Russell Wilson’s $165 Million Net Worth Proves He’s One of the Highest Paid Athletes | Photo: Perry Knotts via Getty Images
There’s been a lot of talk about Russell Wilson lately thanks to his new deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. As with all NFL contracts, the father of four is set to rake in over a million dollars from this, but that has nothing on the multi-millions he’ll have to be paid out from his last team. After spending so many years as a professional athlete, not to mention his various other business endeavors, people are growing increasingly curious about Wilson’s net worth.
In 2023, Forbes named Wilson their 13th highest-paid athlete in the world, with total earnings of $85 million ($72M on the field and $13M off). 2024 is looking to be an even bigger year for the Ohio-born athlete, largely due to his impending payday from the Denver Broncos. Outside of his career as a Quarterback, Wilson has proven more than once that he knows how to invest his money, but he doesn’t shy away from treating himself and celebrating his numerous wins either. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he’s valued at $165 million, so let’s explore how Ciara’s husband became so wealthy.
Russell Wilson’s Record-Breaking Football Career
Before making it in the NFL, Wilson nearly became a professional baseball player. Instead of accepting the offer he got from the Baltimore Orioles straight out of high school, the 35-year-old bet on himself and after years of hard work he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks. In July 2015 he signed a contract with the team valued at $87.6M ($60M guaranteed) with a hefty signing bonus of $31M.
The next few years saw consistent jumps in Wilson’s base salary, from $12.34M in 2016 to $15.5M in 2018. By 2019, the multi-talented athlete brought in $17M from the Seahawks. At the same time, he signed a four-year $140M ($107M guaranteed) extension with the team, marking the richest deal in NFL history at the time. Wilson’s final two seasons in Seattle were his highest-paying thanks to his astounding $35M base salary.
Danger’s next two years on the field were played out in Denver for the Broncos, who carried over his previous contract. This meant Wilson received $24M in 2022 and $27M in 2023, along with the $242.5M deal he signed for five seasons with the Colorado-based team. As you may already know, the Quarterback was cut from the team in March 2024, but they’re still on the hook for the $39M he’s owed for the year. Of course, this debt can be reduced based on his salary from the next team that signs him, but so far, the Pittsburgh Steelers seem incentivized to keep their costs as low as possible.
“Teams are somewhat incentivized to sign him for the veteran league minimum of $1.21 million, which would mean the Broncos would have to cover the difference,” Celebrity Net Worth explains. “By cutting Wilson, the Broncos accept an $80 million dead cap hit. That’s the largest dead cap hit [ever in the league], which has led many to call it the worst contract in NFL history.” So far, the Super Bowl champion’s career earnings as a football player have been upwards of $238M just from salary.
The NFL Star Knows a Thing or Two About Good Investments
When he’s not busy being the ultimate husband to CiCi and father of their four young children, you can find Danger taking care of business. Since his beginnings in the NFL, he’s steadily been expanding his investment portfolio, with one of his first big contributions being to the Seattle SoDo sports arena back in 2014. In the next years, Wilson gave $7M to football helmet manufacturing company VCIS and a molecule mattress company before making some major money moves with his other half in 2019. At that time, they became the proud co-owners of the Seattle Sounders FC, further expanding Russ’ vast sports resume.
In addition to all of this, the family man is the CEO of West2East Empire, which oversees two production companies, and he launched his Good Man Brand clothing line in 2016. While he was in Seattle, Wilson helped bring the city its first Juice Press franchise, and he founded TraceMe – a platform for fans to connect with their favorite celebrities. Thanks to the special bond he and Ciara share, the couple was also able to work together on a children’s book, “Why Not You?” which went on to become a New York Times bestseller.
Russell Wilson and Ciara’s Luxury Home and Cars
We’ve talked a lot about the hard work that’s gone into building Russell Wilson’s net worth, but what about the lavish assets he’s spent some of it on? The $6.7 million waterfront mansion he bought in Washington in 2015 was listed for a significant increase of $28M in 2022. Around the same time, he and Ciara set a record for the most expensive home ever sold in Denver when they bought their $25M mansion, which spans 20,000 square feet with four bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, an indoor pool and a home theatre.
It’s unclear if the family will be packing up and relocating to Pittsburgh to spend the season with Russell Wilson, but if so, we’re curious to see what their digs there will look like. As for his whips, Wilson has added a Mercedes Benz G-Wagon, Audi, Range Rover, Tesla and Rolls Royce to his collection over the years.
