What is Shohei Ohtani’s net worth in 2024?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are reeling from the revelation that Shohei Ohtani’s longtime friend and interpreter has been fired in the wake of a scandal involving large amounts of money transferred from the Japanese superstar’s account to sports bookmakers. Words like “embezzlement” and “fraud” are being bandied about and the league has opened up an investigation into just how much Ohtani knew about all of this.

MLB news:

Shohei Ohtani has been the Golden Boy ever since breaking into Major League Baseball from Japan ahead of the 2018 season. His honors include American League MVP, All-Star as both hitter and pitcher, a World Baseball Classic MVP and a gold medal for Japan.

Ohtani was born and raised in Oshu, a small city in northern Japan where both his parents played on sports teams—dad, baseball; mom, badminton—sponsored by the local Mitsubishi plant, where his father worked. Regarded early on as an elite two-way player, Ohtani was the first pick for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the 2012 NPB draft. He played both as a pitcher and an outfielder with the Fighters from 2013 through 2017 and won the 2016 Japan Series with them. The Fighters posted Ohtani to MLB after the 2017 season, and he signed with the Angels, soon winning the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year Award.

What is Ohtani’s net worth?

With the Angels, Ohtani earned $5.5 million a year plus around $20 million from endorsements. But this last year has been a watershed for ShoTime.

His free agency was wild, with number flying ever higher in every estimation. The notoriously reticent Japanese player kept his cards close to his chest, but eventually did what most suspected that he would do from the beginning. He signed a deal with the Dodgers.

And what a deal it is, too! Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract is the largest ever in any sport worldwide.

His brand value has certainly increased as well, with Ohtani set to make an estimated $65 million in endorsements this year.

After an eight-year partnership with ASICS, Ohtani signed a long-term shoe endorsement deal with New Balance last year that will probably bring him an 8-digit figure at the end of the contract. Ohtani joins an underrated group of athlete partners at New Balance, which includes two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Sydney McLaughlin, Coco Gauff, Raheem Sterling, and Sadio Mane. The company has also worked with pop culture staples Jack Harlow and Jaden Smith.

His actual cash flow is a little more cloudy, however, since Ohtani agreed to defer the bulk of his $70 million per year salary until after the end of the 10-year deal. In an effort to keep the Dodgers solvent and under the salary cap, Ohtani has agreed to be paid $2 million a year for the duration of the contract, followed by $68 million a year for each of the following ten years, meaning that he will not see the full $700 million until 2044.

For the moment, that means that Ohtani lives off his endorsement earnings, more or less. Good work if you can get it.