Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese baseball phenom embroiled in a scandal involving allegations of theft against his former interpreter, has become one of the baseball world’s biggest celebrities in the last years.
Ohtani, 29, was born in Mizusawa, Japan, and excelled at baseball starting in high school. After starting his professional career with Japan’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2013, he switched to Major League Baseball in 2018 and joined the Los Angeles Angels.
In December, he made headlines when he signed on to the Los Angeles Dodgers with a historic 10-year, $700 million deal, one of the highest-paying contracts in the history of professional sports.
The athlete, who pitches and bats as a designated hitter, was unanimously voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 2021. The same season, he also became the first player in American League or National League history with at least 45 homers, 25 stolen bases and five triples in a season.
In 2023, he was named MVP for a second time, making him the first player to ever unanimously win American League MVP twice.
His massive success on the diamond has also lent itself to highly-compensated advertising partnerships. Ohtani has more than a dozen partnerships around the world, generating at least $35 million in annual endorsement earnings, including with Boss (formerly Hugo Boss), Fanatics, and Seiko Watch, according to a tally from Forbes.
The athlete underwent elbow surgery in the offseason and will not pitch again until 2025.
