Michael Schumacher Net Worth and Biography

Michael Schumacher is a German former racing driver, with an estimated net worth of $600 Million. The 53-year-old Legend competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers’ Championship titles (tied with Lewis Hamilton) in the history of Formula One.

Bio Data

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Biography

Michael Schumacher was born in West Germany on 3 January 1969. He was born to Rolf—a bricklayer who later ran the local kart track—and Elisabeth Schumacher, who operated the track’s canteen. When he was four, his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club.

His father built him a kart from discarded parts and Schumacher won his first club championship at the age of six.  Regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12. In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship.

Schumacher joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985 and by 1987, he was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic. In 1988, he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter.

In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber’s WTS Formula Three team. Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula Three series, winning the title in 1990. He also won the Macau Grand Prix in the same year.  Schumacher joined the Mercedes junior racing program in the World Sportscar Championship. He won the season finale at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber–Mercedes C11.

Career

Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Irish Jordan-Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. He was then signed by Benetton for the rest of the 1991 season. He won his first and second drivers’ titles consecutively in 1994 and 1995.

Schumacher moved to the struggling Ferrari team in 1996. During his first years on the team, Schumacher lost out on the title in the final race of the season in 1997 and 1998 and suffered a broken leg from a brake failure in 1999.

He and Ferrari won five consecutive titles from 2000 to 2004, including unprecedented sixth and seventh titles, breaking several records. After finishing third in 2005 and second in 2006, Schumacher retired from the sport, although he later made a brief return with Mercedes from 2010 to 2012.

Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers’ Championship titles (tied with Lewis Hamilton).  At the time of his retirement from the sport in 2012, he held the records for the most wins (91), pole positions (68), and podium finishes (155)—which have since been broken by Lewis Hamilton. He still maintains the record for the fastest laps (77), among others.

Schumacher was noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race and to push his car to the very limit for sustained periods. He was also noted for his pioneering fitness regimen and ability to galvanize teams around him

Honors and Accolades

Michael Schumacher is a recipient of numerous honors and accolades. In 1992, the German Motor Sport Federation awarded him the ONS Cup, the highest accolade in German motorsport; he also it again in 1994, 1995, and 2002. He won a Bambi Sports Award and became the first racing driver to receive the Golden Steering Wheel in 1993.

In 1995 and from 2000 to 2002, he was named Autosport International Racing Driver of the Year. Schumacher was voted German Sports Personality of the Year in 1995 and 2004. During the latter year, he was voted Germany’s greatest sportsperson of the 20th century, beating Birgit Fischer and Steffi Graf to the accolade.

He has been appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, has been honored with the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, and has been appointed as an ambassador of San Marino. In 2017, Schumacher was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame and Germany’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Schumacher was awarded Germany’s highest sporting accolade, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, in 1997.  He was also named as one of the UNESCO Champions for Sport, in 2002, for his contributions to sport and for raising awareness of child education, Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher Net Worth

Michael Schumacher is the richest car racer in the world, with an estimated net worth of $600 Million. He is one is also one of the highest-paid athletes of all time with career earnings that easily surpass $1 billion. He has appeared on Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes every year since they began tracking athletes in 1990.

Even in years when he was not racing, Schumacher earned $50 million from endorsements alone.  Deutsche Vermögensberatung paid him $8 million over three years from 1999 for wearing a 10 by 8-centimeter advertisement on his post-race cap

He was also paid $10 million per year by Shell to wear a hat with the company’s logo at nearly all public appearances. At the peak of his career, he earned $80-100 million per year which was frequently enough to make him the highest-paid athlete in the world.