Why is Jim McIngvale known as Mattress Mack? What is his net worth?

Houston-area celebrity Jim McIngvale, better known as Mattress Mack, was back at the office on Tuesday. Although even his brief health scare that laid him up in the hospital for three days wasn’t enough to stop him from promoting his furniture business on social media over the Labor Day weekend while giving updates on his condition.

Doctors at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center diagnosed him with cellulitis, a bacterial infection, that caused him to become disoriented and vomit outside his Gallery Furniture store when he arrived there on Saturday morning. He made the most of his condition to show off a Cougar Recliner for sale at the store that was perfect for keeping his feet above his head as the doctor ordered while he recovers.

Why is Jim McIngvale known as Mattress Mack? What is his net worth?

McIngvale got his start in the furniture business in 1981 plowing $5,000 of his life savings into launching Gallery Furniture in Houston. His business began to grow but found himself in financial straits when the local economy went from boom to bust. However, he’s no stranger to taking risks, he is also an avid high-stakes gambler, and took $10,000, all his remaining money, and “bet the entire company” to create and air a set of TV commercials.

The story as he told it to Furniture World Magazine goes that he bought airtime on two independent TV stations but he needed to make the ads. However, he “just froze up and started stuttering and stammering and couldn’t come up with a punch line.” With time running out and not a single commercial to speak of, “out of sheer frustration” he pulled out the money he had in his pockets and yelled “Gallery Furniture saves you money!”

The gamble paid off and his Houston-based business grew such that annual sales reached $100 million within eight years. At the time of the interview in 2014 sales were hovering in the ballpark of $150 annually.

As for his nickname, Mattress Mack, The Houston Chronicle shared as one of the surprising facts about the Houston celebrity that he used to wear a mattress in his commercials for Gallery Furniture.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mattress Mack is worth $300 million. The successful businessman is also a philanthropist opening his stores to shelter people during disasters and as a mega-fan of the Houston Astros giving customers a chance to get their money back through promotional high-stakes wagers.

It is hard to tell how much of his wealth is from gambling proceeds, he famously wheelbarreled $10 million pile of cash in winnings from BetMGM in Las Vegas onto a jet. Another time he cashed in on $75 million in total payouts when his favorite MLB team won the 2022 World Series. However, he hasn’t always been on the winning end of his bets with some costing him tens of millions as well.