brothers — Michael, Jermaine, Randy, Tito, Marlon and Jackie — met with several promoters to discuss their highly-anticipated Victory Tour.
After meeting with King twice, the Jackson brothers and their father, Joe, signed a contract with him on Sept. 30, 1983, perRolling Stone. The contract stipulated that King was the Jacksons' employee, so the Jacksons still had "final say on all aspects of the tour."
However, Michael's lawyer and manager,John Branca, later claimed that King was "not Michael’s first choice to promote the tour," but he promised to pay an upfront advance of $3 million — $500,000 per brother — if chosen as their promoter.
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"You’re taking the number-one artist in the world; you would normally want somebody who has some experience in the music business," Branca told the publication in March 1984. "Don King was not Michael’s first choice to promote the tour. This tour is important to Michael because it’s important to Michael’s family. I’m not sure the tour was Michael’s first choice. He might have preferred to do other things."
He continued, "But he found it important to tour at his brothers’ request and his family’s request. They very much wanted to work with Don King. So Michael said, ‘If it’s that important to my father and my family, I will work with Don King.' "
The Jacksons made the tour announcement with King as their promoter in a press conference on Nov. 30, 1983.
Did Don King and Michael Jackson have a falling out?
Before the Jacksons even embarked on the tour in 1984, the family and King had already run into issues over how to promote the shows and sell tickets — including causing controversy for forcing fans to buy a minimum of four tickets at an expensive rate in a mail-in lottery system.
Another point of tension came when the Jacksons were prepared to sign a contract with the Quaker Oats Company to sponsor the tour, but King had already signed an exclusive deal with Pepsi for 40% less than Quaker, as Branca alleged toRolling Stone.
The tension culminated with Michael allegedly writing a letter to King where he instructed him on how he should behave moving forward.
In the letter, King was allegedly told "not to communicate with anyone on Michael Jackson’s behalf without prior permission; that all moneys paid to Michael Jackson for his participation in the tour would be collected by Michael Jackson's personal representatives, not by Don King; that King did not have permission to approach any promoters, sponsors or any other persons on Michael’s behalf; that King was not to hire any personnel, any local promoters, book any halls or, for that matter, doanythingwithout Michael Jackson’s personal approval," per the publication.
When asked about the letter in February 1985, King said, "I don’t know anything about it."
Amid ongoing feuds with Michael, his brothers and King, Michael stunned everyone involved when he announced during their performance at L.A.'s Dodger Stadium on Dec. 9, 1984, that that performance with his brothers would be his last. The tour, which was expected to continue in Europe and Australia, was cut short.
After the final show, King was allegedly fuming and said, per the 2010 bookMichael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, "There's no way Michael Jackson should be as big as he is and treat his family the way he does."
"He feels his father done him wrong? His father may have done some wrong, but he also had to do a whole lot right," he allegedly continued saying, while mocking Michael for thinking of himself as a "megastar."
The comments reportedly left Michael enraged, and he subsequently told Branca to "sue his ass."
"That guy has been pushing my last nerve since Day One," he reportedly told Branca, who later "convinced him to let it go."
Where is Don King now?
As of 2026, King is in his 90s and has taken a step back from the boxing world. While he hasn't promoted a major event in years, he has occasionally promoted smaller fights.
King gave a rare press conference for a fight featuring Adrien Broner in May 2023 and later stepped out for a fight between Broner and Blair Cobbs in Hollywood, Fla., in June 2024.
However, King's legal issues remain ongoing, as a promoting company sued him for $3 billion on allegations of defamation, tortious interference and fraud in January 2025, perNBC News.
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