Maria Sharapova

For millions of tennis fans used to watching a dazzlingly blonde Maria Sharapova see off her opponents on Centre Court, it must have been a shock to see the former tennis player, now naturally brunette, feature as part of Bloomberg's Power Players Conference in New York last month. In 2025, no athlete past or present relies on merely their winnings to keep them afloat. To succeed in the contemporary era is to have a raft of brand endorsements and additional financial strings to your bow designed to outlast a comparatively brief playing career. But Sharapova - whose net worth was last estimated as being close to $220million by Forbes - arguably created the blueprint for diversified success and is one of the standard bearers for a particular type of lucrative sporting retirement. ...read