What is Lance Armstrong’s Net Worth Today?

Lance Armstrong is a professional road racing cyclist and an athlete from the United States as popularly known. He is also a public speaker and author. Lance Armstrong net worth has been a question for many, especially after his lawsuits. He started out strong in athletics and by the age of 16, he was competing he was competing as a professional triathlete. By the time he was 21, he won the World Race Championship in Oslo, Norway.

Things were going well despite having to fight cancer after his diagnosis in 1996. He did not lose hope, and after persistent chemo-treatments, he was declared cancer-free in February 1997. Within the same year, the Lance Armstrong Foundation was established. He also went back to cycling and signed on with the U.S. Postal Service team. At the peak of his career, Lance Armstrong net worth was estimated at about $125 million and it was growing fast.

During this time, he was among the highest-earning athletes. From endorsements and prize money, he would earn up to a $20 million in a year. After he retired, he still made an annual income of about $15 million from public appearances, speaking engagements, and other sponsorships.

Doping Accusations

In the cycling sport, he highlighted a winning streak in the Tour de France. He then retired in the year 2011. However, in the year 2001, accusations of doping arose but he denied them. When he could no longer deny the allegations, he came clean in 2013 and accepted that he had been using performance-enhancing drugs from as early as the mid-1990s. After the doping accusations were confirmed, he lost his major sponsors such as Nike, Trek, Anheuser Busch, and Oakley.

Financial Implications

After agreeing to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, the U.S. government filed suit claiming that he defrauded the government after accepting sponsorship money from the U.S. Postal Service. The suit was about $100 million in damages. Other than the government, other lawsuits followed due to his doping scandal. Included were settlements from broken endorsements.

In 2018, Lance agreed to pay $5 million to the U.S. government settlement. In reality, the lawsuit would have cost him about $100 million. He paid another $1.65 million for Landis legal courts. According to The Guardian, he paid up to $20million in lawsuits and settlements. At this point, Lance Armstrong net worth was dangling making it difficult for him and his family to survive. During his interview with Oprah Winfrey, he stated that he suffered losses of about $75 million in terms of lawyer fee, endorsements, and legal settlements.

Uber Investment to the rescue

Before he retired, he made an investment worth $100,000 in Uber in 2009 when the entire company was worth $3.7 million. Uber is currently worth more than $120 billion, which tells you, his investment was worth every penny. Lance declared in 2018 that his investment with Uber saved his family’s financial status.

At the time he was making the investment, he was not even sure what Uber was all about or what it involved. He made the investment through Chris Sacca venture capital firm where he thought he was simply buying Twitter shares. Little did he know that this would be his financial redemption later in his life.

Other Implications

In his earlier competitions, he had taken home seven Tour de France titles, which were stripped off him in the year 2012. He also had to step down as chairperson of the Livestrong Foundation despite being the founder in the year 2012 as well.

Conclusion

Lance Armstrong net worth is estimated to be at about $50 million as of the year 2018. However, during the peak of his career, he was once one of the best-paid athletes in the industry with a net worth of about 125 million. It all started well in his career until it was confirmed that he was using performance-enhancing drugs. Things took a different turn for the worst especially at this point especially financially thus affecting Lance Armstrong’s net worth. Luckily, he had made an investment with Uber that rescued his financial downfall after hefty lawyer fee, endorsements, and legal settlements that were worth millions of dollars. Despite his financial struggles, he is back on his feet with his earlier investment in Uber.