Schwarzenegger’s net worth has been conservatively estimated at USD $100 – $200 million.^[89] Over the years, he invested his bodybuilding and movie earnings in an array of stocks, bonds, privately controlled companies, and real estate holdings in the U.S. and worldwide, so his fortune is sometimes estimated anywhere in between USD $800 – $900 million.^[90] In June 1997 Schwarzenegger spent $38 million of his own money on a private Gulfstream Jet.^[91] Schwarzenegger once said of his fortune, “Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million, but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.”^[8] “I’ve made millions as a businessman many times over.”^[15]

Schwarzenegger is considered among the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding, and his legacy is commemorated in the Arnold Classic annual bodybuilding competition. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent face in the bodybuilding sport long after his retirement, in part because of his ownership of gyms and fitness magazines. He has presided over numerous contests and awards shows. For many years, he wrote a monthly column for the bodybuilding magazines Muscle & Fitness and Flex. Shortly after being elected Governor, he was appointed executive editor of both magazines, in a largely symbolic capacity. The magazines agreed to donate $250,000 a year to the Governor’s various physical fitness initiatives. The magazine MuscleMag International has a monthly two-page article on him, and refers to him as “The King.”

One of the first competitions he won was the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965. He won Mr. Europe the following year, at age 19. He would go on to compete in and win many bodybuilding contests, as well as some powerlifting contests, including five Mr. Universe (4 — NABBA [England], 1 — IFBB [USA]) wins, and seven Mr. Olympia wins, a record which would stand until Lee Haney won his eighth consecutive Mr. Olympia title in 1991.

Schwarzenegger served in the Austrian army in 1965, to fulfill the one year of service required at the time of all 18-year-old Austrian males.He won the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965. Schwarzenegger went AWOL during basic training so that he could take part in the competition, and spent a week in an army jail: “Participating in the competition meant so much to me that I didn’t carefully think through the consequences. When I got to Stuttgart, I was all confused. I forgot my posing routine, I had to borrow posing trunks, but still I won!” Contrary to popular belief, it was not Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding debut, which had occurred two years earlier at a minor contest in Graz, at Steirer Hof Hotel (where he had placed second). He was voted best built man of Europe, which made him famous.

“The Mr. Universe title was my ticket to America — the land of opportunity, where I could become a star and get rich.”Schwarzenegger made his first plane trip in 1966, attending the NABBA Mr. Universe competition in London. He would come in second in the Mr. Universe competition, not having the muscle “definition” of American winner Chester Yorton.He would win the title for the first time in 1967 (he invented new exercises to separate and define his muscle groups), becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe at the age of 20. He would go on to win the title a further four times.^[13] Schwarzenegger then flew back to Munich, training for four to six hours daily, attending business school and working in a health club (Rolf Putzinger’s gym where he worked and trained from 1966-1968), returning in 1968 to London to win his next Mr. Universe title.He frequently told Roger Field, a friend in Munich at that time “I’m going to become the greatest actor!”