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When someone presented a fat-reducing countertop grill to two-time world heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist George Foreman in the 1990s, he wasn't impressed. "I didn't want to use it," he admitted to Graham Bensinger (1) in his 2013 In Depth interview. "But my wife insisted."

Little did he know that this modest grill would lead to one of the largest payouts of his career.

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"I never expected it to be so successful," he told Bensinger. "I got a check once for $1,500 and I said 'what!?' [I] couldn't believe it. Then I get a check for $15,000. And then all of a sudden the checks just start rolling in. This thing sold over 100 million [units]."

At its peak, Foreman estimated he was receiving $5 million a month in royalty checks. However, because of the way the deal was structured, his largest payout was still ahead of him. Here's how a simple tactic led to a nine-figure windfall for the heavyweight champion.

Unlike his previous endorsement deals, Foreman told Bensigner the George Foreman deal didn't involve any upfront payments. Instead, it was structured as a joint venture, with the athlete receiving a "lion's share" in exchange for promoting the product.

A 2004 Businessweek report (2) confirmed that Foreman received a 40% royalty from every sale. His stake and naming rights were eventually acquired by the manufacturer, Salton Inc., for $127.5 million in cash and $10 million in stock. When combined with all his royalty payments, Foreman is estimated to have generated $240 million altogether from this deal.

A traditional endorsement deal would have paid him once. Owning equity created a stream of recurring cash flows and a big payout at the end.

The lesson is simple: ownership is the key to building wealth.

And the good news is anyone can replicate this tactic.

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Nine-figure agreements for endorsements and naming rights probably aren't available to ordinary people. After all, Foreman was able to get his payout because he bought a stake in an asset that went big.

But that doesn't mean you can't accumulate a small stake in some exceptionally valuable assets.

Publicly traded stocks, fractional ownership of rental real estate and employee stock ownership plans can all help you steadily build wealth, even if you don't have much cash upfront.

For instance, mogul is a real estate investment platform that offers fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties. Investors get monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits — without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 a.m. tenant calls.

Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the mogul team handpicks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide for you. Simply put, you can invest in institutional-quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.

Each property undergoes a vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Their cash-on-cash yields, meanwhile, average between 10% to 12% annually. Offerings often sell out in under three hours, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.

If real estate isn't a knockout, you could also take a target approach to picking America's best and brightest for your bottom line.

Moby lets you build a stock portfolio backed by careful research from an army of former hedge fund analysts. In four years, and across almost 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Moby's team spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to you. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts, and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs.

Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

If you're already affluent, with at least six-figures available to invest, you can take this strategy to the next level with institutional real estate deals. Historically, individual investors haven't had great options for accessing high-quality, private-market real estate.

In recent years, crowdfunding platforms like Lightstone DIRECT have opened access to a broader demographic, but outcomes often depend on factors like deal structure, platform incentives and the expertise of the sponsor.

Lightstone's direct-to-investor model ensures a high degree of alignment between individual investors and a vertically-integrated, institutional owner-operator — a sophisticated and streamlined option for individual investors looking to diversify into private-market real estate.

With Lightstone DIRECT, accredited individuals can access the same multifamily and industrial assets Lightstone pursues with its own capital, with minimum investments starting at $100,000.

One honest caveat: all these strategies involve some degree of risk. Foreman's royalty was a genuine risk. He walked away from guaranteed money, and the deal could easily have been worth nothing. But it wasn't, and it set one of the world's best up for life.

That's the trade — upside comes with the possibility of zero. But if you have the appetite for risk, owning a piece of a great asset could be the bedrock of your financial freedom.

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Graham Bensinger/ Facebook (1); Internet Archive (2)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.