By St. Louis American Staff
Four phenomenal Black women are among an elite list of the highest paid female athletes in the world the last 12 months. According to Forbes, young tennis star Coco Gauff is #3 on the list at $21.7 million. $6.7 Million of the 19 year old star’s revenue is from her on-field play and $16 million is from off-field. She won four tennis tournaments this year, and had endorsement deals with companies such as UPS and Bose.
While she doesn’t compete nearly as much as she used to, Venus Williams still made #8 on the list with $12.2 million, only $0.2 million was on-field play while $12 million was off-field. While she made little on-field, she has endorsement deals with major companies like Dove and Nestle Purina’s PetCare.
WNBA star Candace Parker ranks #13 with $8.1 million. She saw less playing time due to a broken foot, but started to invest more in the last year, including League One Volleyball. Coming in at #16 is perhaps the greatest female Olympic gymnast of all time, Simone Biles. Almost all of the 26 year-old’s $7.1 million came from off-field revenue in 2023. She returned to gymnastics in 2023 and plans on competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Biles was recently named the AP Female Athlete of the Year for the third time.