$23 Million
What is Milton Bradley’s Net Worth?
Milton Bradley is an American retired professional baseball player who has a net worth of $23 million. Milton Bradley was born in Harbor City, California in April 1978. He was an outfielder who batted switch and threw right handed. He played baseball at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and committed to California State University, Long Beach before being drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft. Bradley played in the minor leagues before making his MLB debut for the Expos in 2000 where he played until 2001. He joined the Cleveland Indians in 2001 and signed a one year deal worth $1.73 million in 2003. Bradley played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2004 to 2005 and for the Oakland Athletics from 2006 to 2007.
He played for the San Diego Padres in 2007 and the Texas Rangers in 2008. In 2009 he signed a three year deal worth $30 million with the Chicago Cubs. Bradley finished his career with the Seattle Mariners from 2010 to 2011. He was an MLB All-Star while playing for the Rangers in 2008. Bradley also won a Silver medal representing the United States in the 1999 Pan American Games. During his career Milton earned $48 million. In August 2019, Milton listed his longtime home in Encino, California for $3.8 million.
Biography
Milton Bradley, an American entrepreneur and the father of the board game industry, was born on November 8, 1836, in Vienna, Maine. His parents, Lewis and Fannie (Lyford) Bradley, raised him in a modest household. The Bradleys relocated to Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1847. After high school, Bradley took up a job as a draftsman and patent agent, then attempted to further his education at the Lawrence Scientific School in Cambridge. However, his studies were cut short due to a family move to Hartford, Connecticut, where he struggled to find work.
In 1856, Bradley settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, as a mechanical draftsman. Three years later, he learned lithography in Providence, Rhode Island, which led him to establish Springfield’s first color lithography shop in 1860. His venture into lithography faced a setback when his prints of Abraham Lincoln became outdated after Lincoln grew a beard. Bradley pivoted to game production, inspired by an imported board game, creating The Checkered Game of Life, the progenitor of The Game of Life.
The Milton Bradley Company
A young Milton Bradley in the 1860s ventured into game production after a lithograph business failure. His print of Abraham Lincoln, initially successful, became worthless when Lincoln grew a beard, leading Bradley to destroy the unsold prints. He was inspired by an imported board game to create The Checkered Game of Life, which became an instant hit, with more than 45,000 copies sold by 1861.
1872 advertisement for the Milton Bradley Company
The Checkered Game of Life was a novel approach to board games, emphasizing secular business success over moral virtue, aligning with America’s post-Civil War ethos. Bradley’s company, which spanned over a century, produced classic games like Candy Land and Battleship. It operated independently until Hasbro’s acquisition in 1984 and merged with Parker Brothers in 1998 to become part of Hasbro Games.
Late Career
Bradley was an ardent supporter of Friedrich Fröbel’s kindergarten system, publishing magazines and educational materials despite financial challenges. He innovated with standardized watercolor sets and educational games, and was a pioneer in releasing standardized crayon packages.
Personal Life
Bradley married Vilona Eaton in 1860, but they had no children, and she passed away in 1867. His second marriage to Ellen “Nellie” Thayer in 1869 resulted in two daughters. Bradley died on May 30, 1911, in Springfield, and he was honored posthumously with inductions into both the Toy Industry Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his contributions to toy and game manufacturing.
