The retirement of the legendary Roger Federer every year became more and more likely. The 41-year-old Swiss decided to announce the decision to finally part with professional performances on September 15. His last tournament will be the Laver Cup in London next week.

The most titled champion of Wimbledon and the US Open, who has won 103 titles in his career, can rightfully be considered one of the kings of tennis. However, Federer managed to go down in history not only thanks to his sporting success, but also due to his amazing commercial streak.

In 2021, Roger was among the six billionaire athletes, while he earned only $ 130 million directly on the court.

So how much has Federer made during his career? And how did he manage to become one of the richest athletes in history?

At the beginning of his career, Federer did not think about money

Since the end of 2002, four years after the start of his career as a professional tennis player, Roger began to collaborate with Nike. In 2007, after the expiration of the first contract, under which he was paid 100 thousand dollars a year, the Swiss athlete and the sports brand could not agree on the terms of a new deal for a long time. Federer’s interests at that time were represented by an agent, but due to the ensuing financial squabbles, the athlete had to negotiate on his own.

A new agreement on improved terms was nevertheless signed, but soon Roger suddenly decided to break the contract and made his own father and future wife his official agents.

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For a long time in the tennis community, it was believed that Federer was earning too little from sponsorship payments, and Roger himself subsequently explained his reluctance to delve into the business by focusing on sports results. However, in the wake of tremendous success and leadership in men’s tennis, the Swiss environment convinced him to pay attention to money.

In 2007, Federer, along with golfer Tiger Woods and football player Thierry Henry, became the face of the famous American brand Gillette, then entered into a lifetime agreement with Wilson, and in 2008, Roger signed a new contract with a sportswear and footwear manufacturer, agreeing on record payments of 10 million dollars.

Business flourishing

By the beginning of the new decade, Federer was already earning $43 million a year thanks to contracts with major brands, subsequently founding his own management company, Team8. And his income only continued to grow: it got to the point that in 2018 the Swiss refused a lucrative contract with a former outfitter and agreed to a 10-year deal with Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo worth $ 30 million a year.

In 2019, Roger signed a contract with the young sneaker brand On Running, at the same time becoming its investor: Federer invested more than $ 50 million in this company. And the rate paid off to the maximum – by the end of 2021, the company was already worth almost $ 10 billion, while 3% of the shares belong to Roger, which is about 300 million.

What does he spend on?

Like most superstars, Federer spares no expense in real estate, cars and jewelry. The tennis icon has three homes, including a stunning mansion on the shores of Lake Zurich in Switzerland. Roger also has real estate in the Swiss Alps, South Africa and Dubai.

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Under the terms of the contract with Mercedes, Federer chooses only cars from this manufacturer: the most luxurious car in Roger’s garage is the AMG SLS roadster worth $270,000. The Swiss also prefers expensive watches of the Rolex brand, paying more than 50 thousand for them, according to media reports. However, according to the athlete, he puts most of the money in the bank. In 2018, Federer decided to make a heartfelt confession:

“I never expected to earn so much. At times like these, I thank the generations that played tennis before me. They didn’t have such big prize money, but they had a love for their work,” said Roger.

Over the past two years, Federer has hardly appeared on the courts of major tournaments, but thanks to contracts for crazy amounts and participation in business projects, his fortune has only increased. In 2021, he became the sixth athlete in history to break the $1 billion mark. And this is far from the limit for Roger.