Roger Federer admits he is ‘surprised’ by the staggering scale of his biggest business deal

Kevin Palmer 19 Sep 2025 12:00 PM

Roger Federer's investment in On Running has proved to be far more lucrative than his tennis career.

Roger Federer has made a revealing appearance on the American business channel CNBC, as he spoke about the stunning success of his partnership with On running.

The show brand sold 3% equity in the company to Federer, making him the face of the brand and also designing his own shoe, which had a huge boost to their fortunes.

With Federer’s support and fame, the shoe company’s value soared to $12 billion and when the company went public in September 2021, shares were sold at $24 meaning Federer’s cut was now worth a staggering $360 million, almost three times as much as the $130 million he earned in tennis.

Federer’s revenue from his On investment is now worth considerably more than his career earnings on a tennis court, as the 20-time Grand Slam champion built a legacy that continues to make him one of the highest-earning athletes in the world.

Rolex, Uniqlo and Wilson are among the big-name brands still ploughing money into the Federer brand, but it is the On deal that has been his biggest success and he reflected on the huge cash windfall with typical calmness in his CNBC interview.

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Federer needed to leave his long-standing agreement with Nike to pave the way for the Uniqlo and On deals and he is delighted to have been part of a success story for both brands.

“I never thought it was going to work this well,” confirmed Federer. “All I thought was it would be cool to work with a Swiss brand, help the guys out.

“We started working on a shoe before I had the deal with On because I thought it would be nice to help the guys out in what is an incredibly difficult market.

“Now you can think I was a little naive and I always wanted them to be successful, but not at this speed like that. I didn’t know that a brand could grow this quickly.

“It’s been a wonderful journey. The numbers are incredible and hopefully we can go into new sports if we want growth.”

Federer has previously spoken about the On success story, as he suggested he was not even thinking about making mega money when he agreed a deal that was signed while he was still playing tennis.

“Obviously, I wanted to play tennis forever. That was my dream when I was a little boy, but when that was officially over, I had more time and I could be here at the On Lab, working and talking together,” he stated.

“So I started to really get a sense of how important my opinions could be on a product and we’ve had a lot of good moments since – a lot of fun – and I love coming here.

“On does a really nice job of inspiring new people, new communities, to get involved as well. And that has always been very important to me, as I’ve had my own foundation for 20 years, where we’ve been trying to do similar things.”

Federer has successfully launched his first branded On tennis shoes named ‘The Roger’, while Iga Swiatek and Ben Shelton are among the big names stars sponsored by the company.

This is a success story that continues to run and run, with Federer’s presence as a face of the brand proving to a huge money-spinner.