16 Richest Athletes In Sports
2. Michael Schumacher – $800 million
He has won the Formula One world driver’s championship seven times (1994, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004). Schumacher is also one of the highest paid athletes of all time.
Even in years when he is not racing, Schumacher can easily earn $50 million per year from endorsements.
At the peak of his career, he was paid $10 million per year by Shell to wear a hat with the company’s logo at nearly all public appearances. His career spanned from 1991 to 2006 with Jordan Benetton, and Ferrari. In 2010 he announced a comeback with Mercedes GP.
Michael Schumacher was practically born with speed in his blood. At the age of four his father put a small motorcycle engine in his pedal kart. With his parents’ support he became the youngest member of the karting club at the Karting track in Kerpen-Horrem.
At the age of six Schumacher would win his first club championship. He would continue racing throughout his childhood and teen years, winning many of the championships in German and European kart races.
Michael made his Formula One debut in 1991 at the Belgian grand prix. He hit his stride in 1994 when he won six out of seven races. In 1996 he joined the Scuderia Ferrari S.P.A racing team. The team struggled for years to win a championship until the arrival of Schumacher.
Michael began winning races for the struggling team practically overnight. This success became especially apparent in 1999 when Michael won the prestigious Constructors title. Though his career was on fire in the late 90s, the next decade would bring another string of highly successful and lucrative wins.
Beginning roughly in 2000, Schumacher would go on to win more championships than any other driver in the history of racing. He won the World Championship in 2000 (his third one), Italian Grand Prix, and the Japanese Grand prix. His success would dwindle down around 2005 and in 2006 he announced his retirement.
