Roger Federer: The billion-dollar backhand

Summary

Good Bad Billionaire – Roger Federer: The Billion-Dollar Backhand
BBC World Service | Aired: July 6, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Simon Jack (BBC Business Editor) and Zing Tsjeng (journalist, author, and podcaster) break down Roger Federer's journey from an emotional Swiss tennis prodigy to one of the very few athletes to achieve billionaire status. Focusing on how Federer built an elegant brand as much as a sporting legacy, the hosts dissect the tennis legend’s ascent, his mindset, business decisions, endorsements, and what sets him apart from other sporting billionaires. The episode concludes with their trademark playful billionaire “scorecard,” rating Federer on wealth, power, controversy, and legacy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Early Years and Formative Moments

• Childhood and Initial Challenges

  • Federer’s early tennis days were marked by emotional outbursts and lack of composure, which embarrassed his parents and led to them briefly leaving one of his matches ([01:27–01:43]).
  • Notable Quote: “I have to change, he tells himself. I can't keep losing my head. And he will change. He will become known as the most elegant and composed player in history…” — Simon Jack ([01:43])

• Raised in a middle-class Swiss family with deep tennis roots; both parents played non-professionally ([03:27]).

• Natural athleticism and coordination noticed from a young age; family was supportive but not pushy ([03:45]).

• Shift to Serious Tennis

  • His mother recognized that Federer needed a higher level of coaching and enrolled him in an elite junior program ([05:13]).
  • Coach Adolf Kakowski (“Seppley”) identified his rapid learning and talent ([05:45]).
  • Federer’s confidence was clear early—he told people he’d win Wimbledon, though even coaches thought, at most, he might be Switzerland’s best ([05:45–06:19]).
  • At 12, Federer committed solely to tennis, putting aside other sports like football; school became a minor focus ([06:19]).

• Emotional Maturity

  • In his own words: “I had problems getting motivated. I was a match player… I let my emotions overwhelm me. I was told to stop it or [my parents] wouldn’t come to my tournaments.” — Zing Tsjeng, quoting Federer ([06:19])

• Turning Point: Coaching and Mental Toughness

  • Australian coach Peter Carter played a key role in Federer's emotional development, teaching him to conserve energy and find composure ([07:00]).
  • At 14, Federer joined the Swiss National Tennis Center; struggled with homesickness, language, and being the youngest/least skilled at first ([07:37–08:33]).
  • Success followed—by 15 he won the national 18&Under title at just 15 ([08:33]) and quickly rose in rankings.
  • At 17, earning his first ATP prize money ($10,000), moving from juniors to the pro circuit, and finishing 1998 as the top junior worldwide ([09:40–10:12]).

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Rise to the Top and First Fortune

• Early Professional Years
  • Prizes start to grow, but so do expenses: coaches, team, travel—tennis pros operate like tiny entrepreneurs ([13:35–14:42]).
  • Federer’s first big breakthrough came with his 2003 Wimbledon win—he finally fulfilled his childhood promise, earning $4 million in that season ([15:00]).
  • Notable Quote: “Even with tax and bills and expenses, we can confidently say by the end of 2003, Roger Federer is a millionaire. Just 21.” — Simon Jack ([15:46])

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Beyond Tennis: The Power of the Federer Brand

• From Millionaire to Billionaire – The Endorsement Bonanza

  • Prize money alone wasn’t enough; Federer’s distinction comes from his brand and endorsements ([17:53–18:25]).
  • Sponsorships ramped up in the mid-2000s: Maurice Lacroix (then Rolex for $15M/10yrs), Nike ($120M/10yrs, making him tennis’s highest-paid star), Gillette, Mercedes, Credit Suisse, and more ([18:29–22:13]).
  • Key to success: exclusivity, clean image, global appeal, and “elegant, athletic, handsome” persona ([20:49–21:42]).
  • Memorable Moment: “He was now elegant, athletic, handsome. He was charitable…In a way, unlike many athletes, Federer's image was really, really clean cut…that meant he was a pretty safe bet with global appeal.” — Simon Jack ([21:17–21:42])

• Shifting to Self-Management and Entrepreneurship

  • 2013: Left IMG and co-founded management firm Team8 with his agent; now essentially his own business ([25:20]).
  • Created the Laver Cup, transforming from star player to event owner and entrepreneur ([25:20–26:04]).
  • Extended career strategically through careful tournament selection and recovery, enabling longevity and continued appearance fees ($2–3 million per exhibition match) ([26:27–27:38]).

• Crucial Business Decisions

  • 2018: Left Nike for Uniqlo ($300M/10yrs).
  • 2019: Invested in ON, a Swiss running shoe company, in exchange for a 3% stake; helped design the Roger line ([28:40]). By 2021, ON’s IPO saw Federer’s stake valued at ~$300M, later rising to ~$375M ([29:19–31:07]).
  • Notable Quote: “He made that deal. He got a 3% stake in the brand...when [ON] went public...his stake was suddenly valued at around $300 million. So time and time again, we see...the IPO...is where the really big money comes from.” — Simon Jack ([29:19–30:02])

• Retirement and Ongoing Wealth

  • Retired in 2022 after a final appearance at his own Laver Cup tournament, celebrated emotionally alongside rival Nadal ([30:15–30:28]).
  • 2025 Forbes estimate: $1.1 billion net worth, with Federer’s off-court earnings far eclipsing those of Djokovic or Nadal ([31:07–31:49]).
  • “If you get off a plane in Switzerland…the first face you’ll see almost is a smiling picture of Roger Federer tossing up a tennis ball while wearing a watch or promoting financial services…” — Simon Jack ([31:49])

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The Fun Part: Federer on the Billionaire Scorecard

1. Wealth ([32:27])

• Only the 7th athlete to be a billionaire (“barely a qualifier in wealth”) ([32:27–32:35]).
• Highest tennis earnings for 16 years running.
• Lavish purchases? Sky-Dweller Rolex (est. $40k); $1,000 haircuts; NetJets private jet share ([32:42–33:47]).
  • Simon: “He’s not extravagant…not bling enough.” [Scores 2/10]
  • Zing: “Three out of ten. He’s one of a very small number of athletes who have made it to the billionaires club.” ([34:03–34:12])

2. Controversy ([34:12–34:57])

• Clean-cut, unflappable, almost zero controversy.
  • Simon: “There’s, there’s nothing in it, is there? Can you find any squeak of controversy about…this person?” [Scores 0/10]
  • Zing: “One out of ten. Maybe something, something dreadful might emerge somewhere out there!” ([34:47–34:52])

3. Power ([34:58–36:05])

• Huge within tennis (president of ATP Tour Player Council, lobbied for higher prize money), but apolitical and not a force outside sport.
  • “He’s one of the biggest sporting brands ever…but politically…he’s very apolitical, famously Swiss neutral…” ([35:53–36:00])
  • Simon: 4/10, Zing: 4/10 for legacy within tennis ([36:10–36:14])

4. Legacy ([36:19–37:27])

• Statistically surpassed (Djokovic with more Grand Slams), but the most Wimbledon men’s singles titles (8).
• Revered for style, sportsmanship, and positive image. “If you were to say, of all the tennis players in the world, who would you like to go and watch play? I think Federer would be at the top of the list.” — Simon Jack ([37:02])
  • Simon: 9/10, Zing: 9/10 ([37:12–37:29])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “I have to change, he tells himself. I can't keep losing my head.” — Simon Jack ([01:43])
• “I've noticed that the more well known one becomes, the less one has to pay. Everybody wants to invite me and everyone wants to be nice to me just because I can play tennis well.” — Federer, quoted by Zing ([10:56])
• “He was now elegant, athletic, handsome. He was charitable…really clean cut…” — Simon ([21:17–21:42])
• “So time and time again, we see that…the IPO…is where the really big money comes from.” — Simon Jack ([29:19–30:02])
• “He’s not extravagant…not bling enough to get ratcheted up on that way.” — Simon Jack ([33:54])
• “This guy is squeaky clean.” — Zing ([34:23])
• “Famously Swiss neutral…he probably doesn’t want to get involved in worldwide politics.” — Simon ([35:57–36:00])
• “When Federer goes, in the decades to come, the obituaries are going to say he was probably one of the greatest tennis players of all time.” — Zing ([37:15])

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Key Timestamps

• [01:19] – Federer’s childhood rage and transformation
• [03:27–05:45] – Tennis beginnings, coaching, early promise
• [07:00–08:33] – Peter Carter’s influence, National Training Centre
• [09:40–10:56] – Professional debut, first earnings, growing fame
• [13:35–15:00] – Life of a tennis pro, early financial reality
• [17:53–18:25] – Becoming a global brand, start of endorsements
• [20:49–22:13] – Team changes, major sponsorship growth
• [24:25–25:20] – Family life and career management shift
• [28:40–31:07] – Uniqlo and ON—Federer as investor and owner
• [32:27–37:27] – Billionaire “scorecard” and legacy discussion

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Conclusion & Verdict

Simon and Zing agree that Roger Federer’s billionaire journey is marked by his ability to combine a famously smooth style of play with an even more immaculate personal brand. His fortune is the result of a rare blend of sporting excellence and savvy, conservative business acumen—eschewing controversy but not opportunity.

He is not “flashy” or “bling,” nor a power broker outside his sport, but is celebrated for his enduring legacy as perhaps the most beloved player tennis has ever seen.

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Final Scorecard Highlights:

• Wealth: 2–3/10 (small for a billionaire, but top-tier for an athlete)
• Controversy: 0–1/10 (squeaky clean)
• Power: 4/10 (sporting power only)
• Legacy: 9/10 (one of sport's greatest ever)

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Are they good, bad, or just another billionaire?
The hosts leave the verdict to the audience—but paint Federer as one of the rare “good” billionaires: a model of composure, skill, and business sense, with a legacy that will long outlast his earnings.

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For comments, feedback, or to submit your own billionaire verdicts, listeners are invited to contact the show.

Transcript

[Simon Jack]

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[Zing Singh]

It's 1993. A 12 year old boy stands on a baking hot tennis court in Basel, Switzerland. He's lanky but still stands.

[Simon Jack]

Barely taller than Danette, he's just lost a set. He starts screaming. Swear words are flying out of this small boy's mouth as he slams his racket on the ground.

[Zing Singh]

He looks out to the stands and sees his mum and dad get up and leave, shaking their heads in shame. His lip quivers and he starts to cry.

[Simon Jack]

I have to change, he tells himself. I can't keep losing my head. And he will change. He will become known as the most elegant and composed player in history and of course for our purposes, the highest paid.

[Zing Singh]

Welcome to Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service. Each episode we pick a billionaire and we find out how they made their money.

[Simon Jack]

We take them from zero to their first million and then from a million onto a billion.

[Zing Singh]

My name is Zing Singh and I'm a journalist, author and podcaster.

[Simon Jack]

And I'm Simon Jack. I'm the BBC's business editor. I'm a fan of tennis and there is few better sights in all of sport, I would say, than watching Roger Federer play at his peak.

[Zing Singh]

Have you ever seen him play in the flesh?

[Simon Jack]

Yes, I have. Looks effortless and yet the speed the ball goes and the shots he plays, it's really remarkable. He's not hasn't won the most Grand Slams in history, but many would say he won them with the most style. But he retired in 2022 after a 25 year professional career. He paid 1,750 competitive matches across singles and doubles.

[Zing Singh]

And he won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, two Olympic medals. He holds the record for most Wimbledon championships with eight under his belt.

[Simon Jack]

We should probably explain what the Grand Slams are. So that's Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open and the Australian Open. There's four of them.

[Zing Singh]

Well, the prizes in tennis are big and he has won over a hundred million dollars in prize money, but as you can tell, that's nowhere near a billion.

[Simon Jack]

But in 2025 he was declared a billionaire worth $1.1 billion. And according to Forbes, this makes him only the seventh and athlete to join the billionaire club. So how did he make that much? Well, let us travel back in time to find out.

[Zing Singh]

Roger Federer was born in 1981 and grew up in suburban Basel, Switzerland. It was a middle class family, one older sister. His father and mother both worked at a pharmaceutical company and the family spent weekends at the company's tennis club. And his parents both competed non professionally. So tennis was kind of in their blood.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, and he was a fast learner. His mother said that Roger had unbelievable coordination from the very beginning. Saying that at age one he could kick a soccer ball in your direction. We noticed this, but we didn't push him. All the major decisions of his sports career he took himself. He had his first tennis ball over the net, age three, doesn't quite beat Tiger woods first game of golf at 18 months old. But at 1985, age four, he watched Boris Becker win Wimbledon. I remember that match. A 17 year old qualifying Becker shocked the world. Becker became his idol and he apparently cried when Boris lost in 1988 and 1919. According to his mum, he was very vibrant, abund of energy, sometimes very difficult. In fact he could be impulsive and competitive and he had to keep moving otherwise he became unbearable.

[Zing Singh]

Something that I think a lot of athletes have in common. You know that constant urge to move when they're a kid that has to be channeled somewhere somehow. Well, Roger was athletic. He loved many different sports as a child, especially football, which he played for years. Alongside tennis there's an alternate universe where Roger Federer is one of Europe's greatest footballers, I think. But Roger told biographer Rene Stoffer, I liked tennis the best of all sports. It was always exciting and winning and losing was always in my hands.

[Simon Jack]

Now that's very interesting that because basically on any given point there's a winner and a loser, so you've got a series. And because of the very clever scoring system in tennis, there's kind of like a climax and a cliff edge, lots of them all of the time. So it does keep your attention very much.

[Zing Singh]

It's one of the things that makes the game so fantastic to watch. At the age of eight, his mother felt Roger had outgrown the club where he played, so she enrolled him in an elite junior program at the Old Boys Tennis Club in Basel. He trained in a group three times a week. His coach, Adolf Kakowski, nicknamed Seppley, noticed his talent right away, so he started privately coaching him, which was partly funded by the club. Seppley said Roger was a quick learner. When he wanted to teach him something new, he was able to pick it up after three or four tries, while others in the group needed weeks. So, clearly, really physically gifted and a

[Simon Jack]

very confident young man. He would tell people at the club that he would win Wimbledon one day. Seppley said that people laughed at him, including me. Honest with him, I thought that he would possibly become the best player in Switzerland, maybe Europe, but not the best in the world. And at this point, he was already playing in tennis tournaments at the weekends, starting to make a bit of a name for himself. Age 11, a tennis magazine wrote a small feature on him after he reached the semi finals of the Basel Youth cup. So, age 12, he decided to fully commit to tennis, stopped playing other sports and started weekly fitness training. Meanwhile, his school studies were not exactly taking priority now.

[Zing Singh]

For a kid his age, this was serious dedication to tennis. But in Roger's words, I was conscientious, but I didn't like to train. I often had problems getting motivated. I was a match player. Well, he was also known as a hothead who let his emotions overwhelm him. He would cry when things didn't go his way or swear and throw his racket across the court. His parents were embarrassed by this behavior, and he was told to stop it or they wouldn't come to his tournaments. Roger knew he had to calm down, but in his words, that was an extremely long process. I believe that I was looking for perfection too early or just being a

[Simon Jack]

bit of a brat, which, let's face it, is not unknown in tennis science.

[Zing Singh]

Exactly. And some people never grow out of it.

[Advertisement Voice]

No.

[Simon Jack]

I mean, yes. McEnroe, of course, his predecessor, well known for his antics on court as a fully grown adult, never mind as a child. Anyway, he then got another coach at the club in Australian called Peter Carter. And Peter focused on Roger's mental state, explaining how much energy was lost by throwing tantrums and Roger attributes both his technique and his coolness, which he became known for eventually to Peter. And he started winning. He won national titles and by age 14 he was the national junior champion in Switzerland.

[Zing Singh]

I think that's a really good way of reframing a temper tantrum. You're going to lose so much energy on this stuff. Why not conserve it?

[Simon Jack]

Try that with children.

[Zing Singh]

Well, because of this success, at the age of 14, he was invited to join the Swiss National Tennis center mentoring program, which was funded by the Swiss Tennis Federation. The center was in the French speaking town of Ecobla, on the edge of Lake Geneva, 200 km from Basel. He initially told his parents he didn't want to go, it is a very long way away. But then he changed his mind. So Roger moved in with a local family. Their two older children had already left home and they wanted a companion for their boy.

[Simon Jack]

Now, Roger was Swiss, German and didn't speak a word of French, so got pretty homesick being away from his parents for weeks on end. He was the youngest on the program, which made him the worst at tennis. And the language barrier was difficult at training. He was also struggling at his new school. He had no interest in academic learning. He cried a lot. We've heard that a lot, haven't we? Crying and described the first few months in Ecoublan as some of the worst in his life. But he didn't leave. He said he was close many times, but slowly he settled in to the routine of his new life.

[Zing Singh]

And slowly he started dominating again at tournaments. In 1997, at the age of 15, he won the Swiss National 18 and under championship.

[Simon Jack]

That's amazing because when you're developing, the difference between 15 and 18 physically can be really quite significant. So to win an 18 and under tournament at the age of 15 is pretty impressive.

[Zing Singh]

Well, he was now ranked number 86 at Switzerland, which meant he was promised more financial support from the Swiss Tennis Federation. And at the age of 16, he finished school and received his first world ranking at number 803. And so he set his sights beyond Switzerland.

[Simon Jack]

Yes, he left Ecublan and moved to the Swiss National Training center in the city of Biel, which was much closer to his parents. He moved into an apartment with a friend who was a player. His former coach, Peter, was also at the new centre. And that made Roger much more comfortable, much happier.

[Zing Singh]

In 1998, Roger won the junior Wimbledon singles and doubles titles. This was a big deal, but it wasn't a very big financial victory. Junior Grand Slam events do not receive prize money. They're considered development competitions. So. So to start earning actual cash, he needed to go professional.

[Simon Jack]

So at age 17, he played his first ATP tournament. That's the association of Tennis Professionals, the adult professional tennis circuit. And he made it to the quarterfinals in Toulouse. And the prize money for coming that far was US$10,000. So Roger was starting to make money from tennis. It also meant he jumped up the world rankings to number 396. He leapfrogged over 482 players, and he finished that that year as the world number one ranked junior and was named the world Junior champion. So he's gone as far as he can in the junior ranks.

[Zing Singh]

Then in 1999, turning 18, he started his first ATP tour. He wasn't exactly successful for his French Open. In Wimbledon debuts, he was beaten in first rounds. But the Grand Slam tournaments do pay well, and even going out so early earned him 20 grand across both tournaments. And he started doing better throughout the rest of the year, earning around $225,000 in prize money. He ended the year ranked number 64 in the world, the youngest player to finish in the top 100. And that is a big deal. But Roger was bemused by his newfound status. He said, I've noticed that the more well known one becomes, the less one has to pay. Everybody wants to invite me and everyone wants to be nice to me just because I can play tennis well.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, you think? Yes. Free to those that could afford it, very expensive to those that can't. His next year, 2000, brought more money, more recognition. He reached the semi finals at the Sydney Olympics that didn't get him a medal, but brought him greater name recognition and also brought him something perhaps more important, love. On the last day of the Olympics, he kissed Mirka Wavranec, a member of Switzerland's women's Olympic tennis team, and they started dating. Mirka had to retire from tennis in 2002 due to a foot injury, which put her into a deep hole of depression. She said. But she said, roger was my greatest support back then. He gave my tennis life back to me because when he wins, it's as if I win as well.

[Zing Singh]

It's very funny because it really reminds me of a recent tennis movie, Challengers. Have you watched that?

[Simon Jack]

Nope.

[Zing Singh]

So it's basically about a who has to retire from tennis professionally because she has a huge injury. And she pours all her energy into coaching her husband against his great rival, who is also an ex boyfriend of hers.

[Simon Jack]

Oh, wow.

[Zing Singh]

It must have been based on this slightly.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah. And also I do remember one of my memories of his long and illustrious playing career was seeing Mirka in the player's box. For many years, she was there at pretty much every match, and you could tell that she was very involved. She was an ever present character on the court.

[Zing Singh]

Well, let's get back to 2000. Roger's 18. He's turning 19 his second year playing professionally, so he was doing well in competitions. He finished the year ranked number 29th in the world, and the tennis schedule is very busy. That year, he played in 24 tournaments as a singles player and 19 as a doubles player. And depending on how well he did, he earned anywhere between five grand to fifty grand per tournament. So this meant that by the end of 2000, he'd earned over $600,000, nearly triple the prize money from his rookie year. So he's stacking up the cash bit

[Simon Jack]

by bit, paying his dues. But he still hadn't won a major tournament as a professional. Professional. So he hired a new fitness coach. He spent the year working hard on fitness. Got a new tennis coach to replace Peter Carter. Another Peter. Peter Lundgren. And Peter number two, Lundgren. That is saying Roger is not a workaholic that you can hit 3,000 backhands to. And he hits them and feels good doing it. Training has to be fun for Roger. I identify with that.

[Zing Singh]

Yes, me too, actually. The Grand Slam will come calling any minute. Well, the training slowly paid off for Roger. In 2001, he won his first tournament, Milan Indoor. And later that year, he beat one of the most successful and celebrated tennis players in history, the world number one and defending champion Pete Sampras, in the fourth round at Wimbledon, which brought him international acclaim.

[Simon Jack]

I remember that match really well. Everyone sat up, you know, because I had a lot of friends who were very into tennis, and they say, this guy is going to be something special. So that was a big moment.

[Zing Singh]

But tragedy struck in 2002 when his coach and mentor, Peter Carter, Peter, number one, died in a car crash in South Africa. Roger said when something like this happens, you see how really unimportant tennis is. It took him time to recover from

[Simon Jack]

the loss, but by the end of 2002, he was ranked number six in the world. And you start making real money when you're in the top 10. He made around $1.8 million in prize money, but remember, he has quite a lot of outgoings. Tennis operates more like a kind of individual business than a team system. You don't get a salary, of course, and you have to pay all Your own outgoings, like the coach's salary, all your entourage, your nutritious, your physio. I actually played against a guy when I was a kid called Barry Cowan. I hope he's listening. I was about. Barry was about 6 and he was beating me back then. And he went on to hold Pete Sampras to five sets at Wimbledon one year. And anyway, but I remember watching his career grow and actually it is grueling being on the road, paying your expenses, your hotels, your trainer, what have you. So you're kind of like a mini, you know, entrepreneur in a way. You're running your own business.

[Zing Singh]

He's also taxed on those winnings. So tennis prize money is usually taxed by the host country before the player even receives it. So for Wimbledon, this would mean about 45% deduction before he even sees in his bank account. So all of this means that very early on in their careers, tennis players often barely break even.

[Simon Jack]

But there's another threshold to break. And he was about to do that into the big time. He won his first Grand Slam. Remember we described Those earlier? In 2003, he won Wimbledon. Remember he promised to do that. It was laughed at back at the Basel training academy, the prize money was £575,000. Then that's about just nearly a million dollars. He also won the season ending championship, the Masters cup. That was another one and a half million dollars in money. And that year he earned 4 million total across the entire season. So even with tax and bills and expenses, we can probably say pretty confidently that by the end of 2003, Roger Federer is a millionaire. Just 21.

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[Simon Jack]

I cashed out my entire 401k thinking someone stole my identity.

[Zing Singh]

A fake email cost me my dream home. After I sent my personal information to

[Simon Jack]

a scammer, my AI agent wired thousands

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[Simon Jack]

I cashed out my entire 401k thinking someone stole my identity.

[Zing Singh]

A fake email cost me my dream home. After I sent my personal information to

[Simon Jack]

a scammer, my AI agent wired thousands

[Advertisement Voice]

to an account I'd never seen.

[Whole Foods Market / Advertisement Voice]

When billions of people feel unsafe, that's no longer a security problem. It's an economic one. At Gene Gen, we're building the trust layer for a more fearless planet with products and technologies from our global brands, Norton, Lifelock, Avast and Money Lion. See it in [e-mail].

[Simon Jack]

Let's take Roger Federer from a million onto that very rare thing for an athlete. A billion. In February 2004, he became the world number one. And he would maintain that top spot for four and a half years. And if you think about how consistent you've got to be, that's incredible. And over this time, he won many, many more tournaments. His annual yearly prize money was between 6 and $10 million. Now, that's a lot of money to win, but as we know from this show, that is pocket change to billionaires. There's no way he could ever become a billionaire from prize money alone.

[Zing Singh]

I vaguely remember Roger Federer at this point having a ponytail.

[Simon Jack]

I wasn't a fan of that. I mean, I know less about haircuts and fashion than anyone in the world, but even I could tell that was not a good look.

[Zing Singh]

I think he's gonna have to drop their ponytail if he wants to make it to a billion, I'm afraid. Yeah, well, when he won Wimbledon in 2003, he has deals with Nike and Wilson to give him free clothing and tennis equipment, but not much else. But during those years of near total dominance in tennis, Roger became the global face of the sport. And that meant that his earning potential shifted from just being a regular athlete to becoming a powerful brand in and of itself. And his journey to being a billionaire is really about the power of sponsorship and endorsements.

[Simon Jack]

And tennis is a particularly attractive sport to sponsors. Tennis fans are usually quite affluent. They have high disposable income, so money to spend on whatever product they're endorsing, it's also global. It's got appeal to audiences in the US, in Europe and Asia. And so in 2004 he signed a deal with watchmaker Maurice Lacroix. Watch brands, you know, tend to be quite a go to thing for male celebrities because it's expensive, but it's one of the few bits of jewelry that men will ever wear.

[Zing Singh]

Exactly. I mean, for a lot of guys it's the only accessory they will ever buy. I've noticed something quite interesting happening with men in their 30s. They've started investing in watches and if you ever want a man to go off on one and you can just sit back and let him take the reins of the conversation, just ask him where his watch is from. Oh gosh, where is your watch from, Simon?

[Simon Jack]

Weirdly enough, I do like a nice watch. Anyway, two years later, he switched his allegiance to Rolex. He had to pay Maurice Lacroix an undisclosed breakup fee to end his five year contract with them. Rolex was and probably still is the biggest luxury watch brand in the world. And it paid him $15 million for a 10 year deal. And that change in sponsorship reflected his new status as the undisputed world number one.

[Zing Singh]

And before that he'd relied on a four person team, so a lawyer, financial advisor, his mother who quit her job to help her son full time, and his girlfriend Mirka, who handled media relations and travel. And this small team handled OZ contracts which were deals worth millions. Yes, but deals worth about half that of other top athletes in the sport. So when Forbes brought out their 2005 list of top earning athletes, Roger did not make the list despite being the world's number one tennis player. So it was time for a change.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, and he turned to a company called img. That's International Management Group, super famous agency for sports stars. They manage other people like Andre Agassi, Serena and Venus Williams. And with IMG's power behind him, he was able to negotiate some huge global sponsorship deals. And he not only got better at tennis, he'd also become much more commercially appealing. The ponytail was gone, that was holding him back, as were the tantrums. He was now elegant, athletic, handsome. He was charitable. He'd set up a foundation to raise money for South African children. So. And in a way, unlike many athletes, Federer's image was really, really clean cut, some might say, dare I say bland. But that meant he was a pretty safe bet with global appeal. So, you know, he's not going to offend anyone. He's not going to get you Know, remember the, the scandals that Tiger woods went through? That was going to be very unlikely with Roger Federer.

[Zing Singh]

Exactly. And in fact, IMG had actually managed the career of Tiger woods and turned him into a powerful brand. So they've got clout. And they began to do the same for Roger, positioning him as a luxury global icon. And so this meant fewer deals to maintain his exclusivity, but much higher value per deal and long term partnerships. And over the next few years, Roger signed deals worth millions per year with shaving brand Gillette, coffee maker Dura, car brand Mercedes, the bank Credit Suisse. I mean, these are all incredibly, I would say, masculine brands.

[Simon Jack]

Well, Gillette doesn't get much. You know, Gillette's the best a man can get. I think that's well known enough for us not to get into any trouble. And there are lots of billboards and adverts where you would have Tiger woods alongside Roger Federer. Sport was their go to conduit, if you like, for channeling maleness. Exactly. For their clientele.

[Zing Singh]

The old cliche of shaving and coffee ads to enhance performance.

[Simon Jack]

One thing I remember about Federer, he was always very keen on his appearance. I remember when he won the 15th Grand Slam, which was to equal or break Pete Sampras record, he had a special jacket made for himself. He had some very clear ideas about how he wanted to look. And like every other athlete we've covered on this show, there's always one name hanging around the hoop and that is Nike key. In 2008, he renewed his deal with them, signing a 10 year contract worth almost $120 million. His biggest deal, one of the biggest ever for tennis.

[Zing Singh]

And that deal made him the highest paid tennis star. But that very same year, Roger actually lost his hold on the top spot in tennis with Rafael Nadal overtaking him. And the Nadal Federer rivalry is, I would say, one of the greatest rivalries in any sport. The media could not get enough of it because obviously it's drama, it's tension.

[Simon Jack]

It's so important that I think in some sports, like in tennis, so for example, you had Borg and McEnroe, then you had McEnroe and Lendal and you know, and then Nadal and Federer having these great rivalries really kind of captures the imagination. And with Nadal and Federer, you had two such different styles. You had the elegant ballerina of Federer and you had the kind of matador charging, heavy, thumping, big arms, kind of, you know, bruiser of Nadal, and this kind of light and shade, this kind of contrast Was absolutely electrifying as a sporting spectacle.

[Zing Singh]

And crucially, you know, you can be the best player in the world, but it does get boring for fans and audiences to keep watching you win time and time again.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, it sure does.

[Zing Singh]

You know, you could argue that rivalry actually increased both of their commercial values because they brought attention to the sport, created a narrative that fans would follow who was going to beat who, when, where. And for Roger, it probably grew his global brand more than just Sole dominance would have 100%.

[Simon Jack]

He was also busy off the court at this point too. In 2009, he married Mirka, and later that year they had identical twin girls. Five years later, they had another pair of twins. This time fraternal twin boys.

[Zing Singh]

God, four kids in the entourage. Well, a full family life did not stop Roger from maintaining supremacy in tennis. By 2013, he held the records for most singles Grand Slam wins. 17 and weeks ranked number one in the world world 302. That is astounding. That year, Forbes placed him at number two in the world's highest paid athletes, earning over 70 million in a single year. And that year, Roger shifted towards greater control over his commercial career. So he moved away from traditional agency representation with IMG. Instead, he co founded his own management company, Team8, with his longtime agent, Tony Godsick. And what this did is it effectively brought his own management in house. It allowed him to operate more like a business owner than a client of img.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, so if you've got your own company, you're not paying the 20% or whatever it is to the agent and you've got more control over your own life. And through that new company, teammate, he founded something called the Laver cup, which was an annual three day men's tennis tournament in which the top six players from Europe compete against the top six from the rest of the world. A format kind of inspired by golf's Ryder Cup. The top players are paid to participate, unlike normal ATP Tour events, when you get paid from your winnings. And it was positioned as a tribute to Rod Laver, huge tennis star from the 1960s. But the labour cup was a commercial venture. Teammate was selling the tickets, the media rights, the sponsorships of this new competition. For the first time, Roger wasn't just playing the event, he kind of owned it.

[Zing Singh]

Yeah. And over the next five years, Roger continued to play at the top level of tennis. And after a knee injury sent him down to 17th in the world ranking, he made an unbelievable comeback, winning multiple Grand Slams. People thought he couldn't do it. And in 2018, at the age of 36, he became the oldest world number one one in tennis history, 14 years after he first topped the rankings.

[Simon Jack]

Now, the general trend for athletes has been longer and longer careers as sports science has got more advanced. There's better nutrition, there's better training. But at 36, he was years older than the average retirement age for a professional tennis player. If you look at the way they lunge, it's awful on the knees. But he was able to extend his career well beyond the norm because of his playing style, because he was so moved so much effortlessly. It looked like, unlike Nadal, you could hear heavy timber crashing as he went from side to side. It looked like he was just floating on air. And he also managed his schedule pretty carefully. He played fewer tournaments, he prioritized recovery, eking out as much as he could of his career. And that meant he had about an extra decade on court compared to the average player.

[Zing Singh]

And that meant he could earn more through appearance fees and exhibition games, which is another crucial revenue stream for tennis players. So tournament organisers pay players to show up and play in non ATP matches. The payments are separate from the prize money that essentially paid for bringing in audiences, for ticket sales, for broadcast attention. And obviously in these games, star power matters more than your actual ranking. So by this point, Roger was earning between 2 to 3 million dollars per exhibition match or short event.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, I remember when I worked in finance many, many years ago, the company I was working for sponsored one of these things and I got to have a go and played with Rod Laver and Jimmy Connors.

[Zing Singh]

Wow, how did you do?

[Simon Jack]

Terrible. And you could tell they saying, why am I doing, why am I doing this?

[Zing Singh]

The light slowly going out behind their eyes.

[Simon Jack]

Literally inside they're slowly dying. Having to play with someone like me. But gosh, it was exciting. So the thing is, is that companies pay big money for their executives or for their most favored clients to do stuff like this. So that was. It was a lot of fun.

[Zing Singh]

I'm sure Rod Laver reassured himself with the money he got at the end

[Simon Jack]

of the day, apologies to both of them anyway. His long career also meant more sponsorship. In 2018, he signed a deal with Japanese clothing company Uniqlo after ending his decades long partnership with Nike. Now, the new Uniqlo contract was reported worth $300 million over 10 years. His Encore earnings at the time around $116 million, making the deal more than double his tennis paycheck. But Uniqlo didn't make trainers that he could wear on court. So for a brief time, he had to keep wearing his Nikes, despite the fact he'd parted ways with the brand.

[Zing Singh]

But a year later, he partnered with a relatively new athletic footwear brand called on, founded in 2010, on is Swiss, so a perfect fit for Federer. But as a relatively young brand, they were unlikely to be able to match the sort of money that more established brands like Nike or UN paid him for sponsorship. So Roger, his agent, and his wife started discussing a very different type of deal. And he. This is interesting. He described negotiating as something also very new for me. And all of a sudden you are a businessman, and it just sounds so weird. Negotiations happen and it's kind of uncomfortable. You almost don't want them to exist ever. I mean, that's funny words coming from someone who's played some grueling tennis matches.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, but they don't want to. In a way, they want the control of the business thing, but they don't want to actually have to sort of do the. Do the dirty work of actually that sort of, you know, the business negotiation. But he made that deal. He got a 3% stake in the brand, and he worked with a brand to design the Roger line of tennis shoes for both on and off court. Then in 2021, the company went public. You know, sell shares to the public, and it was valued at over $11 billion in their new York Stock Exchange debut. And that meant his stake was suddenly valued at around $300 million. So time and time again, we see that, and the IPO of the company, the selling, the publishers, is where the really big money comes from.

[Zing Singh]

Well, it's funny because. Remember that film I talked about challengers? Well, the star of that, Zendaya, is also one of the.

[Simon Jack]

Oh, Zendaya's in it. Oh, right.

[Zing Singh]

And I imagine that must have come about because of challenges, maybe. There you go.

[Simon Jack]

In 2022, age 41, Roger played his final game of professional tennis. And I think I saw this one as well. And actually Rafa Nadal showed up and they held hands at the end, and it was. It was. You know, he was in tears. We were all in tears. Is.

[Zing Singh]

That's sweet. Well, it was time. Because his tennis career had been declining. He was battling a knee injury which needed three operations. Ouch. And his last game was at the Laver cup in the O2 arena in London, therefore also bringing more attention to his own tournament. Very clever. And at the end of that match, he said, it's been the perfect journey. I do it all again. That's sweet.

[Simon Jack]

Sweet. But he seems to be enjoying retirement. He says he doesn't miss tennis. He travels with his family, Tokyo, Thailand, South Africa. He didn't go into hiding. He attended the Oscars. There was an Amazon prime documentary about him. He appeared in GQ, where he would wear his Uniqlo clothes, his on trainers.

[Zing Singh]

By 2025, his equity stake in on was worth more than $375 million. And that year, age 44, Forbes declared Roger Federer a billionaire worth $1.1 billion. So totting it all up, over the course of his career, he'd made $130 million in prize money. This puts him behind his rivals, Novak djokovic, who has 189 million, and Rafael Nadal, who is 135. But off the court, it's where he makes his real money. He raked in more than double what Djokovic or Nadal has. He's earned roughly 1 billion before taxes and agents fees from endorsements, appearances, and of course, other business endeavors, which will probably continue to make him rich even as he retires.

[Simon Jack]

Well, that's for sure, because if you get off a plane in Switzerland, Switzerland, Geneva or Zurich, the first face you'll see almost is a smiling picture of Roger Federer tossing up a tennis ball while wearing a watch or promoting some financial services for which Switzerland is so well known. So that's the end of the Roger Federer billionaire story to date. Now it's time to score him on our billionaire categories. This is a bit of fun, where we rate them between 0 and 10 on categories like wealth, controversy, power and legacy. So we'll start with wealth. $1.1 billion. He's barely a qualifier in wealth.

[Zing Singh]

Very good. I mean, he's only the seventh athlete to join this club, though. He's one of a very small group of sports people who've managed to make that amount of money.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, he was the world's highest paid tennis player for 16 straight years. What about how he spends it? We also have a look at that.

[Zing Singh]

He's worn a rare Rolex. I do not know what this watch looks like, but I assume some listeners will. It's called the Sky Dweller. Very evocative. He wore that to play tennis. It's thought to be worth more than 40 grand. I assume, though, that Rolex must have gifted that to him, surely.

[Simon Jack]

I'm sure they did. He pays $1,000 per haircut to his barber. I wonder if that's the same barber who lopped off that ponytail, which proved to be so important.

[Zing Singh]

I hope that barber got a raise because that Ponytail was truly atrocious. He's also an ambassador for NetJets, which is interesting, but that means he only owns a share of a private jet, not the whole plane. So he's got a. A little bit of his own PJ to fly around on.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah, it's an interesting company, NetJets. Actually, it's owned by one of our other billionaires, Warren Buffett, and it's kind of like a timeshare for planes. You sort of buy a quarter of a plane and that gives you X number of hours of flying time per year. Just like if you buy a timeshare apartment, you get X number of weeks living in it, but you don't fully own it. It's. It's actually incredibly popular with it. It's about. What did someone want? Say netjets is like having a bus pass for private jets.

[Advertisement Voice]

Wow.

[Zing Singh]

A bus pass for billionaires. Doesn't get any better than that. Okay, so how would we rate Federer?

[Simon Jack]

It's going to have to be pretty low. I mean, he's not extravagant. He's not. Not bling enough to sort of get ratcheted up on that way. I would say I'm going to give him a two.

[Zing Singh]

Oh, I would score him slightly higher, I think because of the fact that he's one of a very small number of athletes who have made it to the billionaires club. But still, three out of ten.

[Simon Jack]

Three for you, two for me. Controversy, not much. Clean cuts. Dependable once he got it over his tantrums. Pretty unflappable on court, given.

[Zing Singh]

Given the amount of drama and controversy that has dogged other sports stars. Not least people like Tiger Woods. I mean, this guy is squeaky clean.

[Simon Jack]

I think I might give him a zero. I mean, there's, there's nothing in it, is there? Can you find any squeak of controversy about. About this person?

[Zing Singh]

No. I mean, even the way he plays doesn't really invite that kind of controversy, does he?

[Simon Jack]

Okay, sorry, Roger. Zero from us or zero for me anyway. What about you?

[Zing Singh]

Maybe I'll do one out of ten.

[Simon Jack]

Maybe something, something dreadful might emerge somewhere out there.

[Zing Singh]

You know, he's been really rude to a physio. Okay, give him one out of ten.

[Simon Jack]

Okay, fine.

[Zing Singh]

All right.

[Simon Jack]

Power. And this is interesting. So we sometimes we look at this power within their sphere and then.

[Whole Foods Market / Advertisement Voice]

Power.

[Simon Jack]

Power in the world generally. No doubt. He was. He's an absolute legend in the game. He actually got quite involved in the actual running of the sport. He was president of the ATP Tour Player Council for, for six years. He Also lobbied for extra prize money at the four Grand Slam events. A rather, you know, rather self interested campaign, I think that might be.

[Zing Singh]

But actually what's interesting is that much of that money went to early round losers, which is quite char. Well, I wouldn't say charitable, but it certainly acknowledges that if you go out early, you lose quite a bit of money.

[Simon Jack]

Y those players on perhaps not at the top of the tree. It's a recognition that actually once you've paid all the expenses, it's actually hard to make a living. So power outside of it, I mean, he's one of the biggest sporting brands ever. He's right up there in terms of power to sell stuff. Clearly the sponsors think that he's worth

[Zing Singh]

it, but politically, you know, he's very apolitical, you know, and you can understand

[Simon Jack]

why if you're selling famously Swiss neutral.

[Zing Singh]

Exactly. Well, if you're the face of shaving brands and Rolex, you probably don't want to get involved in worldwide politics.

[Simon Jack]

No. Okay, so power again. I'm going to score him low on this one. I'm going to say three.

[Zing Singh]

Yeah.

[Simon Jack]

I would say actually no within the sport. He's such a legend, I'm going to give him a four.

[Zing Singh]

I think four is right. I mean, you know, he did co found a tournament. It's a big tournament, the Laver cup now.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah. Okay. What about legacy now? For a time he was the undisputed goat, greatest of all time at tennis. But statistically he got 20 Grand Slams. I think Novak Djokovic is up to 20.

[Zing Singh]

Yeah, but you know, he still holds the most Wimbledon men's singles tennis titles. So eight titles. He hasn't been beaten on that yet.

[Simon Jack]

And one of the things that I think really rankles with Novak Djokovic is that he knows that despite the fact that he's got the most Grand Slam wins, he's not as popular and won't be remembered as fondly as either Nadal or Roger Federer.

[Zing Singh]

But you know, Federer does deserve it in a way. You know, he's got a beautiful attitude, a beautiful way of playing tennis. These things actually really matter in the sport.

[Simon Jack]

Yeah. I think if you were to go and say, of all the tennis players in the world, who would you like to go and watch play? I think Federer would be at the top of the list.

[Zing Singh]

How would you score him then?

[Simon Jack]

That's a very high praise in the game of tennis. 9.

[Zing Singh]

When Federer goes, in the decades to come, the obitu are going to say he was probably one of the greatest tennis Players of all time? I think so, yeah. I do think it's an eight or niner for me.

[Simon Jack]

Gone. You got to choose. Can't just say it.

[Zing Singh]

Okay, I'll say nine out of ten.

[Simon Jack]

Okay.

[Zing Singh]

If only to make my old tennis coach happy.

[Simon Jack]

You had a tennis coach?

[Zing Singh]

No, you came back. The whole episode, it was more like a tennis instructor. And I was very bad at tennis, so it didn't last for very long, trust me. But I've got a little niece who's. Who has played junior Wimbledon. What? And she's now on a tennis scholarship in the States.

[Simon Jack]

Wow.

[Zing Singh]

So, who knows? Watch this space.

[Simon Jack]

Okay, so is Roger Federer good, bad, or just another billionaire? What do you think? Email us at good, bad billionaire. That's all1word, bc.com or drop us a text or WhatsApp to 00119-176861176 and tell us what you think.

[Zing Singh]

And don't forget to include your name because we may read your message out on a future episode.

[Simon Jack]

For example, we've got one from Tom who says, firstly, thank you for this podcast. Always brilliant. Thanks, Tom. It strikes me that whilst there are good billionaires out there, the show has me wondering, do billions make unpleasant people? Or is it unpleasant people that have a thirst to make billions? That's a chicken and egg one for us. Great show. He says, Love the dynamic. Looking forward to more.

[Zing Singh]

Thank you. Tom, what do you think?

[Simon Jack]

For most people, once they'd made their first million or 10 million or 50 million, they would say, right, that's it. I'm out. I'm going to go fishing. There'd be a revolving chair right where I'm sitting if that happened to me. And to keep going on to make more and more money, some people would say that's avarice and therefore unpleasant. So if you could say there's an unpleasant thirst for money, which is a prerequisite of becoming a member billionaire. But it's not always like that. I mean, some of our billionaires have sort of become billionaires just because they're really good at what they do.

[Zing Singh]

Yeah, it's true. I don't think Steven Spielberg ever set out to make movies thinking he was going to make a billion from cinema. Nobody does.

[Simon Jack]

No, it's a tricky one. It's. I mean, in a way, that is such a fundamental question at the. At the heart of some of the shows that we do. So thank you very much for raising that. Very good question, Tom.

[Zing Singh]

So who do we have on our next episode of Good Bad Billionaire?

[Simon Jack]

Somebody who's changed the nature of entertainment arguably forever.

[Zing Singh]

Someone who invented the idea of Netflix and chill and also binge watching it

[Simon Jack]

is the co founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings. And in the story you'll find out that they begged Blockbuster to try and buy them where they were struggling. Blockbuster turned them down and boy did they regret it.

[Zing Singh]

That's the story of Reed Hastings on the Nick Stephen episode of Good Bad Billionaire.

[Simon Jack]

Good Bad Billionaire is a BBC World Service podcast produced by Hannah Hufford. The editor is Paul Smith and it's a BBC Studios production for the BBC World Service.

[Zing Singh]

The Senior Commissioning Producer is Sarah Green and the Commissioning Editor is John Mannell.

[Simon Jack]

I cashed out my entire 401k thinking someone stole my identity.

[Zing Singh]

A fake email cost me my dream home. After I sent my personal information to

[Simon Jack]

a scammer, my AI agent wired thousands

[Advertisement Voice]

to an account I'd never seen.

[Whole Foods Market / Advertisement Voice]

When billions of people feel unsafe, that's no longer a security problem, it's an economic one. At jen, we're building the trust layer for a more fearless planet with products and technologies from our global brands Norton, Lifelock, Avast and Money Lion. See it in [e-mail].