Barry Bonds Net Worth

What are Barry Bonds' Net Worth, Salary, and Career Earnings?

Barry Bonds is a retired American professional baseball player who has a net worth of $100 million. Barry Bonds stands as one of baseball's most dominant yet controversial figures across his 22-season MLB career (1986-2007).

Beginning with the Pittsburgh Pirates before his legendary tenure with the San Francisco Giants, Bonds compiled unprecedented statistical achievements, including MLB records for career home runs (762), single-season home runs (73 in 2001), walks (2,558), and intentional walks (688). His combination of power, speed, and batting eye established him as the only player in the exclusive 500 home run/500 stolen base club. The seven-time National League MVP (including four consecutive awards from 2001-2004) earned 14 All-Star selections, 12 Silver Slugger Awards, and 8 Gold Gloves for his defensive excellence in left field.

Despite these accomplishments, Bonds' legacy remains complicated by his connection to performance-enhancing drugs during baseball's "Steroid Era," particularly following investigations into the BALCO scandal. This association has prevented his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame despite having statistical credentials that would otherwise make him a first-ballot inductee. Nevertheless, his impact on baseball remains profound, forcing fundamental changes to how the game was played as teams routinely chose to walk him rather than pitch to baseball's most feared hitter.

Salary History and Career Earnings

Over the course of his legendary 22-season Major League Baseball career, Barry Bonds earned a staggering $188.25 million in salary alone. His highest single-season salary came in 2005, when he earned $22 million with the San Francisco Giants. Adjusted for inflation, that's equivalent to roughly $33 million in today's dollars, placing him among the top-paid athletes of his era.

Record-Setting Contracts

Barry entered free agency in 1992 after seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite receiving a $40 million offer from the New York Yankees, Bonds chose to return home to the Bay Area, ultimately signing a six-year, $43.75 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. The deal included a $2.5 million signing bonus and averaged $6.9 million per year, equivalent to about $12 million annually today.

At the time, it was the largest contract in baseball history, and it made Bonds the highest-paid player in the league, a title he would hold multiple times throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. The deal was especially groundbreaking given that MLB salaries had only recently entered the eight-figure-per-year range.

In 2002, he re-signed with the Giants on a five-year, $90 million extension, cementing his status as one of baseball's highest-paid stars well into his 40s.

Modern Comparisons

Though Bonds' total career earnings were massive for his time, they have since been eclipsed by the era of mega-contracts. For comparison:

• In 2024, Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers—the largest in MLB history. Though heavily deferred, Ohtani's average annual value is still enormous.
• Aaron Judge earns $40 million per year under his current deal with the Yankees.
• Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander both signed deals in the 2020s with annual salaries exceeding $43 million, far surpassing Bonds' peak annual salary.

Highest Paid Athlete

In 1992, as a free agent, Barry sought offers from around the MLB. He declined a $40 million offer to join the Yankees. After a 40-hour marathon negotiation, Barry and the Giants landed on a six-year $43.75 million deal that came with a $2.5 million signing bonus. He essentially earned an average of $6.9 million per year during that period, which is the same as earning around $12 million per year today. At the time, it was the biggest contract in sports history. For comparison, the highest-paid baseball player in 2019, Max Scherzer, earns $38 million PER YEAR.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Early Life

Barry Lamar Bonds was born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, California. He was raised in San Carlos by his parents, Bobby and Patricia Bonds. His father is a former Major League Baseball player and played for teams like the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, and the Chicago White Sox. Bonds attended Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, where he played baseball, basketball, and football. He was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 1982 MLB draft when he was just a high school senior, but they were unable to agree on contract terms because Bonds' minimum he required to go pro was $75,000, and Giants coach Tom Haller gave a maximum offer of $70,000 ($185,452 today after inflation). Therefore, instead of going pro straight out of high school, Bonds decided to go to college.

College Career

Bonds attended Arizona State University, where he studied criminology. Despite his stellar performance as a player, he was not well-liked by his baseball teammates because his behavior was often considered by them to be rude and inconsiderate. In fact, one time when he was suspended for breaking curfew, initially the other Sun Devil players voted against his return even though he was widely considered to be the best on the team. Accolades and recognitions he received while at college include being a Sporting News All-American selection in 1984, named to the All-Time College World Series Team in 1996, and named ASU On Deck Circle Most Valuable Player.

Professional Career

After college, he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as the sixth overall pick of the 1985 MLB draft. Before he made it into any major league games, though, he played with the Prince William Pirates of the Carolina League and also for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League. He made his major league debut on May 30, 1986, with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He went on to enjoy a professional career that spanned from 1986 to 2007. In addition to the Pittsburgh Pirates, he also played for the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2007. During his career, Bonds was presented with the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award seven times, including four consecutively, both of which are records. Furthermore, he is a 14-time All-Star and 8-time Gold Glove Award winner. He is regarded to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He holds many other MLB records, including most career home runs (762), most home runs in a single season (73, set in 2001), most career walks (2,558), and most career intentional walks (688). Despite his baseball accomplishments, Bonds was not elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility on the ballot. He spent his later professional years shrouded by controversy, as he was a central figure in baseball's steroids scandal.

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Post-Baseball

After retiring from professional baseball, Bonds has been involved in other projects. This includes the reality TV show "Bonds on Bonds" (2006), which aired briefly in April and May before getting canceled in June 2006. He is not a member of the MLB Players Association's licensing agreement, because he felt like making his own independent marketing deals would prove to be more lucrative. As a result, he does not appear in some baseball video games and is replaced by generic characters such as "Jon Dowd" in "MVP Baseball 2005".

Personal Life

In August 1987, Bonds met Susann "Sun" Margreth Branco. They eloped to Las Vegas in February 1988, ultimately separated in June 1994, and finalized their divorce in December 1994 before getting their marriage annulled by the Catholic Church in 1997. Together, they share two children, Nikolai and Shikari. He then was in a relationship with Kimberly Bell from 1994 to May 2003. However, in January 1998, he married his second wife, Liz Watson. His marriage to Watson lasted until February 2010, and they have one child together, Aisha.

Real Estate

In 2000, Barry paid $5.3 million for an incredible newly-built mansion on nearly 2 acres located in a gated community called Beverly Park high up in the hills of Beverly Hills. Barry sold the home in 2014 for a mouth-watering $22 million to a Russian billionaire. The billionaire tried to flip the house a year later for $36 million, ultimately accepting $26 million in 2016. In 2019, the home was sold again, this time for $23 million. In June 2020, actress Sofia Vergara paid $26 million for the property.

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