In the event you requested a random particular person to call the good sport on Earth, there is a good likelihood they’d say browsing. There’s simply one thing mythic about it: the rhythm of the ocean, the liberty, the sunburned calm of somebody who spends their life chasing waves. Most surfers would do it without spending a dime. Many do—buying and selling boards, sleeping in vans, and taking cost within the kind of some chilly beers and a beachside taco. However for a uncommon handful of the world’s greatest, browsing is not only a ardour or a way of life. It is a multi-million-dollar profession.
Think about getting paid hundreds of thousands of {dollars} a yr to spend your life within the water. No cubicle, no commute, no gown code—simply you, a board, and the ocean. That is the truth for browsing’s elite: athletes who’ve turned wave-riding right into a full-blown international enterprise. Between endorsement offers, attire strains, vitality drink contracts, surfboard royalties, and YouTube empires, skilled surfers at present can earn simply as a lot as prime athletes in additional conventional sports activities.
From World Surf League (WSL) champions like Kelly Slater and Gabriel Medina to big-wave legends like Laird Hamilton and Kai Lenny, browsing’s prime earners have remodeled their beach-bum roots into huge private manufacturers. Their incomes come from a patchwork of sponsorships, prize winnings, and entrepreneurial ventures that attain far past the water. Listed here are the 10 highest-paid surfers on the planet.
#10. Jamie O’Brien – $500,000 to $800,000 per yr
Jamie O’Brien resides proof that you simply needn’t compete on the WSL Championship Tour to make critical cash from browsing. A former Pipeline champion, O’Brien reinvented himself as one of many sport’s first full-time content material creators. His YouTube channel “Who’s JOB” has racked up hundreds of thousands of views with wild stunts, journey vlogs, and wave-riding tutorials. Between advert income, Crimson Bull sponsorships, a surf faculty in Hawaii, and merchandise gross sales, O’Brien earns properly into the six figures yearly—making him some of the profitable free surfers of all time.
#9. Kai Lenny – $750,000 to $1 million per yr
Hawaii’s Kai Lenny is among the most versatile watermen on Earth. He surfs, foils, kitesurfs, windsurfs, and races paddleboards—all at a world-class stage. Although he isn’t a daily on the WSL tour, Lenny earns near one million {dollars} a yr by sponsorships with Crimson Bull, Hurley, GoPro, and Tag Heuer. His excessive big-wave classes at Jaws and Pe’ahi have made him a world icon, and his social media presence attracts main model offers and documentary options.
#8. Carissa Moore – $1 million per yr
Carissa Moore is among the most adorned surfers in historical past, with 5 world titles and an Olympic gold medal. Past her dominance within the water, Moore has constructed a serious industrial profile, incomes round $1 million yearly from partnerships with Hurley, Crimson Bull, Dior, and different international manufacturers. She’s additionally grow to be a number one voice in girls’s browsing, serving to drive the WSL’s equal pay motion and galvanizing a brand new technology of feminine athletes.
#7. John John Florence – $1 million per yr
Born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu, John John Florence has been a phenom since childhood. A two-time world champion recognized for his near-perfect model and highly effective barrel driving, Florence as soon as had one of many richest contracts in surf historical past—an eight-year, $30 million take care of Hurley. After that deal ended, he launched his personal attire firm, Florence Marine X, giving him larger management over his earnings and picture. Right this moment, between his model, movie tasks, and sponsorships with Yeti and Nixon, he stays considered one of browsing’s prime earners.
#6. Kanoa Igarashi – $1.7 million per yr
Kanoa Igarashi has grow to be some of the marketable athletes in browsing. Representing Japan on the world stage, he gained an Olympic silver medal and have become a world ambassador for manufacturers like Quiksilver, Crimson Bull, Oakley, G-Shock, and Shiseido. His fluent bilingual persona and polished picture have made him particularly useful to sponsors in each Japan and the U.S. Igarashi reportedly earns round $1.7 million a yr, a lot of it from non-surf luxurious manufacturers that view him as a crossover star.
#5. Filipe Toledo – $1.75 million per yr
Brazil’s Filipe Toledo is among the most explosive surfers on the planet, well-known for his aerials and high-energy performances. A two-time world champion, Toledo combines prize cash from WSL occasions with endorsements from Hurley, Monster Power, Oi Telecom, and different main sponsors. His consistency on the prime of the rankings has cemented him as considered one of Brazil’s greatest sports activities stars, incomes roughly $1.75 million per yr.
#4. Mick Fanning – $1.8 million per yr
Australian legend Mick Fanning could be retired from full-time competitors, however his earnings hasn’t slowed down. The three-time world champion continues to earn an estimated $1.8 million a yr from long-term sponsorships with Rip Curl and Crimson Bull, together with enterprise ventures and public appearances. Fanning famously co-founded Balter Beer, a craft brewery that was acquired by a serious beverage firm in 2019—giving him one of many greatest monetary wins in surf historical past.
#3. Gabriel Medina – $2.2 million per yr
A nationwide hero in Brazil, Gabriel Medina has gained three world titles and helped ignite the nation’s trendy browsing increase. Identified for his precision, athleticism, and aggressive mindset, Medina earns about $2.2 million yearly by sponsorships with Rip Curl, Corona, Audi, and several other Brazilian manufacturers. His endorsement portfolio simply eclipses his prize winnings, and his international profile continues to develop as some of the acknowledged faces within the sport.
#2. Laird Hamilton – $3 million per yr
Although he hasn’t competed significantly in many years, Laird Hamilton stays considered one of browsing’s most influential—and highest-paid—figures. A pioneer of tow-in and big-wave browsing, Hamilton constructed a world model round health, wellness, and efficiency. He earns an estimated $3 million a yr by his stake in Laird Superfood, endorsement offers, ebook royalties, and appearances in documentaries and movies. He is greater than an athlete at this level—he is a way of life trade unto himself.
Kelly Slater (Picture by Ryan Pierse/Getty Photos)
#1. Kelly Slater – $3 million per yr
No shock right here. Kelly Slater shouldn’t be solely the best aggressive surfer in historical past—with 11 world titles and over three many years on tour—but in addition the game’s wealthiest and most business-savvy determine. His estimated $3 million annual earnings comes from a mixture of sponsorships, possession stakes in his sustainable clothes model Outerknown, his Slater Designs surfboard line, and his revolutionary Surf Ranch wave pool firm. Even in his 50s, Slater continues to compete on the highest stage whereas incomes like a mogul.
The Backside Line
For many surfers, the reward is the trip itself—a fleeting second of perfection that may’t be purchased or bought. However for these ten, the ocean additionally occurs to be a multimillion-dollar workplace. Whether or not it is by championship trophies, model offers, or enterprise ventures, they’ve confirmed that catching waves could be greater than a dream—it may be a fortune.
