Civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84, his family announced.
Jackson, who marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and later ran for president, had recently been diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a serious neurodegenerative disease.
In the days leading up to his death, he had been on life support. Jackson had also revealed in 2017 that he had been battling Parkinson’s disease.
Born out of wedlock
Born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson was deeply involved in both domestic and international politics and was an ordained Baptist minister.
Throughout his life, he also acted as an unofficial diplomat and humanitarian, helping to negotiate the release of hostages and political prisoners in countries such as Syria, Cuba, and Iraq. His efforts brought him international acclaim, including being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.
As a child, Jesse Jackson faced teasing from other kids because he was born out of wedlock, and he later said those experiences fueled his drive to succeed.
He became active in civil rights protests while still in college, having grown up experiencing segregation firsthand.
Jackson initially attended the University of Illinois on a football scholarship but transferred after a year to the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina, where he joined civil rights demonstrations. In 1965, he marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and later became a member of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
He then relocated his family to Chicago, leaving postgraduate studies behind to work with King full-time, and was eventually appointed director of Operation Breadbasket, the SCLC’s economic initiative. His time at the SCLC was marked by internal conflicts, which led to his suspension and eventual resignation from the organization in 1971.
How did he make his money?
Jackson devoted his life to fighting for civil rights, becoming one of America’s most prominent activists and a tireless advocate for social justice and the advancement of African Americans.
His estimated net worth as of late 2025 was around $4 million. But how did he make his money?
In 1993, Parade Magazine reported that Jesse Jackson earned as much as $25,000 per speech for the dozens of appearances he made each year at colleges, conventions, and corporate events.
Adjusted for today’s inflation, that’s roughly $55,000 per speech.
But a 1987 Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that Jesse Jackson’s wife, Jacqueline, held most of the family’s assets. At the time, their combined holdings were valued between $400,000 and $600,000, roughly $1.2 to $1.7 million today when adjusted for inflation.
In March 2001, Jackson filed a personal financial disclosure showing he earned $120,000 annually from the four organizations he led, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
On top of that, he received $5,000 per week from CNN for hosting his show Both Sides with Jesse Jackson. The disclosure also revealed that his organizations spent $614,000 on his travel the previous year, though $450,000 of that was reimbursed by the Democratic National Committee as part of a “get out the vote” initiative.
Survived by his wife and six children
Jesse Jackson is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, whom he married in 1962, and their six children: Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan Luther, Yusef DuBois, Jacqueline Lavinia, and Ashley Jackson.
“Our father was a servant leader—not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement. “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.”