Gina Sasso came to the spotlight following her marriage with the deceased American actor and comedian, Thomas Mikal Ford also known as Tommy Ford. The pair were married for almost two decades. The mother of two parted ways with Tommy two years before he died from a ruptured abdominal aneurysm on October 12, 2016, at age 52.
Gina has made a name for herself in sports despite it being a male-dominated profession. She is known as a dynamic and talented marketing executive and business manager. She is the Global Commercial agent for Usain Bolt and she is also the president of Prime Sports Markets LLC.
Here are 10 Interesting Facts About Gina Sasso
1. She is from Jamaica
According to reports, Tommy Ford’s ex-wife is originally from Jamaica and she was born in Kingston on March 13, 1963. She attended Miami Sunset High School.
According to an interview, Gina, who is now referred to as Gina Ford has a diverse background. She is not just Jamaican but also part black, Portuguese, and Chinese. She reportedly migrated from Jamaica to the United States many years ago.
2. Gina Sasso started her career in the banking sector
The mother of two allegedly started her career working at Citibank where she learned how to connect with people and clients. She later got a sales and marketing role at Caribbean Satellite Network.
When she was a child, she wanted to become a child psychologist. However, her decision changed when she got to college where she became more passionate about sales and marketing.
3. She started her in company marketing and branding in sports and entertainment
After building her interest in psychology, she developed more interest in the psychology of marketing and branding. After she started her company, she did marketing gigs for Martin Lawrence’s TV show Martin.
She has worked with several CEOs and C-Suite level executives and has also represented NFL players like Olivier Vernon and Joe Haden. She has also worked with a couple of actors like Kevin Durant’s mother Wanda in relation to the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Durant Story.
Among her broad range of clients includes Peter Miller who ran a fishing show, Bass 2 Billfish on NBC Sports.
She also has great alliances with many companies given to her great success in her marketing and branding skills. She has been linked with the following companies: Brand Jordan, Puma, Nike, Under Armor, PepsiCo, Gatorade, Nissan, and a few others.
4. Gina Ford has been the global commercial agent for Usain Bolt long before the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Gina has revealed that working with Usain Bolt has had a great impact on her career. She had been working with him when he was barely known. The Jamaican athlete became a household name after he won gold medals and broke world records in Beijing.
As his agent, she worked really hard to get sponsors for him and even got Bolt his first big deal with Gatorade.
Gina was first introduced to her countryman Bolt by one Jamaican Deputy Minister of Tourism. He also introduced her to Bolt’s business manager who set up the meeting.
Some of her notable achievements for the athlete was negotiating the Nissan G-TR car endorsement which was worth millions of dollars.
Gina boast of having an excellent negotiation style that might have helped her seal quite a number of deals successfully.
She is said to be responsible for marketing and branding Usain Bolt’s brand developing sponsor relations not just in the US but all over the world.
5. Her marriage only lasted for 17 years
In 1996, while she was on a business trip, Gina met Tommy who fell in love with her almost immediately and they began dating.
After a while, the pair decided to exchange vows in 1997 at the Rio Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas. after which they had their honeymoon in Aruba.
The marriage lasted for only lasted almost two decades before it shattered. Although the couple did not reveal their reasons for the divorce, it was rumored to be due to Tommy’s infidelity.
6. Tommy Ford was accused of being aggressive following their divorce
Upon their divorce, the actor was served a restraining order by the mother of his child, Vanessa Simmons. Known for his roles in TV sitcoms Martin and The Parkers, Tommy allegedly shoved Simmons backward during a heated conversation and she in return threw a bottle of Purell hand sanitizer at him.
Simmons also accused the actor of convincing her to move to Georgia from Vegas after he had promised to leave his ex-girlfriend Vivian de Sosa Beattie and also divorce his wife. However, she later discovered he was still cheating on her with Vivianne and she allegedly suffered numerous panic attacks due to mental stress.
7. She has two children
It seems her ex-husband had more than just the kids they had while they were married. Reports say he had between two to four children. Notwithstanding, it seems the only children Gina has are from her former marriage.
Her marriage with Tommy Ford was blessed with two kids: Maddison and TJ Tommy Ford.
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8. Her company sued Zion Williamson for a breach of contract
The 60-year-old business expert filed documents in court claiming that the NBA star Zion Williamson received impermissible benefits from some sources like Nike and Adidas. She also accused the basketball player and his then-new agency of breaching their contract in 2019.
However, Zion was the one who first files a lawsuit in North Carolina to terminate his five-year contract but Prime Sports Marketing filed a lawsuit in a Florida court accusing him of breaching the contract.
9. Gina Sasso was reportedly the one who announced the death of Tommy
Popularly known as his ex-wife, Gina was the first to give the public an update about Tommy’s health condition. She revealed he was rushed to the emergency room after his health issues started on October 9, 2016. He was then put on life support on October 12 but he passed away a couple of hours later.
Reports later revealed that Thomas Mikal Ford died from a ruptured abdominal aneurysm in a hospital in Atlanta.
Before he died, he was reportedly living with his girlfriend, Vivianne Brazil who currently handles his Instagram fan page.
Tommy Ford would be remembered for his roles in Martin, The Parkers, and New York Undercover.
10. What is Gina Sasso’s net worth?
Despite having a booming career, Gina Sasso, who seems like a private person has not shared her earnings with the public. However, at the time the father of her kids died, his net worth was rumored to be around $2million.
