Ask any NBA fan anywhere in the world and it's close to impossible for anyone of them not to know who Stephen Curry is. Such is the widespread popularity of the Golden State Warriors superstar, and in more ways than one, he has had a hand in expanding the reach of the league on a global level. And as such, Curry is certainly being paid like the icon that he is.
Curry is not only one of the most popular players of all time, but the 6-foot-3 point guard also happens to be one of the most handsomely paid ones as well — and deservedly so. Today we take a look at just how much Curry is going to be worth once he finally calls it a career.
NBA Contracts
Stephen Curry entered the league in 2009 as the seventh overall pick of the draft. At that time, he wasn't the premier superstar he eventually became with the Dubs. He did show a ton of potential, but not many could have imagined that he was going to revolutionize the game years later.
It wasn't until 2017 that Curry started earning the big bucks. During his first four seasons in the league, he earned a combined $12.7 million dollars. He signed his first extension with the Warriors in 2012, which was worth $44 million for four years. It was during this time that his star began to rise at a rapid rate. However, since he was still on his rookie contract extension, he was grossly underpaid. Curry's salary during his back-to-back MVP years was just $11 million per season. Imagine that.
In 2017, the Warriors finally paid him the money he deserved. This came out to the tune of $201.2 million for the next five years, or an average of $40.2 million a year. This deal runs out until the end of the 2021-22 campaign, which at that time, Curry will be just 33 years of age. He should be in store for at least another extension. These days players usually retire at the age of 36 to 39, so let's say Curry ends up retiring at 38. Assuming that he still pockets roughly $40 million per season — a fair estimate, I believe — then he should be able to earn another $200 million by the time he retires.
Endorsement Deals
We've all heard about how Curry ended up with Under Armour when Nike opted not to match the former's offer. This was in 2013, and according to reports, Nike wasn't even able to match Under Armour's $4 million a year deal with Curry. At this point, it would be insane to think that Curry is still earning just that amount of money off of his shoe deal. In 2015, UA signed Curry to an extension that will last up to 2024, and while the details of the deal were not made public, this contract should be much more than just $4 million a year. Reports even state that the new deal includes an equity stake for Curry.
Being one of the most renowned personalities in sports, Curry also has several other endorsement deals with the likes of Sony, JP Morgan Chase, Brita, Unilever, and Vivo, to name a few.
Most outlets estimate Curry's annual income from all his endorsements to be at around $42 million per year. Let's assume (conservatively) that this began rolling in by the time he became a bonafide superstar. Let's say that this was in 2015 when he first won his first MVP title. Our earlier assumption was that he was going to retire in 2027, which gives him a good 12 years of earning $42 million per year on endorsement deals alone.
Other Sources of Income
Stephen Curry has also been investing his money well. In 2017, Curry established a company, SC30, which is the entity that manages his investments. This includes ventures in technology and a production company (Unanimous Media), to name a couple.
In 2018, it was reported that Curry was part of a group that wanted to purchase the Carolina Panthers. While the deal ultimately fell through, this is an indication that Curry has hopes of one day being a part-owner of a professional sports team. This is not the case as of writing, though, so we won't be including this to his portfolio.
It's very difficult to determine just how much money Curry has on his multiple investments. This makes the task of trying to compute how much he will be earning (or losing) from the same nearly impossible. Nevertheless, what you need to know here is that Curry isn't keeping all of his money in the bank.
Don't forget about his stake with UA, which is definitely going to be worth a ton of money by the time he hangs up his boots.
Final Projection
Adding up his career earnings and endorsements income, we have a figure that is just short of a billion dollars. However, once you factor in whatever he's going to earn from his multiple investments then it's definitely going to be much more than that. Depending on his risk appetite and success rate, he could very well match whatever earnings he gained throughout his career, if not do even better.
In 2019, Forbes estimates Stephen Curry's net worth at $79.8 million. Combining his annual NBA salary ($40 million) and his yearly income from endorsement deals ($42 million), Curry is expected to make $82 million per year. If he were to retire by the age of 38, then that would bring up our grand total to $656 million between 2020 and 2027.
This brings up his total projected net worth to $735 million by 2027. Again, this does not include his investments, so once you factor those in, it won't be impossible to think that Curry will be able to surpass the $1-billion mark.
Follow Us
Subscribe