Clayton Kershaw Net Worth: Highest Pro Sports Salary

The Clayton Kershaw net worth sum of $41.3 million comes from pre-tax salary contracts worth $94.4 million and endorsement deals of nearly $30 million. Kershaw’s salary has grown exponentially in recent years to the highest pay in the league. In fact his pay of $34.5 million in 2016 gives him more income than any other player in any of the major league sports including baseball, football, basketball and hockey. Why is his salary so high? Kershaw is a six time All-Star and the 2014 National League MVP. He has won the Cy Young Award three times and is a three-time strikeout leader. He is also the first pitcher in history named four-time National League ERA leader. Many sports analysts and fans consider him the best pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth Facts

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth Facts
Clayton Kershaw Net Worth$41,331,984
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs Tom Brady net worthOne fourth as big
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs Peyton Manning net worthOne fourth as big
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs LeBron James net worthOne fifth as big
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs Stephen Curry net worth65% bigger
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs 50 Cent net worthThree times bigger
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs Taylor Swift net worthSeven times smaller
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs Drake net worthHalf as big
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs Hillary Clinton net worth40% bigger
Clayton Kershaw net worth vs typical American family net worth658 times bigger

The Clayton Kershaw net worth total of $41.3 million is actually small in the world of pro sports stars. NFL legend Tom Brady’s net worth is four times larger than Kershaw’s despite a salary less than half the size. How is that possible? Longevity and endorsements. Brady is ten years older than Kershaw and has worked in the NFL a lot longer. Brady has also had time to rack up a lot more endorsement deals than the star pitcher. Kershaw’s financial future is bright though, with many more years of salary and endorsements on the horizon. Retired great Peyton Manning has even more money with $192 million. The NBA’s LeBron James’s net worth is five times as big as Kershaw’s at $223 million. All these stars have been around a lot longer than Kershaw. Compared to relative newcomer Stephen Curry with a net worth of $27 million, Kershaw is doing extremely well. Outside the world of sports, Kershaw’s net worth is three times bigger than rapper 50 Cent’s, though 50 has suffered a string of bad business deals. Pop diva Taylor Swift has seven times more money than Kershaw with $310 million. Singer Drake has twice as much money as Kershaw, though the MLB phenom has 40% more money than Hillary Clinton.

clayton-kershaw-net-worth-timeline

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth Timeline

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth by Year
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2008$125,190
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2009$258,412
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2010$567,455
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2011$1,064,991
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2012$4,224,837
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2013$9,239,481
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2014$12,894,018
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2015$26,281,831
Clayton Kershaw net worth 2016$41,331,984

The Clayton Kershaw net worth story started back in 2008. Clayton signed a one-year contract with the LA Dodgers for $390,000, selected as the team’s top prospect for the season. At the time Kershaw was the youngest player in the league. Performance that was alternately brilliant and terrible kept his salary crunched in the sub $500,000 range for the next three years. That relatively low pay is reflected in the flat trajectory of the chart above. Winning the Cy Young Award in 2011 saw a marked improvement in Kershaw’s prospects the following year. In successive years, the pitcher’s MLB pay and endorsement deals grew swiftly, finishing up at an impressive combined earnings of $44.5 million in 2016. Kershaw’s current contract doesn’t allow for any shrinkage to that pay in the coming years. Even better for him, his endorsement deals have yet to ramp up to levels seen by other top sports stars like LeBron James or Tiger Woods. When Kershaw’s endorsement contracts do catch up, he’s likely to earn close to $55 million annually.

Also see: Jordan Spieth Earnings and Net Worth

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth Sources: MLB Salary, Endorsements

Salary and endorsement deals form the pillars of the Clayton Kershaw net worth figure. Kershaw has earned $94.4 million from baseball salary, with most of that coming in the past five years. He has earned an estimated $29.5 million from endorsement deals, for total pre-tax earnings of $123.9 million throughout his career. Taxes cry foul on $65.5 million of that money, while expenses chop out another $39.8 million. Kershaw has an average salary of $13.7 million, though his 2016 salary is a much higher $44.5 million.

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth Sources
MLB Salary$94,448,284
Endorsements$29,500,000
Total Clayton Kershaw Earnings$123,948,284
Clayton Kershaw Salary (average)$13,772,032
Clayton Kershaw Salary 2016$44,571,428
Taxes$65,568,642
Expenses$18,592,243
Investments$1,544,585
Clayton Kershaw Net Worth$41,331,984

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth from Salary: $112.8 Million

Salary makes up the lion’s share of the Clayton Kershaw net worth number. Kershaw was brought up from the Minors in 2008, but his salary stayed low through 2011 because of sporadic performance. The Cy Young Award in 2011 changed that, giving the pitcher a nice boost from $500,000 a year to nearly $8 million a year in 2012. Kershaw’s salary jumped again to $11 million in 2013. That rise was thanks to a two-year contract signed at the end of the 2011 season. The player received the Cy Young Award again in 2013 and led the National League in terms of strikeouts. His reward was the fattest salary contract in MLB history for a pitcher. The deal promised Kershaw $215 million over the next seven years, with relatively low pay of $6.5 million in the first year. Kershaw will be an unsigned free agent in 2021.

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth from MLB Salary
YearTeamEstimated Earnings
2008L.A. Dodgers$390,000
2009L.A. Dodgers$404,000
2010L.A. Dodgers$440,000
2011L.A. Dodgers$500,000
2012L.A. Dodgers$7,750,000
2013L.A. Dodgers$11,250,000
2014L.A. Dodgers$6,571,428
2015L.A. Dodgers$32,571,428
2016L.A. Dodgers$34,571,428
Total Clayton Kershaw Net Worth from Baseball$94,448,284

Also see: Nicki Minaj Net Worth

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth from Endorsements: $20 Million

Endorsements add a relatively low $20.5 million to the Clayton Kershaw net worth tale. The standout pitcher has just begun to flex his endorsement deal muscle. With questionable performance through 2010, his corporate contracts only started to flow in the past six years. Even then, it took a few years for his pay from the deals to pick up steam. Kershaw started out with an estimated $500,000 in endorsement deal income back in 2011. That money grew only gradually for the next few years, spiking up very recently to a rate of $10 million a year. While that’s impressive, it’s nowhere near the income seen by stars like LeBron James, who’s estimated to pull down over $20 million a year from pushing products. It’s also dwarfed by the endorsement deal earnings of Tiger Woods, who scored nearly $50 million in brand contracts in a single year. To date, Clayton Kershaw has signed deals with the following companies:

  • FantasyDraft.com
  • Wilson Sporting Goods
  • Subway
  • Under Armour
  • Muscle Milk

Clayton Kershaw Net Worth Calculations

Taxes, expenses and investments all play a part in the Clayton Kershaw net worth calculations. The table below combines the pitcher’s earnings from salary and endorsements into a single column. His taxes, expenses and investments are all rolled into column three. Taxes are by far the biggest adjustor, since Kershaw pays the top U.S. tax rate of 39.6% and the top California income tax rate of 13.3%. Agent fees and other expenses take another 15%, while investments add back an underwhelming 6% per year to the star’s net worth.

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If you liked reading about Clayton Kershaw’s net worth, try this post about Bill Gates’ net worth or this one about Kim Kardashian’s net worth. All Clayton Kershaw net worth data in this article are based on our analysis of income streams, tax, expense and investment calculations, estimates and media reports and are provided here for entertainment purposes only.

Sources:

Spotrac.com