What are Barry Bonds' Net Worth, Salary, and Career Earnings?
Barry Bonds is a retired American professional baseball player who has a net worth of $100 million. Barry Bonds had a very successful baseball career. Widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, his reputation was tarnished when it became clear that he had lied to a grand jury in 2007 regarding steroid use. This led to his being passed over for entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Barry made his Major League debut in 1986 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. After six seasons with the Pirates, he went on to play fourteen seasons with the San Francisco Giants. He won multiple sports awards and set multiple records. His accolades include eight Gold Glove Awards, twelve Silver Slugger Awards, and three Hank Aaron Awards. He was a seven-time National League MVP and a fourteen-time All-Star. He holds records for the most home runs ever (762), the most home runs in a single season (73), and the most walks and intentional walks. He retired in 2007.
Early Life
Barry Lamar Bonds was born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, California. Raised in San Carlos by his parents, Bobby and Patricia Bonds, his father was a former Major League Baseball player. Barry attended Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, where he played baseball, basketball, and football. Drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 1982 MLB draft as a senior in high school, he chose to go to college because they could not agree on contract terms. Bonds wanted a minimum contract of $75,000, but Giants coach Tom Haller offered a maximum of $70,000.
College Career
Bonds attended Arizona State University, majoring in criminology. Despite his outstanding performance, he was not well-liked by his teammates due to perceived rude behavior. During his college years, Bonds received several accolades, including being named a Sporting News All-American selection in 1984 and being named to the All-Time College World Series Team in 1996.
Professional Career
After college, Barry was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as the sixth overall pick of the 1985 MLB draft. Before making his Major League debut, he played with the Prince William Pirates of the Carolina League and the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League. Making his MLB debut on May 30, 1986, with the Pirates, Bonds began a professional career that lasted from 1986 to 2007, also playing for the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2007.
During his career, Bonds received the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award seven times, including four consecutively. He is also a 14-time All-Star and an 8-time Gold Glove Award winner. Bonds holds MLB records for most career home runs (762), most home runs in a single season (73), most career walks (2,558), and most career intentional walks (688). Despite his achievements, Bonds was not elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility due to his involvement in the steroids scandal.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Post-Baseball
After retiring, Bonds was involved in various projects, including the short-lived reality TV show "Bonds on Bonds" (2006). He opted out of the MLB Players Association's licensing agreement to make independent marketing deals, which resulted in his absence from some baseball video games. In games like "MVP Baseball 2005", he was replaced by a generic character named "Jon Dowd".
Personal Life
Bonds met Susann "Sun" Margreth Branco in August 1987, eloping to Las Vegas in February 1988. They separated in June 1994, with their divorce finalized in December 1994, and their marriage annulled by the Catholic Church in 1997. They share two children, Nikolai and Shikari. From 1994 to May 2003, he was in a relationship with Kimberly Bell. In January 1998, Bonds married his second wife, Liz Watson. Their marriage lasted until February 2010, and they have one child together, Aisha.
Salary History and Career Earnings
Barry Bonds earned $188,245,322 in salary alone during his career. His peak earnings year was 2005, when he earned $22 million in base salary, equivalent to around $30 million today.
Highest Paid Athlete
As a free agent in 1992, Barry sought offers from across the MLB. Declining a $40 million offer from The Yankees, he signed a six-year $43.75 million deal with the Giants, which included a $2.5 million signing bonus. This contract set a record for the biggest contract in sports history at the time. In comparison, the highest-paid baseball player in 2019, Max Scherzer, earns $38 million per year.
Real Estate
In 2000, Barry paid $5.3 million for a newly-built mansion on nearly 2 acres in the gated community of Beverly Park, Beverly Hills. He sold the home in 2014 for $22 million to a Russian billionaire. The property changed hands several times, selling for $26 million in 2016 and $23 million in 2019. In June 2020, actress Sofia Vergara paid $26 million for the property.
