Who is the Richest Athlete?
Richest Athlete make a good income from their sports careers, but some have also ventured into other activities, like brand endorsements and investments. Here are the top 10 athletes with a net worth of over $1 billion.
These include Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Vince McMahon, Lionel Messi and Ion Tiriac. They all have an extensive fan base and huge earnings from their sports careers.
Michael Jordan
According to a recent report from Sportico, Michael Jordan remains the world’s richest athlete even 20 years after retiring from professional basketball. His Airness has netted an estimated $3.3 billion in total career earnings.
It’s no secret that Jordan has a knack for creating and holding onto wealth, but he’s also become one of the most prominent philanthropists in sports history. He recently donated $10 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, making it the largest single donation in the organization’s history.
Jordan has many endorsement relationships, and his Nike partnership has been profitable. He’s also owned the Charlotte Hornets for the past three years and has said he wants to win a championship as an owner someday.
Vince McMahon
Athletes are some of the wealthiest individuals in the world, courtesy of lucrative contracts. Professional athletes can earn tens of millions on a single match, and their endorsement deals often total hundreds of millions.
Vince McMahon is a 77-year-old business magnate who founded World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and has become the richest athlete in the world. The American professional wrestling promoter has a net worth of over 1.6 billion.
The renowned wrestling magnate has several ventures outside the WWE, including a subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service and other multimedia subsidiaries. He also owns a wrestling training facility and co-owns the apparel brand Tapout.
The 77-year-old began his career as a wrestling announcer and later became a wrestling promoter under his father, Vincent J. McMahon’s Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC). In 1982, he purchased CWC from his father and became the sole owner of WWF. Throughout his tenure, he grew WWE into one of the biggest sports promotions in the world, acquiring small wrestling promotions and transforming them into successful enterprises.
Floyd Mayweather
One of the wealthiest athletes in the world is Floyd Mayweather, aka ‘Money’. He is known for his incredible success in boxing, which earned him six world championships and an estimated net worth of $560 million.
As a boxer, Mayweather has made millions from his fights and earns money from endorsements and other businesses. He has a promotional company, Mayweather Promotions, and owns his apparel line TMT.
He is one of the most successful sportsmen in the world, and he is widely recognized as an icon and role model for aspiring boxers worldwide.
In addition to his boxing career, Mayweather has made considerable money from real estate and other investments. He owns several homes in Las Vegas and New York City, including an 11-bedroom mansion he bought for 10 million dollars.
He also owns several luxury cars, private jets and watches. His collection includes a Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita, a Bugatti Veyron and more.
Kobe Bryant
While Kobe Bryant’s name may not be as familiar to us as LeBron James, he is one of the wealthiest athletes in the world. Kobe Bryant earned over $25 million during his NBA career and a whopping $680 million in endorsement deals.
Kobe Bryant also made significant business investments during his career. He was very successful in the philanthropic sector. Kobe Bryant was a partner in the non-profit After-School. All-Stars and ran an annual summer camp called the Kobe Basketball Academy.
He also founded a venture capital firm with Jeff Stibel and has stakes in several tech, media and data companies. The company was founded with $100 million in funding and has over $2 billion in assets under management today.
In 2014, he invested $6 million in Body Armour for a 10% equity stake. That investment was a significant boost to his family’s fortune. Since then, the company has become one of the world’s most popular sports drink brands.