DiBiase was born in Miami, Florida. He is the biological son of wrestler Helen Nevins and Ted Wills, an entertainer and singer. He is the adopted son of wrestler "Iron" Mike DiBiase, who was Italian-American. DiBiase is of mostly German and English ancestry.

DiBiase also spent time in the Georgia area where he had an early face run. One legendary angle had DiBiase enduring four piledrivers (one on the concrete floor and three in the ring) administered in the WTBS studio arena by The Fabulous Freebirds before his tag team partner, Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, threw in the towel (the angle of DiBiase being badly injured was so real the TBS studio audience could be seen crying). Rich and DiBiase later feuded, leading to a loser leaves town match which DiBiase won, but instead of Rich leaving the area, he donned a mask calling himself "Mister R." The feud culminated in a match between Mister R and DiBiase, Rich appeared from backstage and distracted DiBiase. Mister R then rolled up DiBiase to get the win and unmasked as Brad Armstrong. Both DiBiase and Rich left the territory shortly thereafter. In the early to mid-1980s, DiBiase participated in angles in various territories feuding with the likes of Ric Flair best known from this point in his Mid South return with the likes of Bob Roop, Paul Orndorff, Dick Murdoch, The Fabulous Freebirds and One Man Gang. DiBiase turned heel against the Junkyard Dog and formed a group called The Rat Pack with Jim Duggan and Matt Borne, ran Mid-south for months. Aligning with Skandor Akbar, Dibiase caused a riff with the group, namely Duggan. The two would feud until DiBiase lost a loser leave town match. He also held various championships and made frequent trips to All Japan Pro Wrestling until his eventual departure from Mid-South Wrestling (which by this point was now the UWF). Typically, his matches ended with the use of a "loaded" black glove, which he pulled from his tights to "knock out" his opponent when the referee was not looking. While locked in talks with the National Wrestling Alliance in 1987 after the UWF was acquired by Jim Crockett, DiBiase received an offer from the WWF. DiBiase was eventually convinced by WWF to sign up despite the fact that he would not be told his gimmick until after he agreed, under the promise that it was something that would receive a serious push. WWF official Pat Patterson informed DiBiase that if owner Vince McMahon were to go out to wrestle, it would be the gimmick that he would give himself. DiBiase entered All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1983. He won the NWA United National Championship on October 14, 1983 in a tournament defeating Jerry Lawler by forfeit. Two months later on January 28, 1984, DiBiase lost the title to Michael Hayes. DiBiase's mother Helen Hild died two months later in March 4, 1984. In August 1985, DiBiase formed a tag team with fellow gaijin: Stan Hansen and the two became the PWF Tag Team Champions when Hansen chose DiBiase to replace Bruiser Brody who left for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Later that year, DiBiase and Hansen entered the 1985 World's Strongest Tag Determination League and would emerge victorious finishing in first place with 7 points. On July 3, 1987, DiBiase and Hansen would lose the PWF Tag Team Championship to Jumbo Tsuruta and Tiger Mask, ending their two-year reign as champions. Eight days later on July 11, DiBiase and Hansen regain the titles for a second time, but would be stripped of the titles shortly after due to DiBiase leaving AJPW for the WWF. In September 1993, DiBiase returned to AJPW and reformed his team with Hansen. The two immediately saw success as they defeated The Holy Demon Army on September 3, 1993 for the World Tag Team Championship. Two months later on November 13, 1993, DiBiase and Hansen would be stripped of the titles so they could be put on the line for the 1993 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. DiBiase would enter the tournament, but would only wrestle one match on November 14 where he and Hansen defeated Tracey Smothers and Richard Slinger before he suffered neck and back injuries which forced him out of the tournament (Giant Baba ended up replacing him). Ted DiBiase officially formed the tag team, Money Incorporated, with Irwin R. Schyster (IRS). The duo, mostly managed by Jimmy Hart, won the WWF Tag Team Championship three times between February 1992 and June 1993. Their first reign came on February 7, 1992 when they defeated The Legion of Doom for the titles. Money Incorporated then feuded with The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon). They defended the title against the Natural Disasters at WrestleMania VIII and lost the match by countout, thus retaining the title. On July 20, they lost the title to the Natural Disasters. After losing a match to the Legion of Doom at SummerSlam, DiBiase and IRS regained the belts on the October 13 edition of Wrestling Challenge from the Natural Disasters. This title change led to a feud with The Nasty Boys, who were originally scheduled for the title shot. On the November 14 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, they defended their titles against the Ultimate Maniacs (Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage). DiBiase and IRS lost the match by countout and thus retained the titles once more. Ted DiBiase participated in the Royal Rumble match, entering at #4 before eventually being eliminated by The Undertaker. Shortly after, DiBiase and IRS became involved in a major angle with the returning Brutus Beefcake. DiBiase faced Beefcake on one of the first episodes of Monday Night Raw. DiBiase and IRS attacked Beefcake after the match and slammed his face (which had been surgically repaired following a windsailing accident) with a briefcase. Money Inc. also attacked their manager Jimmy Hart, who was disgusted by their actions. Beefcake's best friend Hulk Hogan came to Beefcake's defense and challenged Money Inc. to a tag team title match at WrestleMania IX. DiBiase and IRS retained their titles by disqualification after Hogan used Beefcake's protective face mask as a weapon. Money Inc. dominated the tag team division of the WWF. They feuded with the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) and had a series of title exchanges. DiBiase and IRS were defeated by the Steiners for the WWF Tag Team Championship on the June 14 edition of Monday Night Raw. They would regain the titles on June 16 at a live event but lost them back to the Steiners three days later on June 19 at another live event. DiBiase last wrestled for the WWF in August, bowing out following an angle which saw Razor Ramon turn face and 1-2-3 Kid debut. The Kid had scored an upset pinfall against a cocky Ramon, causing DiBiase to mock Ramon and tell him he would show him how it was done. He then went on to also lose to the Kid, giving Razor a newfound respect for the Kid thus turning Razor face. This included a match at SummerSlam between DiBiase and Ramon which DiBiase lost. This was DiBiase's last TV appearance in the WWF during this run. He revealed in a shoot interview that his decision to leave the WWF at this point was motivated by a desire to resolve his marital problems. After a few months back in AJPW, where he won the World Tag Team Championship with Hansen, he quietly announced his retirement due to sustaining an injury to two cervical discs in his neck and returned to the USA.

What was it's purpose?
The duo, mostly managed by Jimmy Hart, won the WWF Tag Team Championship three times