4 ms·
I know it's foolish to compare myself to the top 0.01%, but every year it seems like I fall further behind. Athletes used to make tens of millions of dollars.
by gxs 9y ago
I know it's foolish to compare myself to the top 0.01%, but every year it seems like I fall further behind.
Athletes used to make tens of millions of dollars. Nowadays some retire with over a billion dollars of lifetime earnings.
CEOs used to make what? It was common to hear 20-25MM a year, today that number seems ridiculously low.
I know staff on professional sports teams, low men on the totem pole, who make quarter million dollar bonuses.
I realize these are one off examples that aren't common, but they make the gap seem so large.
- southphillyman 9y agoI use increasing athlete salary as an easy analogy to help ppl understand wealth disparity in this country. Micheal Jordan once made $4 million dollars in the prime of his career. Today Steph Curry can sign a $200 million deal in 2017 because that amount is nothing to his owner. Russell Westbrook signed a $200 million NBA extension to go with his $200 million sneaker endorsement this summer. Sounds crazy if you've been following sports. Their salaries aren't out of control though, it just seems that way because our wages are stagnant due to having none of the leverage athletes have via unions/skillset. Athlete salary has grown in proportion to the wealth they help generate, most of our salaries have not.
- stevenwoo 9y agoI don't begrudge athletes high salaries - they are in the entertainment industry and they are part of the product, like actors/directors. It's only in the last few decades that they got close to their actual value due to collective bargaining or that they got (in some sports) the ability to move from team to team of their own free will. Most athletes don't end up ridiculously wealthy and in contact sports will have short careers, additionally boxers and football players with longish careers will have a much lower quality of life after retirement from sport due to TBI/injuries. The only problem I have with pro sports is the collegiate scam in the US where colleges reap all the benefits and student athletes can't earn money.