Lewis Hamilton has become one of the UK’s most successful sportsmen - but he could now add businessmen to that list should he become one of the new owners of Chelsea Football Club, after it was revealed he launched a joint bid to buy the Blues on Thursday.
A number of consortiums have tried and failed to reach an agreement with Roman Abramovich, but Hamilton has launched a joint bid with tennis star Serena Williams to buy the club from the Russian billionaire, who values them at £3billion.
Here is all you need to know about the net worth and career earnings of one of the richest sportsmen in the world, as he expresses his interest in taking over at Stamford Bridge.
Net worth
Winning his first Grand Prix in Canada in 2007 paved the way for a hugely successful career for Hamilton, both on and off the track, as he now stands as the highest earning and best paid F1 driver in the history of the sport, while he has a net worth of $285 million (£218 million).
His career earnings to date total up to a whopping $477m (£365m) over the 15 seasons he has spent racing with McClaren and Mercedes, with up to £5m coming from add-ons, and it is led to believe that he is the richest British sportsperson ever since signing his new deal with Mercedes in 2015.
Hamilton initially signed his first contract with Mercedes in 2013 but his new contract awarded to him in 2015, to stay until the end of the 2018 season, is where he really began to make more money than he ever had before as it saw him earn more than £100 million over the course of three years.
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Sponsorships and endorsements
Away from his career, it is also estimated that Hamilton earns an extra £8m-£10m a year through endorsements, and in 2018, he launched a clothing line, TOMMYXLEWIS, during New York Fashion Week with American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, alongside models Winnie Harlow and Hailey Baldwin.
He also earns plenty of money through deals with a number of other brands such as Qualcomm, L’Oreal, Union Bank of Switzerland, Puma, Bell Helmets, MV Augusta Motorcycles, Monster Energy, Pune, IWC, Sony, Bose and Petronas, while he is the face and official ambassador of the Gran Turismo Sport racing game.
His highest earner used to come from Bose, who he agreed a $3.2m-a-year (£2.4m) long-term deal with back in 2012, but since that came to an end this year, he currently earns the most endorsement money from Petronas. The petrol giant has partnered with Mercedes and pays a huge $65m (£49m) for him to wear the brand’s name higher on his chest and at the back of his jacket.
Assets
The racing star resides in Monaco and also has three other properties in New York and London, worth a combined $67m (£51m), as well as Geneva. In 2019, Hamilton listed one of his two New York properties for $57m (£43m) after buying it for $43.9m (£33.5m) in 2017, eventually selling it for $50m (£38m) in December last year. He bought his other New York penthouse for $40.7m (£31.1m) in 2019.
Back in England, Hamilton owns a four-story mansion with six bedrooms in Kensington, West London that was built in 1860 and is worth $25m (£19m), while he invested $30m (£22m) into Grenada Hotel company. He has a huge passion for cars, in which he owns a Ferrari, Mustangs, Mercedes and more, and fashion. The F1 driver also owns a $16m (£12m) Bombardier 605 Challenger Jet.
Being the highest paid British sport star says it all, leaving all the evidence to suggest that he, along with Serena Williams, have enough money to buy a football club such as Chelsea.
