A controversial figure, Jimmy the Greek was a famous American sports commentator and bookmaker – but what was Jimmy Snyder’s net worth?
Jimmy Snyder became a national figure in the USA during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a contributor to CBS Sports’ weekly NFL pregame show, “The NFL Today”.
Snyder sparked enormous controversy in 1988 after remarks he made about black athletes. He claimed that black athletes were superior to whites due to selective breeding practices during slavery.
His comments were met with extreme outrage, with CBS firing Snyder following widespread backlash.
Jimmy Snyder Bio
Born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1918, Snyder’s family roots can be traced back to the village of Tholopotami on the Greek island of Chios. He became familiar with bookmakers as a teenager.
Snyder lived a troubled upbringing, losing his mother and aunt at the age of ten. In a tragic event, Snyder’s uncle shot and killed them both before killing himself.
It was this event that Snyder claimed led to him becoming a gambler. He was meant to have been walking home with his mother and aunt, but chose to stay at the grocery store that his father was running.
That choice likely saved his life, and sparked his journey into a life of gambling.
Jimmy bet $10,000 on the 1948 US Presidential election, getting odds of 17-1 for Truman to win. In a later interview, he said he knew Truman would win because of Dewey’s moustache, claiming “American women didn’t trust men with a moustache.”
He would invest his winnings in oil and coal, but with no success, losing huge amounts of money.
After moving to Las Vegas in the 1950s, he became an oddsmaker and gambler. In 1962, Snyder was convicted of interstate transportation of bets after he was caught giving a tip over the telephone.
Fined $50,000 and labeled a convicted felon, he was eventually pardoned by Gerald Ford in 1974.
His news column in the Las Vegas Sun earned widespread publication in the 1960s.
The column led to his 12-year stint on CBS, offering predictions for the week’s NFL games. As sports betting was illegal in most of the USA at the time, Snyder’s segment wouldn’t mention sports betting directly.
Instead, he would offer predictions, allowing bettors to know how Snyder would bet on the point spread of a game.
Jimmy Snyder Net Worth
As for Jimmy Snyder’s net worth, estimates range drastically. At the time of his death in 1996, reports claim his net worth to be anywhere from $5 million to $12 million.
In today’s money, that would be a net worth of between $9 million and $23 million.
Suffering from diabetes in his later years, Snyder died of a heart attack on April 21, 1996. He was 77 years old, and was buried at Union Cemetery in his home town of Steubenville.
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