Howard Lederer Net Worth

The U.S. Department of Justice closed his business down and in the blink of an eye, the entire poker community stood against him. Yet Howard Lederer survived and probably made the deal of the decade, one that kept his fortune virtually intact. He remains one of the richest gamblers out there, even after all those Black Friday trials and accusations.

He’s still living large, but not necessarily thanks to his reading capabilities at the poker table. While those skills certainly helped him jump start his career and set up the stage for things to come, it was actually a business that propelled him to the top. A business called Tiltware LLC, later confirmed by the Department of Justice, a Ponzi scheme.

So how much did he profit from Tiltware, you may wonder? And what is Howard Lederer net worth exactly?

Is he filthy rich? Oh yes, he still is, and to have a better idea of what filthy rich actually means, we at PokerTube encourage you to read the next few paragraphs. Be sure, though, to take all the financial facts presented below with a grain of salt, because in the end, only Lederer and some of the closest members of his entourage know the exact numbers.

Source Income #1: Live Poker Tournaments

Before becoming one of the founding members and onetime president of Tiltware LLC —the company that created the Full Tilt Poker brand— Howard Lederer was a successful poker professional, respected among his peers.

Initially he wanted to become a chess pro. To pursue his dream, he moved from the small town of Concord, New Hampshire to the Big Apple. It was only coincidence that as he was playing chess at one of the New York clubs, he fell in love with poker. Lederer started playing, and most nights, he would come home broke. But he eventually picked up the game, started playing at the famous Mayfair Club and never looked back.

Soon enough, Lederer moved to Las Vegas and tried his luck in the big league for the first time at the 1987 World Series of Poker. He cashed in twice there including an impressive run at the $10,000 No Limit Holdem World Championship (5th place). This is how ‘The Professor’ was actually born. He won his first tourney four years later in Los Angeles, according to HendonMob DB.

In 2000, Lederer won his first gold bracelet at an Omaha Hi-Lo event. The following year he won his other bracelet at No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw. Overall, he has 44 WSOP cashes and also two WPT titles. He won his biggest prize in 2008, at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship - over $1 million.

His total live poker tournament earnings? $6,462,745. Good for top 50 in the USA All Time Money List, and top 100 in the Worldwide Leaderboard. Of course, if we take into consideration the expenses and the lost buy-ins, the $6 million figure needs to be cut down. But we are pretty certain he still made at least $4 million, if not more, counting his unofficial live cash winnings also.

Howard Lederer Net Worth from the Live Poker Tournaments: $4 million ~ $5 million

Source Income #2: Tiltware LLC

In the early 2000s, Lederer, along with some of his poker buddies like Chris Ferguson, saw the potential for online poker, and founded Tiltware LLC. The poker pros also recruited business-savvy Ray Bitar, a central figure in what will soon become the Full Tilt Poker brand. In 2004, FTP was launched and soon, thanks to its innovative software, the room became one of the top destinations online where anyone could play poker. The growth continued as FTP began sponsoring TV shows and hosting the highest cash games on the web. Soon the company was making millions and every member of the management was profiting big including Howard Lederer.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 didn’t stop Full Tilt from running in the US, but the 2011 Black Friday of Poker did. On April 15, 2011, FTP’s website was closed by the U.S. Department of Justice based on the suspicion of money laundering and gambling violations. Tiltware’s licence was suspended later, on June 30, 2011, and the poker room was closed indefinitely. In September 2011, Lederer and other board members of the company were officially accused of defrauding its players.

According to the Department of Justice, Tiltware LLC was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme with no real resources to cover the total deposits of its players. The Department also calculated that the members of the board received around $443 million in players’ funds from 2007 to 2011. Lederer in particular received compensations of at least $42 million from Tiltware LLC. The U.S. authorities sought to recuperate those losses and introduced many motions to seize assets - bank accounts, vehicles, houses - from ‘The Professor.’

Fortunately for the former Tilware president, in December 2012, he settled with the Department of Justice and agreed to give up just a tiny portion of his fortune: a 1965 Shelby Cobra, three properties in Las Vegas and two bank accounts. Besides those assets, Lederer paid approximately $1.25 million in fines. He also admitted no wrongdoing in the Tiltware LLC case.

The total assets forfeited to the U.S. authorities were allegedly worth $2.5 million which is virtually change if we consider the total number the Department of Justice calculated initially.

Howard Lederer Net Worth from Tiltware LLC: ~$40 million

Source Income #3: Other Poker Activities

Besides the WSOP and WPT, Howard Lederer made many TV appearances as a participant in the Full Tilt’s sponsored show Poker After Dark. The format of the show was simple: each participant bought in his right to sit at the table with $20,000 and whoever was the last man standing won it all, tournament style. There were usually six opponents so the winner cashed in $120,000. According to the results - Season One through Seven - Lederer appeared 12 times and won the Winner Takes All Sit & Go four times. That’s a hefty profit of $240,000 not counting the cash games later introduced in the show.

‘The Professor’ was also an important TV figure when it came to providing commentaries for many shows like Learn from the Pros, Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament, and other Fox Sports poker programs. He also released his own strategy book - The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide - and contributed to several other strategy books.

Overall, we can say he made at least one million or two from all his poker related activities.

Howard Lederer Net Worth from Other Poker Activities: $1 million ~ $2 million

Lederer Net Worth: $50 Million

Now that we have all the numbers, we can add them up and finally make an approximation for the former Tiltware president’s net worth. Indeed, all the facts point us to the 50-million-dollar mark. Not bad for a chess player who went broke many times at the beginning of his poker career, and definitely not bad for a businessman formally accused of money laundering and gambling violations.

No matter the poker community’s opinions, Howard Lederer is a rich man who left his poker career behind but who can still live the good life alongside his family till the end of his days.