OJ Simpson leaves behind an astonishing fortune

OJ Simpson has died at the age of 76 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

The health of the American football star, who was acquitted of the murder charges against his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, deteriorated in recent months and, according to TMZ, he ended up in a hospice.

His death was announced when the NFL Hall of Famer's X-Account posted a simple message from his family.

“On April 10, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

“During this transition, his family asks that their wishes for privacy and grace be respected,” the statement said.

In what many called “the trial of the century,” Simpson was charged and then acquitted of the murders of Brown and Goldman in 1994. His acquittal by a predominantly black jury was a groundbreaking moment in American cultural history.

A civil court found him guilty of murder in 1996 and ordered him to pay more than $30 million to the victims' families. He only repaid part of the debt before his death.

How much was OJ worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the general consensus is that the NFL Hall of Fame star’s net worth is estimated at $3 million.

OJ has a steady stream of income from pensions that neither creditors nor the Goldman family have legitimate access to.

He receives $42,000 annually from Social Security, a pension from the Screen Actors Guild, and an annual NFL pension of between $125,000 and $300,000.

OJ and his late ex-wife were married for seven years before separating in 1992. According to a court filing, OJ claimed he had an estimated net worth of $10.8 million and a monthly income of $55,000 (Celebrity Net Worth).

In the end, OJ agreed to pay Nicole a lump sum of $433,750 plus an additional $10,000 in child support.

Legal and court costs resulted in a significant reduction in his assets.

Who will inherit his fortune?

As of now, his $3 million fortune is expected to go to his four surviving children, Sydney, Jason, Justin and Arnelle Simpson.

His daughter Aaren drowned as a toddler in a swimming pool accident in 1979.

Goldman's family, still fighting a multimillion-dollar wrongful death verdict, eventually gained control of the manuscript and retitled the book “If I Had Done It: Confessions of the Killer.”

“It's all blood money, and unfortunately I had to join the jackals,” Simpson told the Associated Press at the time. He collected an $880,000 advance for the book, which was paid through a third party.

“It helped me get out of debt and secure my household,” he said.

Less than two months after losing the rights to the book, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas.

What did he owe Goldman's family?

Goldman's father, Fred, recently claimed in court documents seeking to make the ruling final that Simpson now owes $96 million.

The reason for this is that these amounts entail significant interest on the $30 million originally granted.

The number remains high because Simpson allegedly did not pay a large part of the sum.

In February 2021, Goldman claimed that Simpson had only paid $123,000.

David Cook, a Goldman lawyer who tried to collect the civil judgment, said after Simpson's death that the amount owed was now $100 million – and that he would continue the fight for justice.

“[Simpson] died without repentance. We don't know what he has, where it is or who is in control. We're going to pick up where we are and get on with it,” he said.