Ippei Mizuhara salary: How much was Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter paid?

MLB star Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been formally charged with bank fraud in relation to a swirling scandal of illegal gambling and financial impropriety. Mizuhara is accused of stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani’s personal bank account in a bid to fund his gambling addiction.

The 37-page complaint levelled at Mizuhara alleges that his years-long scheme saw him place around 19,000 bets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Investigators claim that he lost around $40 million to gambling, losses which he attempted to repay by siphoning money from Ohatani’s account.

How did Mizuhara find himself in this position? Even in the world of professional sports the numbers involved are vast, but they are truly unfathomable when you consider the fairly modest salary that he would have received as an interpreter. We don’t know exactly how much Mizuhara was paid by the Dodgers but former Seattle Mariners president Kevin Mather has previously revealed how much the interpreter for Hisashi Iwakuma was paid during his time with the team

Sports Illustrated reports that Mather said: “When he was a player, we’d pay Iwakuma ‘X’, but we’d also have to pay $75,000 a year to have an interpreter with him.”

Iwakuma played for the Mariners from 2012 to 2017. Mizuhara, even working for one of the most famed players in MLB, would likely have received a similar amount for his work with the Dodgers. In short, a tiny fraction of the vast sums he was allegedly wagering on sports gambling.

What is Shohei Ohtani’s net worth?

The Japanese star is one of the biggest stars in MLB and one of the most famous faces in his homeland. Nicknamed ‘Shotime’, his ability as both a hitter and a pitcher has seen many commentators single him out as one of the greatest players in baseball history.

After starring in Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters he moved to the States and signed for MLB team Los Angeles Angels in 2017. After a hugely successful spell with the Angels he signed a 10-year deal with the Los Angels Dodgers in early 2024.

With years of stellar performances behind him Ohtani was expected to receive a lucrative contract offer. Few, however, would have predicted that he would put pen to paper on a mammoth deal worth $700 million, the largest contract in the history of professional sports.

But despite that incredible package, Ohtani’s net worth is lower than you may expect. That ten-year, $700 million deal should be worth $70 million per year, but the Dodgers have utilised some creative accounting to allow them to strengthen other areas of the squad. Sportico reports that his salary is structured as $2 million in annual payments, with $68 million deferred each year. The deferred payments will be paid between 2034 and 2043. Ohtani’s net worth is estimated at a comparatively modest $50 million, but he’s in for quite the retirement.