Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the best basketball players on the planet.
And he’s quickly becoming one of the richest.
The 28-year-old Milwaukee Bucks forward — known to many as “The Greek Freak” — has racked up an impressive array of accolades before reaching his 30th birthday. He won back-to-back NBA MVP awards in 2019 and 2020, collected his first championship ring along with Finals MVP honors in 2021, and earned seven All-Star nods over his 10 seasons in the league.
All of that success in arenas across the country has led to incredible financial gains off the court. Antetokounmpo has signed nine-figure NBA contracts and picked up a slew of lucrative endorsement deals since joining the league. He’s spent some of that money on luxury homes and cars, investment opportunities, and philanthropy.
Here’s how Antetokounmpo makes and spends his millions:
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the best basketball players on the planet.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finishes a dunk against the Los Angeles Clippers. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
The Milwaukee Bucks selected Antetokounmpo — then a scrawny 18-year-old playing for clubs in Spain and his home Greek League — with the 15th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. And while it took the young forward some time to grow into the league, as well as his 6-foot-11 frame, his upside was nothing short of extraordinary.
By his fourth year with the Bucks, Antetokounmpo was averaging 20+ points per game, and he surpassed 10 rebounds per contest the following season. In fact, “The Greek Freak” has averaged 25+ points and 10+ rebounds every single season since 2017-2018, marking the longest such active streak in the NBA, per Statmuse.
He’s collected a plethora of accolades as a result. He’s been an NBA All-Star every year since that fateful 2017 campaign, and he’s served as captain of his All-Star team on three separate occasions. He won NBA All-Star Game MVP in 2021.
Antetokounmpo earned back-to-back league MVP honors in 2019 and 2020, and during that latter MVP season, he also was named Defensive Player of the Year. In each of the past five seasons, the two-way superstar has played his way onto the All-NBA First Team, indicating that he’s consistently been one of the top-five players in the league.
He led Milwaukee to its first NBA title in 50 years in 2021, and he earned Finals MVP after averaging a remarkable 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists through six games against the Phoenix Suns.
He’s played his way into generational wealth via several massive NBA contracts.
Giannis Antetokounmpo. Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Antetokounmpo inked a four-year, $8,615,141 entry-level contract with the Bucks shortly after they selected him in the 2013 NBA Draft, per Spotrac. The $2.2 million he earned annually over that span — plus the $3.7 million he was guaranteed immediately upon signing — was life-changing for a kid who had “peddled goods on city streets to feed himself and his brothers” growing up, per The New York Times.
But it was nothing compared to what would come.
Ahead of the 2016-2017 NBA season, Antetokounmpo signed a $100 million contract extension to remain in Milwaukee for the next four years, according to Spotrac. Before that deal expired in 2021, he once again opted to stay in Wisconsin by agreeing to another extension; this time, the contract was worth a whopping $228 million over five years, per Spotrac, making it the largest deal in NBA history at the time and a huge win for the league’s smaller-market teams.
Antetokounmpo signed yet another extension with the Bucks in October 2023. The three-year, $177 million deal — which commences in 2025 — is set to keep “The Greek Freak” in Milwaukee through at least the 2026-2027 season.
In all, Antetokounmpo has raked in an astounding $234 million during his time in Milwaukee — and that’s just from his team salary.
Antetokounmpo has a variety of lucrative endorsement deals that further add to his net worth.
Giannis Antetokounmpo warms up wearing headphones from his sponsor, JBL. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
His salary from the Bucks isn’t his only source of income; Antetokounmpo earns an astonishing amount of money from endorsement deals and sponsorship opportunities off the court.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the NBA superstar has endorsement deals with BMO (formerly BMO Harris), Breitling, Degree, Google Pixel, JBL, Milko, and T-Mobile. Forbes adds Amazon, Come Ready Foods LLC, Epic Games, Meta, and Unilever to his growing list of sponsors.
The crown jewel of Antetokounmpo’s endorsement portfolio is his massive deal with Nike, which includes a successful signature shoe line. He reportedly earns around $10 million annually from the sportswear giant, per Forbes.
Antetokounmpo clocked in at No. 11 on Forbes’ 2023 list of The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes with $87.6 million in estimated income for the year thanks to the $42.6 million he earns in salary from his team and the added $45 million he rakes in from endorsements. While the superstar’s official net worth has not been confirmed to the public, outlets like ClutchPoints, BetMGM, and Sportscasting estimate that he has between $60 and $70 million to his name.
He has used this money to make even more through shrewd investments.
Giannis Antetokounmpo attends a Nashville SC game as a co-owner of the MLS franchise. Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Antetokounmpo’s earnings from the Bucks alone would qualify as generational wealth. So too would his similarly staggering sum from sponsorships.
Even still, the basketball superstar has taken steps to grow the pot further; he’s made a series of investments across a variety of sectors — some of which he’s gone in on alongside his brothers via their shared company, Ante Inc.
The Nigerian-Greek superstar has an ownership stake in telehealth company Antidote Health, sweets distributor Candy Funhouse, apparel store Antetokounbros Shop, sports drink startup Ready Nutrition, Greek restaurant Avli, The Golf League franchise Los Angeles Golf Club, MLS club Nashville SC, and the Milwaukee Brewers of MLB, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
All of Antetokounmpo’s efforts on and off the court have allowed him to live a life of luxury.
Antetokounmpo owns several homes, including one in Milwaukee and another back in Greece.
Giannis Antetokounmpo on a visit back home in Athens. AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris
Some of Antetokounmpo’s biggest splurges to this point have been on real estate. He owns a $1.8 million home in River Hills, Wisconsin.
While $1.8 million may not seem like a lot of money for someone with the Bucks forward’s net worth, that sum goes a long way in the Milwaukee suburbs. The house boasts 10,000 square feet of living space, including five bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms, a spacious kitchen, a home gym, a wine cellar, a home theater, and a pool in the sprawling backyard, per Realtor.com.
In 2022, Antetokounmpo and his brother, Thanasi, bought matching homes at Costa Navarino Residences, per the luxury beachside resort’s blog. Located in the Peloponnese region of Greece, homes at Costa Navarino currently start at $3.8 million, according to the company’s website.
Antetokounmpo once again added to his portfolio over the summer of 2023, per Greek Reporter, in the form of an $11 million apartment complex in the Psychiko suburb of Athens. The outlet suggests that the property is meant to be shared among the larger Antetokounmpo family, including his mother and brothers.
He has an impressive car collection, too.
Giannis Antetokounmpo poses with a BMW. BMW of Milwaukee North/Facebook
Antetokounmpo gets around Milwaukee — and Greece, for that matter — in style. He’s been spotted driving a Rolls Royce Cullinan that’s reportedly worth $335,000, per TSN. He also has a BMW i8 — a hybrid sports car with scissor doors that goes for roughly $150,000, according to BMW of Milwaukee North.
He’s posted photos with a Land Rover Defender and a Porsche Cayenne, both of which cost just over $100,000. Antetokounmpo also owns a BMW X5 and a Mercedes G63 AMG — two SUVs worth a combined $270,000, per 21 Motoring. ClutchPoints also reports that he has a GMC Yukon, which he likely uses to transport his growing family.
‘The Greek Freak’ has upped his fashion game in recent years.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has become a watch enthusiast. Jason Miller/Getty Images
Antetokounmpo will be the first to tell you that he prefers sweats and athleisure to stuffy suits and flashy pre-game ‘fits. But as he’s risen to stardom in the NBA, he’s grown a bit more comfortable dressing himself up on occasion.
The seven-time All-Star largely credits his brother, Thanassis, for that transformation.
“He’s deep into fashion,”Antetokounmpo told GQ. “He can wear anything and make it look good. I try to follow in his footsteps so I don’t look like a bum out there.”
While he may never fully embrace the designer apparel many of his colleagues love, Antetokounmpo has found a fashion-related passion project in the world of watches. He reportedly owns more than 80 different timepieces, according to A Blog to Watch.
Among the most expensive in his collection, according to Robb Report, are a “Panda”-dial Daytona Rolex (which the brand sells for $15,000), a Rainbow Rolex Cosmograph Daytona (which some retailers price at more than $100,000), and an Audemars Piguet Offshore (worth upwards of $20,000, per GQ). He also wore a $15,000 Rolex Sky-Dweller to the Bucks’ 2021 championship parade.
When he’s not playing basketball, Antetokounmpo prioritizes quality time with his family.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (left) poses with his fiancée, Mariah Riddlesprigger, and their two sons. AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
He’s been in a relationship with Mariah Riddlesprigger for roughly 10 years, according to US Weekly. The NBA star and designer, who launched apparel brand Sincerely, Mariah in 2021, announced their engagement in September 2023.
Antetokounmpo and Riddlesprigger share three children, per People: two sons, Liam and Maverick Shai, and newborn daughter, Eva Brooke. Riddlesprigger and her toddlers are fixtures at Bucks games, and Baby Eva is likely to start making regular appearances at Fiserv Forum in short order.
During the NBA offseason, Antetokounmpo makes a point to stay close to his loved ones. They travel the globe together on trips to Maui, Abu Dhabi, and of course back home to Greece.
Even on off days during the season, the superstar will take his family to places like Disneyland and the zoo or opt to spend quality time at home.
He and his family prioritize giving back after coming from humble beginnings.
Giannis Antetokounmpo surprises kids with new JBL gear. Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for JBL
The child of Nigerian immigrants, Antetokounmpo grew up as a second-class citizen in Greece’s capital city. He and his brothers were “perpetually vulnerable to attacks by racist militants” and often faced “threats of deportation,” all while they sold random goods to passersby on the streets to get money for food and shared a single pair of sneakers, according to The New York Times.
It’s no surprise, then, that Antetokounmpo feels compelled to give back now that he’s had so much good fortune by way of professional basketball. He and his brothers founded the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation to help give underprivileged individuals in the US, Greece, and Nigeria opportunities to rise above their station, just like the Antetokounmpos did.
“The Antetokounmpo family’s path from the streets of Athens to the pinnacle of sport in America was encouraged at each turn by people with big hearts and outstretched hands,” the CAFF website reads. “Our journey is proof that investing in others can unlock the potential inside every person — no matter where they start out or what difficulties they face.”
The organization works to help improve the living conditions for refugees and immigrants, offer access to education to children regardless of their socioeconomic status, provide opportunities to participate in sports, support widows, and supply food and shelter to those in need.
Antetokounmpo engages in philanthropic efforts outside of the family’s charity as well. He regularly works with the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation to raise money for a variety of causes, and he’s an international ambassador for the Greek humanitarian aid organization, The Hellenic Institute, per OSDB Sports.
At the height of the pandemic, Antetokounmpo donated $100,000 to help employees at the Bucks’ home arena get by, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He’s worked at food drives, launched basketball academies for underprivileged athletes, and done so much more to help the communities he holds closest to his heart, per Money Smart Athlete Blog.
