Katie Ledecky Net Worth and the NCAA’s Choke Hold

The Katie Ledecky net worth total of $68,000 could be as high as $2.2 million if she’d gone pro instead of choosing to swim for Stanford University. On 8/7/16, Ledecky broke her own world record in the 400m freestyle to win her first gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She’ll get $25,000 for that gold. She’s also won $15,000 for a silver medal under the “Operation Gold” program of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Ledecky has earned a total of $65,000 so far from the 2012 and 2016 Olympics under that program. Were it not for her amateur status, she could have cleaned up another $350,000 from swimming championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015, plus $3 to $4 million in pre tax endorsement dollars.

 

The NCAA’s Choke Hold on Katie Ledecky’s Net Worth

Katie Ledecky Net WorthJust how has the NCAA held the Katie Ledecky net worth story under water? Two words: Amateur status. If Ledecky wants to swim on Stanford’s team when she enrolls there in the fall of 2016, she can’t “go pro.” It’s the same as any other sport. Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine is widely regarded to be the #1 basketball player in the NCAA. Until Valentine goes pro, he can’t receive a sports salary or be eligible to sign big endorsement deals with Nike, EA Sports or other companies. Similarly, if Ledecky wants to compete for Stanford, the NCAA requires that she give back any prize money beyond what’s needed to cover her swimming expenses. That means her four gold medals from the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona didn’t add to her net worth. Nor did her five gold medals in the 2015 World Championships in Kazan or her five gold medals in the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships. The table below shows what Ledecky’s net worth could have been if not for the NCAA’s rules. The biggest shortfall of course is lost endorsement pay. It’s estimated that Michael Phelps earns over $10 million per year from endorsements while Ryan Lochte makes about $2 million a year.

Katie Ledecky net worth without the NCAA
14 Gold medals in world championships not added to Katie Ledecky net worth$350,000
$1 million per year in endorsement deals since 2013 not added to Katie Ledecky net worth$4,000,000
Total Katie Ledecky missed earnings since 2012$4,350,000
Adjustments for tax, expense, investments-$2,300,247
Existing Katie Ledecky net worth$68,262
Total Katie Ledecky net worth without the NCAA$2,118,015

Katie Ledecky Net Worth Facts

Related: Michael Phelps Net Worth

Katie Ledecky Net Worth Facts

Katie Ledecky Net Worth Facts
Katie Ledecky net worth$68,262
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Michael Phelps net worth649 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Ryan Lochte net worth91 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Neymar net worth1769 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Usain Bolt net worth1046 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Donald Trump net worth86432 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Tiger Woods net worth12086 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Taylor Swift net worth4527 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs Hillary Clinton net worth469 times smaller
Katie Ledecky net worth vs typical American family net worthAbout the same

As the table above shows, the Katie Ledecky net worth sum of $68,000 is low compared to every other sports star and celebrity in our database. Michael Phelps’ net worth of $44.3 million is 649 times as big as Ledecky’s net worth. He’s more than a decade older and has millions in endorsement deals under his belt. Ryan Lochte’s $6.2 million is 91 times bigger than Katie Ledecky’s net worth. He’s nowhere near as famous as Phelps but he still benefits from millions per year in endorsement earnings. Olympic footballer Neymar’s $120 million is 1,769 times bigger than Ledecky’s $68,000. Fastest human ever Usain Bolt has 1,046 times more money with $71 million. Outside the Olympic bullpen, Donald Trump has 86,432 times more money with $5.9 billion. Golf past master Tiger Woods has 12,086 times more with $825 million. Pop diva Taylor Swift has 4,527 times more with $309 million. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has 469 times more with $32 million. The point isn’t that Ledecky is poor. She’s not. At 19 she can already boast the same savings as the typical American family. The point is that she could be a lot richer if she’d chosen to go pro. At only 19 years old, she’s likely got plenty of time to make that decision and still wind up a millionaire in her early 20’s.

Related: Ryan Lochte Net Worth

Katie Ledecky Net Worth from Swimming

Despite the relatively small Katie Ledecky net worth figure, she has earned some money from swimming. The table below shows the lowdown. Ledecky earned $25,000 for her gold medal in the 800 meter freestyle in the 2012 Olympics in London. She has so far earned another $25,000 for her gold world record swim in the 400 meter freestyle in 2016 and another $15,000 for her silver medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle, also in Rio. At 19, Ledecky holds the world records in the 400m, 500m, 800m, 1,000m, 1,500m and 1,650m freestyle events. Were it not for her amateur status, she could have earned another $100,000 for her four golds in the Barcelona World Championships in 2013, $125,000 for five more golds in the 2015 World Championships in Kazan and $125,000 for five more golds in the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships.

Katie Ledecky Net Worth from Swimming Competitions
YearEstimated Earnings
2012$25,000
2013$0
2014$0
2015$0
2016$40,000
Total Katie Ledecky Net Worth from Swimming Competitions$65,000

Katie Ledecky Net Worth Calculations

Celebrities who earn lots of money often pay close to 50% of everything they earn in taxes and another 15% or more in expenses. The Katie Ledecky net worth story takes a different path. With such low income, Ledecky pays virtually no taxes. Her expenses are largely covered too. Since she’s 19 it’s reasonable to assume that her parents pay for much of her cost of living. She’ll almost certainly get a full ride to Stanford. Her swimming expenses are covered by USA Swimming. That means just about everything she earns goes straight into savings. The table below reflects this and shows the modest investment income she made if she invested those savings at a conservative 6%.

Katie Ledecky Net Worth Calculations
YearKatie Ledecky Total EarningsAdjustments (Taxes, Expenses, Investments)Katie Ledecky Net Worth
2012$25,000$0$25,000
2013$0$779$25,779
2014$0$803$26,581
2015$0$828$27,409
2016$40,000$854$68,262
Katie Ledecky Net Worth Totals$65,000$3,262$68,262

Related: How Much Money Do Olympic Athletes Make for a Medal?

If you liked reading about Katie Ledecky’ net worth, try this post about Michael Phelps’ net worth or this one about Ryan Lochte’s net worth. All Katie Ledecky 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.