Joe Montana's Net Worth (Updated 2024) ·

01 Aug 2024, 00:00

What is Joe Montana’s net worth?

Net Worth:	$150 Million
Age:	66
Born:	June 11, 1956
Gender:	Male
Height:	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Country of Origin:	United States of America
Source of Wealth:	Professional NFL Player
Last Updated:	March 8, 2023

Table of Contents

Introduction

Joe Montana, the former professional American football player, transitioned to a role in a venture capital firm, making a huge success of his second career.

Almost everyone agrees that Joe Montana is one of the greatest professional athletes who ever ran out on a football field.

He made a much larger amount of money from venture capital investments than he ever did from his salary and sponsorships during his playing career.

As of January 2024, Joe Montana’s net worth is estimated to be $150 Million.

Joe Montana Facts

The Sporting News editors placed Montana third on their list of the 100 greatest players in football in 1999.
He is recognized as the NFL’s fourth-greatest NFL player of all time.
Joe was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Montana has twice been the NFL passing touchdowns leader, in 1982 and again in 1987.
Joe received the Bert Bell Award in 1989.

Early Life

Joseph Clifford Montana Jr was born June 11, 1956, in New Eagle, Pennsylvania, United States.

His parents, Theresa Marie Bavuso and Joseph Clifford Montana, Sr. sent him to Waverly Elementary School, followed by his senior schooling at Finleyville Junior High and Ringgold High Schools.

Joe’s outstanding basketball talents led “North Carolina State” to offer him a basketball scholarship during his final year.

But it was Joe’s impressive skills on the high school football team that caught the attention of “Notre Dame,” and he eventually received an offer of a scholarship, which he accepted.

When Montana enrolled at Notre Dame in 1974, he participated in the freshman team competitions.

This gifted athlete made an impression on Dan Devine in 1975 by defeating North Carolina.

After suffering a shoulder injury, Montana missed the first two games of the 1977 season before playing against Purdue. Following the team’s success in the season’s last games, he was appointed as the starting quarterback.

He was crucial to the team’s victory over the Pitt Panthers in 1978 and, against Houston the next year, he put on his best-ever effort.

The movie “Seven and a Half Minutes to Destiny” was based on Montana’s memories from the game.

Career

After a fruitful stint at “Notre Dame,” he earned a degree in business administration and marketing that was to be so helpful to him after he retired from football.

He was chosen by the San Francisco 49ers, one of the richest NFL teams, with the 82nd overall choice in the 1979 NFL Draft.

Although the “San Francisco 49ers” suffered some losses the following season, Montana passed for 1,795 yards and 15 touchdowns.

In 1981, the club met the “Cincinnati Bengals” in “Super Bowl XVI,” and the talented quarterback once again put on an outstanding performance to help the team win the game.

Joe joins A.J. Green, Geno Atkins, Carson Palmer, and Boomer Esiason as an award-winning Bengals player.

After a few more victories, Montana went on his second straight “Pro Ball” trip in 1984, where he defeated the “Chicago Bears” and the “New York Giants.” The squad set the record for the most passing yards in a single game when they played the “Dolphins” in “Super Bowl XIX”.

The squad was defeated by the “New York Giants” in the NFC Wild Card game in 1985 and Joe was injured the following year and had to have surgery.

His career peaked in 1987 when he completed 31 touchdown passes in just 13 games and set the NFL record for completing 3054 yards without an incomplete pass.

In 1988, the club earned a second shot at Super Bowl XXIII by defeating the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears in the playoffs.

After signing a three-year contract, he moved to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993 but suffered from repeated injuries which affected his game time.

Even so, he only participated in two games in 1994 after he returned from his injuries and announced his retirement in April 1995.

Joe Montana’s Career Earnings

The San Francisco 49ers won four Super Bowls with him at quarterback because of his steely composure and superb judgment under pressure.

He was recognized as the fourth-greatest NFL player of all time by NFL.com and received the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2000.

Over the course of his career, Joe Montana earned more than $22.5 million over 16 seasons, which excluded endorsement deals and sponsorships.

He earned far more money from his venture capital deals than from his footballing skills, being one of the first investors in Silicon Valley startup, Pinterest, before it went public.

Montana was the first of a long list of celebrities, like Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Durant, and Serena Williams who launched their own investment funds.

Joe Montana’s Net Worth Annually

In Super Bowl XXIV, Joe made history by being the first player to win the Super Bowl title three times.

Due to an elbow injury, he was unable to play much in 1991–1992, and Joe eventually left the 49ers for good.

After making an impressive income during his footballing career, Joe retired and took it easy for a while before making a foray into the venture capital market.

It is conservatively estimated that Montana’s net worth in 2022 is around the $150 Million mark and is set to increase as his savvy investment strategy pays dividends into the future.

In 1999, defensive back Ronnie Lott and offensive lineman Harris Barton, two of Montana’s old San Francisco colleagues, founded a fund of funds called Champion Ventures.

After raising $40 million to invest in companies like Greylock and Sequoia, the pair did well and Montana joined them in 2003 – changing the fund’s name to HRJ.

Personal Life

In 1974, Montana wed his high school sweetheart Kim Moses, but the marriage lasted only two years before the couple decided to call it quits.

His second marriage, to Cass Castillo, took place in 1981, but the union also failed, and three years later the couple filed for divorce.

In 1985, he wed the actress Jennifer Wallace in his third marriage and they are still married and have four children; Alexandra Whitney, Elizabeth Jean, Nathaniel “Nate” Joseph, and Nicholas Alexander.

In collaboration with Beringer winemaker Ed Sbragia, Joe creates his own wine under the Montagia label and owns a stable with his favorite horse, nicknamed That Cool Cat, among the many that he owns.

You can follow Joe’s official Twitter account or official Facebook account to see what he’s getting up to now.

Awards & Achievements

It was with the San Francisco 49ers that Joe made his greatest contribution, passing Dwight Clark “The Catch” in one of the most famous NFL plays in history.

That movement helped the 49ers win their first Super Bowl in 1981 and cemented Joe Montana’s name in the history books of the NFL.

Here are some of the more memorable moments from Joe Montana’s career:

He received the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year title in 1986, and the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors three years later.
Montana received the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award three times, once in 1982 again in 1985, and then in 1990.
He is an eight-time Pro Bowler and a three-time All-Pro member.
Montana made the postseason 11 times in his career, including eight consecutive appearances between 1983 and 1990.
Joe was voted Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1990.

After leaving the NFL, Joe decided to put his money to work for him and looked around for an opportunity in the Venture Capital world.

A top non-football play was an investment in GitLab – one of Liquid2’s early ventures that produced $42 million in value from an investment of $100,000.

How Does Joe Montana Spend His Money?

Joe owned a share in a NASCAR racing team and also drove some of the most expensive cars in the world, including a Pontiac Trans Am. This was the car that David Hasselhoff famously drove in the 80s television series “Knight Rider.”

Montana used his network of Bay Area business contacts to start a venture capitalist career after leaving the NFL and currently serves as one of the general partners and co-founders of Liquid2 Ventures, a venture capital firm.

Joe and Liquid2 have made successful investments in several businesses, including, Pinterest, Airbnb, Robinhood, and GitLab.

GitLab is Liquid2’s most successful investment to date, after receiving a $100,000 investment from Joe and his partners in 2015 – the company had a $12 million market value at the time.

In October 2021, GitLab went public with a market capitalization of $15 billion at the close of its first trading day. This meant that Liquid2’s $100,000 investment at that point was worth over $63 million and set to increase with the company’s bright future.

Montana put his 500-acre estate in Calistoga, California, up for sale in 2009, valuing it at $49 million. The property has an olive grove, a bocce court, a basketball court, a spa, a skeet shooting range, horse stables, a guest house, a pool, a private pond, and quarters for the groundskeeper.

The Montana family, who reside in their home just outside of Los Angeles most of the time, considered this specific property to be their vacation home.

In January 2012, he dropped the price to $35 million, then in July 2019, he listed it again for $28.9 million and relisted it for $24.5 million in June 2021.

Highlights

Montana was known for his ability to remain composed under stressful encounters – assisting his teams in 32 fourth-quarter comeback victories.

In the 1983 divisional playoffs, the 49ers were down 23-17 to the Detroit Lions and with two minutes remaining, Montana produced a 70-yard drive to secure the win.

Here are some of the best highlights of Joe Montana’s career:

Montana earned the greatest passer rating in the National Football Conference (NFC) five times; in 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1989.
During his four Super Bowl appearances, Montana threw 11 touchdown passes with zero interceptions.
He was voted the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 1989.
Montana led the Fighting Irish to a remarkable victory over Houston in the 1979 Cotton Bowl despite suffering from the flu, hypothermia, and a 22-point deficit.
Joe was an initial investor in Pinterest before it went public in 2019.

After making a huge success of his footballing career, Joe entered the financial world with the same enthusiasm and excitement to create a winning venture capital operation.

He was joined by Andre Agassi, Wayne Gretzky, Barry Bonds, one of the richest baseball players in the world and Oscar De La Hoya, who invested in his fund.

Favorite Joe Montana Quotes

Montana underwent surgery to enlarge his spinal cavity and remove a ruptured disc in 1986, recovering more swiftly than anticipated, and returned to football in just 55 days.

Here are our favorite quotes from Joe Montana:

“Winners, I am convinced, imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their heart and expect it to come true.” – Joe Montana
“My mother and father, Joe and Theresa Montana, brought me along and taught me to never quit, and to strive to be the best.” – Joe Montana
“Yeah, it’s nice to look up to people, but the more you try to be somebody else, the less you are of yourself.” – Joe Montana
“I don’t live in the past. I just live in the enjoyment of the game.” – Joe Montana
“There is nothing worse for me than sitting in traffic. That’s what killed me in L.A.” – Joe Montana

3 Amazing Lessons From Joe Montana

Joe Montana almost didn’t make it as a football player due to coaches who underestimated his abilities.

Now that you know all about Joe Montana’s net worth, here are some of the best success lessons to learn from Joe Montana:

1. Preparation Trumps Talent

Joe doesn’t consider himself the most talented player, as raw talent is only part of the equation when it comes to a successful player.

What he learned from his mentor, Bill Walsh, was that to be excellent you have to out-work everyone else.

2. Teamwork Is The Best Work

The kinds of enhancements that will advance the entire team should be the focus of every leader and player.

If you focus only on yourself to the exclusion of what is best for the team, then the team will suffer and you won’t produce the best performances.

3. Fail Forward And Fail Fast

Joe asserts that “failing fast” is the key to making the most of failure – in other words, learn from your mistakes without concentrating on them when problems occur.

It is far better to take the hits – because they’ll come often – and move on, than to worry about each one as it comes at you.

Summary

Joe had a tough introduction to college football, but he worked hard both on the field and academically, putting him on the path to a starting lineup.

Despite injuries early on and then again when he was in his prime, Joe bounced back, showing the strength of character that was a hallmark of his career.

His commitment to hard work created his record-breaking NFL career and was to be a huge asset in his job as a venture capitalist, assessing companies and their prospects.