- Alex Honnold revealed details of his payday for climbing Taipei 101.
- The pro climber just ascended the 1,667-foot skyscraper live for Netflix.
- He called his paycheck "embarrassing," comparing it to other athletes who are paid millions.
Alex Honnold just successfully Taipei 101, a 1,667-foot skyscraper, all by himself with no ropes or assists—and it was broadcast live on Netflix. Watching Alex do this climb was one of the most mind-blowing displays of athleticism maybe ever, and you'd think he'd be paid on par with other major athletes (read: multi-millions) for the feat. But apparently not so much.
Alex spoke about his pay to the New York Times, saying climbing the skyscraper for Netflix was his highest payday, but was still "less than my agent aspired to."
"I mean, I would do it for free," he explained. "If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission to go do the thing, I would do the thing because I know I can, and it’d be amazing. I mean, just sitting by yourself on the very top of the spire is insane. And so, you know, if there wasn’t the whole spectacle around it, and I just had the opportunity to go do it by myself, I’d be fine with that. I would do that, but in this case, there is a spectacle. I’m not getting paid to climb the building. I’m getting paid for the spectacle. I’m climbing the building for free."
So...how much did he get paid? Alex said "it’s an embarrassing amount," adding "Actually, if you put it in the context of mainstream sports, it’s an embarrassingly small amount. You know, Major League Baseball players get like $170 million contracts. Like, someone you haven’t even heard of and that nobody cares about."
Alex then confirmed that he did NOT get paid ten million, saying "No! So in that case, yeah, an embarrassingly small amount" and the New York Times added in "Honnold will be paid in the mid-six figures for the climb, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement."
I mean, not bad, but could be better!
