Ferrari deal more than 60 million: where does Hamilton rank among the top earners in the sport?

American golf professional Phil Mickelson (53) is the top earner. His annual salary: approximately 89.11 million francs. Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship and made golf history when, at age 50, he became the oldest to win a major. Overall, he can call himself a six-time major winner. In addition to his income from the golf course, he also raises another 1.71 million in sponsorship money. That makes an annual salary of 90.82 million francs.

Dustin Johnson (39), an American golf professional, is also in second place. He played on the PGA Tour until 2022, when he switched to the LIV Tour, which is financed by the Saudis. Mickelson is also capitalizing on it – which explains the high wages for both. Johnson’s move alone caused a stir and earned him R107.1 million. The two-time major winner’s salary is 87.39 million francs. In addition, there is 4.28 million in income from sponsorship fees. That’s a total of 91.67 million.

The highest-earning footballer is Kylian Mbappé (25). The 2018 French world champion receives 85.68 million francs from his club Paris St-Germain, with whom he will celebrate his fifth championship title in the past six years in 2023. Thanks to his sponsors, he also earns 17.14 million, bringing his total to 102.82 million.

Just like Mbappé, Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez (33) earns 85.68 million francs. He is a world champion at light middleweight (WBC, WBA, WBO), middleweight (WBC, WBA, IBF), undisputed boxing world champion at super middleweight (WBA, WBO, WBC, IBF) and light heavyweight (WBO). However, when it comes to sponsorship income, Alvarez cannot keep up with the footballer. He earns 8.57 million, exactly half of Mbappé. His annual salary is 94.25 million.

In 2013, Russell Wilson (35) won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. The American quarterback, who has played for the Denver Broncos since 2022, earns 61.69 million francs per year. Together with the sponsorship income (11.14 million), it amounts to 72.83 million francs.

If you take the income that Lewis Hamilton (39) receives at Ferrari, he cracks the top 10. At Mercedes, the 103-time GP winner earns 47.1 million francs, with his new team it will be 59.98 million francs. In addition, there is 8.57 million francs in sponsorship money – this amount can also vary depending on the situation. All things being equal, Hamilton will earn R68.55 million a year in the future.

Bryson DeChambeau, 30, is another American professional golfer in the top 10. As an amateur, he became the fifth player ever to win both the NCAA Division I Championship and the US Amateur Open in the same year. He has also triumphed at one major so far. Like Mickelson and Johnson, DeChambeau is also active on the LIV Tour. This gives him an income of 58.26 million francs, plus 856,800 francs in sponsorship money. Approximately 59.12 million francs ends up in his account every year.

Golfers are clearly in the majority in the top 10. Australian Cameron Smith (30) is also on the list. He has won one major in his career so far and, like his three competitors, is on the LIV Tour, funded by the Saudis. His salary is 57.41 million francs. The sponsors will receive an additional 5.14 million. This amounts to a total of 62.55 million francs.

American football is represented for the second time after Wilson. American quarterback Kyler Murray (26) was drafted first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. Like Smith, he earns R57.41 million. He has another 3 million in sponsorship income, which is a total of 60.41 million francs.

The top 10 highest-earning athletes are completed by a professional golfer. Since 2022, American Brooks Koepka (33) has also played on the LIV Tour. This means all five golfers are on the Saudi-funded tour. Koepka has won five major tournaments so far and rose to the top position in the world rankings in October 2018. His salary is 56.55 million francs and he has signed sponsorship contracts for 5.14 million francs. This brings his annual income to 61.69 million francs.

Some people looking at this list may rub their eyes in surprise at first glance. Because some top earners are missing, such as the footballers Cristiano Ronaldo (38) and Lionel Messi (36). The reason for this is simple: they earn most of their money thanks to sponsors. If you make the ranking based on the sum of wages and sponsorship money, the top 3 looks like this:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo 116.52 million Swiss francs (wages: 39.41 million, sponsors: 77.11 million)
2. Lionel Messi 111.4 million Swiss francs (wages: 55.7 million, sponsors: 55.7 million)
3. Kylian Mbappé 102.82 million Swiss francs (wages: 85.68 million, sponsors: 17.14 million)

And where is Hamilton’s Formula 1 competitor and reigning world champion Max Verstappen? The 26-year-old Dutchman narrowly missed the top 10. He is behind Messi in twelfth place, earns 51.41 million francs per year and supplements this with 3.43 million francs from sponsors. This means that 54.84 million francs ends up in his account every year. (beer)