Victor Conte, mastermind of one of the biggest steroid scandals in sports history, died Monday Nov. 3, according to a post on the X account of his company SNAC.
He was 75.
Conte had undergone treatment for pancreatic cancer this year.
‘We are Heartbroken by the Passing of our Fearless Leader…” the post reads. ‘We will Honor his Wishes. SNAC and his Legacy will Carry Forward, Strong and Forever. We LOVE you, Conte!”
In 2003, federal agents raided Conte’s business BALCO and his home in Northern California while investigating the scandal involving steroids. Conte pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering after being accused of supplying the drugs to high-profile athletes, including home run king Barry Bonds and Olympic gold medalist sprinter Marion Jones.
He served four months in a minimum-security federal prison in Taft, California.
Victor Conte, a polarizing figure
Ostracized by the sports world, Conte could be loud, combative, controversial and relentless. After shutting down BALCO in 2003, he relaunched another company, Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC), which Conte said sold natural supplements.
He also mounted a comeback as an adviser in professional boxing. ‘The redlight district,” he called it. His clients included world champions such as Terence Crawford and Claressa Shields.
He also became a self-described anti-doping advocate during an about-face in a story he cast as personal redemption.
‘I realized, you know what, we do live in a society of second chances and I’m going to do my best to become a role model,” Conte told Cynthia Conte (no relation) on ‘The Real Fight With Cynthia Conte’ podcast.
But Jeff Notitzky, the former IRS agent who led the investigation into Conte and BALCO, remained among the skeptics.
“He’ll take any publicity as long as his name is in the lights,’ Novitzky told Netflix for a 2023 documentary that revisited the BALCO scandal and examined Conte’s life. “So I don’t think you can believe a word the guy says.’
From music to BALCO and beyond the criticism
Indeed, as Crawford prepared to fight Alvarez in what became one of the crowning moments of Conte’s career as an adviser to boxers, he faced unsubstantiated accusations of cheating.
Conte, who battled with his critics, struck a different tone as his health waned.
‘Please don’t stress the negativity of my past too much,” Conte said for a story before Crawford beat Alvarez by unanimous decision.
At times, Conte sent mixed messages. For example, although he repeatedly said he felt guilty about the BALCO scandal because many people were damaged, he also told Netflix, ‘When Marion Jones hit the finish line and won the gold medal (at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney), when Barry Bonds hit all these home runs, you know, any of these great accomplishments, those are things that I’ll always be proud of.’
Born January 10, 1950, in Fresno, California, Conte first found the limelight playing the bass in the late 1970s with Tower of Power, a funk and R&B band. But his attention eventually turned to the science of enhancing athletic performance.
In 1984, he founded BALCO and later partnered with Patrick Arnold, a bodybuilding chemist responsible for designer steroids known as ‘the cream’ and ‘the clear.’
But the operation ended in 2003 after Novitzky led a raid on BALCO. Conte said the scandal stopped him from helping athletes cheat to win, but it did not fully rein him in.
For example, in 2004, after leaving the Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, Conte smiled for photographers and flexed his biceps.
In 2010, Conte released an instrumental jazz song he wrote and produced. The title: ‘BALCO Bebop.”
Conte had three daughters and grew teary-eyed while talking about them during the Netflix documentary.
‘I was a horrible father,” he said, reflecting on how the BALCO scandal impacted their lives. ‘I took their sense of security away from them and created a lot of uncertainty.’
He claimed the attention from BALCO made his new supplements business even more profitable. In the Netflix film, he drove a Bentley and later asked USA TODAY Sports, ‘Should I send the feds a thank you card?”
He later bought a Rolls-Royce and posted on SNAC’s X account video footage of him behind the wheel of the car.
But the boastfulness began to fade in May, when he told USA TODAY Sports he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. From his hospital bed, Conte said, he continued to work with boxers such as Crawford.
“Terence is the most scientifically prepared boxer in the world,” Conte told USA TODAY Sports. ‘Terence has followed my instructions with excellent compliance.”
During training camp, Crawford was photographed wearing SNAC T-shirts, as he had over the past several years.
Conte said planned to attend Crawford’s fight against Alvarez Sept. 11 in Las Vegas. But the week before the fight, Conte said he was still in the hospital.
‘They will not let me go home,” he said, but later added, ‘I will watch the fight no matter how I feel.”
As Conte fought for his life, Crawford was in the biggest fight of his career.
Conte is survived by his wife, Mandy Tubbs, and three daughters: Alicia Stearman, Kisha Conte and Veronica Schuhmacher.
The funeral service will be held for only Conte’s family and a celebration of life event will be held on a date not yet determined, according to a family friend.
(This story was updated with new information.)
