Michael Schumacher net worth
What is Michael Schumacher’s net worth?
Michael Schumacher is a former German Formula 1 driver with a net worth of $600 million. Michael is one of the few athletes to earn more than $1 billion in his career. At the peak of his career, he made $8-100 million a year. Of these, he earned $10 million a year in public appearances.
He started racing at a young age and is today considered the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time. He played for Jordan Benetton and Ferrari from 1991 to 2006. Michael’s younger brother Ralf Schumacher also had a very successful racing career.
Unfortunately, Michael’s life was turned upside down after a ski accident in December 2013. The accident left him with permanent brain damage.
Early Years and Rise
Michael Schumacher was born on January 3, 1969 in Hürth, then part of West Germany. Michael, son of Rolf and Elisabeth Schumacher, was born with speed. When Michael was four years old, his father put a scooter engine in his pedal kart. With the support of his parents, he became the youngest member of the kart club on the Kerpen-Horrem kart track. At the age of six, Schumacher would win his first club title. He would continue to race throughout his childhood and teenage years, winning numerous German and European karting championships. While German rules require drivers to be at least 14 years old to get a license to drive a karting, Schumacher got his license in Luxembourg at the age of 12. Starting with his German license in 1983, he has won many German and European karting championships. In 1989 he signed with Willi Weber’s WTS Formula 3 team.
Formula One
Michael made his Formula 1 debut in 1991 at the Belgian Grand Prix. In 1994, he took his stride when he won six of seven races. In 1996 he joined the Scuderia Ferrari SPA racing team. Before Schumacher arrived, the team fought for years to win the title. Michael started winning games for this struggling team almost overnight. This success was particularly evident in 1999, when Michael won the prestigious title of Constructors. Although his career was in full swing in the late ’90s, the next decade would bring another string of very successful and lucrative victories. Starting around 2000, Schumacher would go on to win more championships than any other driver in racing history. He won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship seven times (1994, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004). He won the 2000 World Championship (his third), the Italian Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix. His success waned around 2005, and he announced his retirement in 2006. In 2010, he announced his comeback with Mercedes GP. He set the fastest qualifying time at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix and finished third at the 2012 European Grand Prix. With that, he became the oldest driver to reach the only podium since Jack Brabham finished second at the British Grand Prix in 1970.
Over the years, Michael has found himself embroiled in various controversies. Some of these include dangerous driving citations and penalties, as well as alleged foul and cheating scandal charges.
ski accident
Sadly, Michael’s career was interrupted in December 2013 in a ski accident that left him with a brain injury. He was skiing in the French Alps with his 14-year-old son Mick when he fell and hit a rock. Despite wearing a ski helmet, he suffered serious head injuries. According to the doctor, if he hadn’t worn the helmet, he would have died.
Schumacher remained in a medical coma for six months and has not been seen in public since. He regained consciousness in June 2014 and was transferred to Switzerland for further rehabilitation.
Michael was finally brought home in September 2014 for further recovery. In November 2014, Michael was reported to be paralyzed and in a wheelchair. He was unable to speak and lost his memory. In September 2019, Michael was sent to Paris for advanced stem cell therapy in the hope that it would help him recover.
(Patrick Stolaz/AFP via Getty Images)
Philanthropy
During his career, Michael has donated tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to charities around the world. The exact total amount is unknown because most of his donations were done anonymously. He is understood to have donated a total of $50 million to UNESCO during the last five years of his driving career. Over the years, he has donated a total of 1.5 million euros to UNESCO. In addition, Schumacher built a school for poor children in Dakar, Senegal. He also supports the Hospital for Children Victims of War in Sarajevo. He also donated $5-10 million to the Clinton Foundation. In 2003, he was appointed ambassador-at-large for the most serene Republic of San Marino. In 2004, he donated $10 million to help victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake. He lost his bodyguard (and the bodyguard’s two sons) to the earthquake and tsunami. Schumacher funded the Palace of the Poor in Lima, Peru, a charity that helps homeless children get education, food, clothing and shelter.
personal life
Michael married Corinna Betsch in August 1995. They have two children, daughters Gina-Marie (born 1997) and Mick (born 1999). Michael has insisted on keeping his personal life out of the spotlight. In 2019, Mick Schumacher was announced as a driver of the Ferrari Driver Academy. Before the accident, Michael enjoyed riding horses and playing football for the local team FC Echichens.
Endorsements and Earnings
Michael Schumacher is also one of the highest-paid athletes of all time, with career earnings easily surpassing $1 billion.At this income level, he is the fifth highest paid athlete of all time Jack Nicklaus ($1.2 billion), Arnold Palmer ($1.7 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion) and Michael Jordan ($2 billion). Even in the few years he didn’t race, Schumacher made $50 million from endorsements alone. At the height of his career, Shell paid him $10 million a year to wear a hat with the company logo in almost every public appearance. At his peak, he earned $8-100 million a year, which is usually enough to make him the highest-paid athlete in the world. He has appeared on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid athletes every year since Forbes began tracking athletes in 1990.
real estate
Michael and his wife have an enviable global real estate portfolio. At the time of the accident, Michael and his wife Corinna’s main residence was a Swiss mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva. They also own a horse farm in Texas because he and his wife are both passionate about horses. In 2018, Michael’s wife purchased a $40 million property on the Spanish island of Mallorca that spanned 160,000 square feet.
