Roger Federer

Federer retired from competitive tennis in 2022, yet his estimated annual income of ~$95M comes almost entirely from long-term brand relationships rather than any court appearance: a ten-year Uniqlo apparel deal signed in 2018 reportedly worth around $300 million over its life, a decades-long Rolex ambassadorship, and, most unusually, an equity stake in the Swiss running-shoe company On rather than a flat endorsement fee. That last relationship means Federer is effectively a part-owner whose "sponsorship income" moved with On's share price after the company's 2021 IPO, not a fixed number his agent negotiated once.

This profile is a good companion to Djokovic's on this site: comparing a retired player's brand-driven income against an active No. 1's prize-money-heavy earnings shows two very different ways tennis wealth can be built. Federer, years removed from his last competitive match, still out-earns most currently ranked professionals, which is a clean illustration of how a long-term equity stake and a decades-long brand relationship can outlast, and outearn, on-court prize money entirely. It is a lesson worth pairing with a discussion of contract structuring, not just talent.

Because a meaningful slice of this figure is tied to On's publicly traded share price, it moves with the stock market rather than sitting still like a signed annual contract, which means our rounded estimate can go stale faster than most retired-athlete profiles. Federer's ambassadorship with Credit Suisse ended when the bank collapsed and was absorbed by UBS in 2023, a reminder that even a legend's sponsor roster changes with corporate events outside his control. His ownership stake in the Laver Cup, the team event he helped create in 2017, is real but illiquid — it is not cash he can spend.

Retired athletes like Federer are typically tracked through Forbes' athlete-earnings list, though its methodology for equity stakes such as the On position necessarily involves judgment calls about valuation that active players' contract-based numbers do not require. This page's animation spreads one annualized estimate evenly across the year and, unlike an actual brokerage account holding On shares, will not visibly react the day the stock moves; for that, check On Holding's own investor-relations filings.