Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, who died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 in Thailand, was the world’s sixth-richest cricketer and had a net worth of $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which tracks the wealth and finances of the rich and famous.
Warne, regarded as one of the best leg-spin bowlers of all time, was found in a holiday villa on the Thai island of Koh Samui by friends, his management company MPC Entertainment said on Friday.
“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” MPC said.
“The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”
India’s Sachin Tendulkar is the world’s richest cricketer, with a net worth of $150m, followed by MS Dhoni with a personal fortune of $111m, and Virat Kohli with $92m, according to Sports Virsa. Rounding out the top five is former Australian test captain Ricky Ponting with $65m and the West Indies' Brian Lara with $60m.
At the time of his death, Warne was working as a commentator for Sky Sports and Fox Cricket.
Known as the King of Spin, he earned $4m a year through a combination of commentating commitments, brand endorsements worth about $2m with the likes of Pepsi and McDonalds, as well as income as a professional poker player, according to cricket website cacknowledge.com.
Warne also owned a 3 per cent stake in the Indian Premier League’s Rajashthan Royals cricket team and founded beverage company SevenZeroEight in Western Australia, which halted production in 2020 to make hand sanitiser for local hospitals.
“This is a challenging time for Australians, and we all need to do what we can to help our healthcare system combat this disease and save lives. I am happy SevenZeroEight has the ability to make this shift and encourage others to do the same,” Warne said at the time.
In December 2020, Warne sold his five-bedroom home in Melbourne’s upmarket suburb of Brighton after it was passed in for auction at $5.65m, realestate.com said.
He paid $5.5m for the home in 2018, public records show.
Warne took 708 test wickets for Australia in a test career that ran from 1992 to 2007. He later played in the Indian Premier League for the Rajashthan Royals, where he earned $1.1m in 2011, and other Twenty20 competitions before retiring from international cricket in 2013.
Top 10 richest cricketers in the world
- Sachin Tendulkar — $150 million
- MS Dhoni — $111m
- Virat Kohli — $92m
- Ricky Ponting — $65m
- Brian Lara — $60m
- Shane Warne — $50m
- Virender Sehwag — $40m
- Yuvraj Singh — $35m
- Jacque Kallis — $35m
- Steve Smith — $34m
Source: Sports Virsa
