How Roger Federer spends much of his millions (hint: it’s not on himself)
The famous tennis star is an active philanthropist who collaborates with Bill Gates and others to educate children and assist those affected by natural disasters
In 2019, Swiss tennis star Roger Federer made Forbes’ list of the highest-paid athletes in the world, clocking in at number five. This year alone, Federer earned US$7.4 million through his winnings and another US$86 million from endorsement deals.
Other celebrities with huge fortunes such as Federer’s have become tabloid fodder, leading lavish lives full of hard living and noteworthy antics. Not Federer. He, his wife and their four children (two sets of twins!) live on a quiet Swiss lake. And instead of spending his money on himself, he works to help others through his non-profit, the Roger Federer Foundation, as well as through other charitable deeds.
What is the Roger Federer Foundation?
While a foundation that bears a famous tennis player’s name may be perceived as centred around the sport, the Roger Federer Foundation actually focuses on education. Specifically, the Roger Federer Foundation works to provide increased access to early education for children in six low-income countries including Botswana, Malawi and Zambia. When Federer founded his non-profit back in 2003, he focused on projects in South Africa, which is his mother’s home country.
According to the foundation’s mission statement: “We thus aim to give children the best start on their educational path through life by establishing and further develop[ing] existing early educational services in a sustainable way”.