The Greek Freak, Maestro or Striking Viking. Athlete nicknames can be weird. But also very telling.
Lewis Hamilton was already called Billion Dollar Man before he had won a single Formula 1 race. Because he was extremely fast - and not the ordinary racing driver. Which made him very marketable.
But a billionaire? Let’s get some visual help from AI. There is a very elite club of athletes who have earned a billion dollars throughout their careers - all of them had to build a legacy before joining it.
These athletes have all transcended their sports and become global icons, leading to even more lucrative opportunities outside their fields of play. For example, Tiger Woods, who tops the list but made less than 10% of his career earnings from Golf. Lewis Hamilton is on the way to joining the club and finally delivering on the promise of the nickname he was given 15 years ago.
The story of how he got there is full of surprises and insightful strategies. Welcome to Athletic Interest and the business of Lewis Hamilton. Just as telling as his nickname, is his real name.
He is named after legendary sprinter Carl Lewis, who his father watched winning four gold medals at the Olympics in LA. Despite the famous name, all odds were against Hamilton making a career in sports - especially motorsports. He wasn’t rich or from a privileged background.
At times his father had to rely on four jobs and maxed-out credit cards just to keep Hamilton racing. Hamilton overcame racial prejudice, intense competition and a huge inequality of resources to rise to the very top of his sport: He is the most successful driver in F1 history. And the best paid ever.
Over the course of his career, he was paid more than 600M dollars by his teams. That is not including a new contract with Mercedes, which is said to be the highest ever. While young challengers like Max Verstappen are starting to replace him at the top of the timesheet and the salary list, there is still one area where Hamilton remains the undisputed champion.
Hamilton earns four times more from sponsorships than Max Verstappen, and around eight times more than the average F1 driver. All athlete billionaires have this in common. They excel on as well as off the playing field.
Roger Federer was one of the highest-paid athletes of 2022 despite ending his career and playing only a single match. That’s the beauty of the approach. As a global icon, you can still make a lot of money after the peak of your career.
Or even after you retired. Michael Jordan made more than 150M dollars from Nike last year. That’s twice his total career earnings from playing basketball - in just one year!
Here’s one more thing Hamilton has in common with an all-time great. He deliberately goes against the grain of how motorsport athletes dress. And the media and fans love to talk about it.
Hamilton has turned the paddock into a runway, making statements with fashion just like Serena Williams has done in tennis. Hamilton’s "unique style off track" brought him 8 million yearly sponsorship income from - among others - Tommy Hilfiger, Puma and Monster. So Hamilton is in good company.
Not only theoretically speaking. The people that surround him are actually one of the reasons he is so marketable. Whenever F1 visits anywhere outside Europe, every celebrity wants to be with him.
Like in Miami last year, when the internet was gifted with this iconic picture. Hamilton is by far the most followed driver on social media. Whether he is taking a stand, winning a race or dating a supermodel.
All of this sharpens his image - and makes him such a powerful ambassador for brands and also the sport in general. F1 has benefited a lot from Hamilton’s prominence in the entertainment and sports world. You could even argue that he is part of the reason why Liberty Media entered the sport.
The company and especially Drve to Survive are often credited with reviving F1. But before Drve to Survive, Hamilton was the first symbol for the new cosmopolitan, modern motorsport that stood against the boringness of the last years under the lead of Bernie Ecclestone. No other driver is bringing as much Hollywood to the paddock as Hamilton.
And also the other way around. Hamilton has teamed up with Brad Pitt to create ‘the best racing movie ever’. He spent a lot of time in LA to meet with different production companies and get a better understanding of the industry - before starting his own production company.
So while Jordan built a fashion empire, Mayweather invests in adult clubs - Hamilton plans to get into the movie business. But it is only one of his ventures. Hamilton’s main investments appear to be split across three main areas.
Hamilton’s garage, which includes some rare models - and for some reason, a standard Mini - is worth an estimated 16 million dollars. That’s not including the 11 million dollars he made when he recently sold his favorite Pagani Zonda. His property empire, filled with New York penthouses and a waterfront Monaco dream home, has an estimated value of 130 million dollars.
But it’s his investments in companies that show the biggest promise of pushing Hamilton past the billion-dollar barrier. Hamilton is one of the early investors in the plant-based burger chain Neat Burgers. The brand is now attempting to expand into North America, with the help of Leonardo Dicaprio.
He has also invested in Athletic Greens, a grocery delivery startup and two more companies that focus on food technology. Lewis Hamilton turned into a vegan back in 2018 and according to him it is one of the biggest reasons for his consistent performance. He was even an executive producer of The Game Changers documentary to make people aware of the pros of a plant-based diet.
It’s also reflected in his investments. NotCo, for example. The company uses artificial intelligence to analyze plant-based foods on a molecular level and help major restaurant chains like Burger King to create plant-based versions of their products.
Besides his focus on green ventures, he is putting his money into sports. Like the entertainment start-up TMRW sports, his own E-racing team, and the Denver Broncos. He was also interested in purchasing Chelsea when the club was on the market, in a joined bid with Serena Williams.
Hamilton has already stated that his focus after retirement will remain on green tech and entertainment. No investment is guaranteed to make returns. But considering Hamilton's track record, perhaps it will be from blockbuster movies and plant-based burgers that he will finally become a real Billion Dollar Man.
Money aside: No matter what Hamilton does after retirement, with his ability to inspire change, he is likely to make an impact wherever he goes. You can compare him to many great athletes, but in the end, each of the greats is unique in their own way. From his fashion and activism to his mere presence as a black man in a white-dominated sport, Hamilton has revolutionized what it means to be a Formula 1 driver.
He has opened F1 up to millions of new fans and helped create a more inclusive legacy for the sport. There’s one more aspect to Hamilton’s success. He considers himself as much an engineer as a driver.
And says that it was vital for reaching his goals to keep learning every day about his car to be able to communicate better with his team. You can now do exactly the same with Brilliant. org!
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