Clearly, Naomi Osaka is a boss on and off the court.
The tennis star was recently named the highest-paid female athlete in the world according to Forbes, earning an impressive $51.1 million this year alone.
She previously topped the outlet’s highest-paid female athlete list in 2020 after having raked in a reported $34 million. Since then, she’s added partnerships Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer and Workday to a list of sponsors that already includes Nike, Beats, Mastercard and among others.
The 25-year-old joins Serena Williams in the ranks of high-earning women athletes, who came in at second place with $41.3 million in earnings following her retirement earlier in 2021.
Rounding out the list is Eileen Gu, a freestyle skier, earning $20.1 million, along with Emma Raducanu, Iga Świątek, Venus Williams, and Coco Gauff.
Osaka’s staggering earnings include her winnings for tennis, as well as numerous endorsements, smart investments and business ventures.
The tennis champ also purchased an ownership stake in National Women’s Soccer League club, the North Carolina Courage, a move inspired by Serena Williams who is a co-owner of Los Angeles’ new NWSL club, Angel City FC.
“I’ve been seeing this sort of ongoing thing where other athletes are investing in other sports,” said Osaka. “I remember reading in an article that Serena’s daughter invested in a soccer team. I thought that maybe that’s a really good direction to go.”
“Naomi is in the fortunate position that she has a good string of income,” said her agent and senior vice president of IMG Tennis, Stuart Duguid, to Forbes in February 2021. “She is not just chasing paychecks and the first conversation with a sponsor is never about the money anymore. There are so many things that are a bigger priority than the money. That is the luxury we have.”
