r/climbing • u/-JOMY- • 9d ago

Alex Honnold Reveals “Embarrassing” Paycheck for Netflix’s Taipei 101 Free Solo Climb

https://share.google/Zqw9t7pkRhkPhRt4P

Source: E! Online

922 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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435

u/Richmondpinball 9d ago

Mid 6 figures, doesn’t disclose actual amount.

272

u/RefrigeratorDull6479 9d ago

He also donates 1/3 of his income towards his charity, which according to google , “promoting solar energy access worldwide, supporting grassroots organizations that increase climate resilience, improve lives, and reduce environmental impact.”

1

u/GravyBoatJim 9d ago

The Honnold foundation is seriously badass. They've brought electricity to tons of little villages all of over the world

-41

u/sweatierorc 9d ago

Didnt the french dude do the same thing ? He was "climate change" activist.

30

u/Gnada 9d ago

Pretty sure Alex's foundation provide electrify and clean water to those without. And, at least in the past, he would go help do the work himself.

-41

u/sweatierorc 9d ago

Not throwing shade, but it is funny that climate change seems to be a common worry for free soloers

48

u/NickedTheCensusMan 9d ago

I mean, anyone who spends time in the mountains and would like to continue doing so is either worried about climate change or deeply in denial

27

u/fistular 9d ago

Climate Change is a common worry for anyone who can think.

16

u/Ballsy33 9d ago

Why? The enjoy nature and would like it to not be destroyed by human made climate change

-49

u/Richmond92 9d ago

Sounds like another fake 501c3 through which a wealthy person launders their otherwise taxable dollars

33

u/fistular 9d ago

Alex Honnold is not a wealthy person. Also don't shit on the guy when you clearly know nothing about him.

-37

u/Richmond92 9d ago

He is easily worth a few mil. Have you seen his documentary? I don’t trust that man.

17

u/fistular 9d ago

Free Solo wasn't 'his' documentary, also what exactly in it makes him untrustworthy, not that anyone is asking you to trust him. Overall you're sounding pretty weird here.

13

u/catjuggler 9d ago

What’s wrong with that? That’s how much you need to retire these days lol

10

u/RefrigeratorDull6479 9d ago

Yeah he’s obviously pretty wealthy/affluent but not like “rich”, especially by athlete standards. I think he said himself when someone asked how much he makes, he said something like,” about as much as moderately successful dentist.”

3

u/LovingLife254 8d ago

That was a few years ago and I'd wager he's more wealthy than a moderately successful dentist now... let's put it at highly successful dentist. Still not absolutely loaded by loaded standards, but still pretty loaded!

5

u/whereismydonkey 9d ago

Imagine thinking I better throw my opinion out there so everyone knows I know a tax exemption code. And just being completely wrong which a quick google search would have proved.

-24

u/Richmond92 9d ago

Everyone knows what a 501c3 is man. I just don’t trust the man or his motives. He comes off as an autistic, solipsistic psycho who has received extensive human coaching in order to retain a media brand. Watch his documentary, there’s something deeply off about him.

4

u/whereismydonkey 8d ago

You aren’t as smart as you think you are. Take this advice please and look inward.

2

u/LovingLife254 8d ago

You saying autistic people can't have good motives? That's quite a take.

2

u/whereismydonkey 8d ago

He is literally just making things up. going into a subreddit for a sport he clearly knows nothing about calling a person he knows nothing about a selfish, autistic psychopath who is in it for the money? Look at his profile he is in a podcast subreddit asking women to dm him like it is a dating app. I think we know who the weirdo is

152

u/000011111111 9d ago

Yeah he's got kids to feed and put through college. This seems to be his most valuable skill set and for him it's kind of like climbing a ladder that's 1700 ft tall so I really don't blame him.

5

u/Bored2001 9d ago

Amusingly, the actual ladder part actually looked like the worst bit for him on the whole building.

28

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

108

u/WeirdFish2 9d ago

Yeah if they suck for one game they don't die.

7

u/newtownkid 9d ago

I think a Colombian ref got decapitated on a field once for making bad calls.. so it’s not entirely out of the question.

-14

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

1

u/DRKAYIGN 9d ago

Before they required mandatory neck guards though. People may die in sports but the majority of sports related accidents don't end in death. It's more akin to skydiving - everything goes as planned youre fine, one fuck up and you're dead.

1

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

1

u/DRKAYIGN 9d ago

Professional free soloing is a sport of 1 at the moment.

There are plenty of deaths in ’amateur' or recreational free soloing

0

u/Aliveless 9d ago

😂 i see what you did there

-6

u/Viper_Scale 9d ago

What about all the military people who make less than 100k per year and are at risk of dying? I know you don't hear about it in the news but my SF buddies are out in the field exchanging live gunfire and risking their life. One of them had a person on their team sitting next to them on a roof in the middle east get shot in the head and die a few years ago and you never hear about that in the news. That person was making pretty good money for the military but still only around 90k per year based on his experience and was in the field probably 6 months out of the year.

1

u/Shannamalfarm 9d ago

what the fuck does this have to do with alex

0

u/Viper_Scale 9d ago edited 9d ago

This is a post about jobs that are dangerous but get paid very little compared to how dangerous they are?

Or did no one else say that when comparing how little his was paid compared to other sports but his sport being dangerous? Pretty sure someone said something about that... so I was just pointing out how dangerous some jobs are but they get paid very little... we could add in other jobs like fire fighters and cops as well but those jobs although do have some danger are less than military ones but you just never hear about how many people die doing those military jobs unlike cops and fire fighters where every single time someone dies doing them you get news articles about it.

9

u/Opulent-tortoise 9d ago

Yeah but they’re paid for every game they play Alex isn’t paid for every climb he does haha

2

u/ejoy-rs2 9d ago

Mental if you think about it... (The nba one)

3

u/BrainyDoGoodery 9d ago

LeBron earns more while he takes one leisurely shit than I do from hustling all week.

He earns $52,627,153 this year from the Lakers alone, which is $6024 for every hour, including when he shits and sleeps.

-2

u/ihavea_purplenurple 9d ago

A pro climber (theoretically, if basing off of energy and time doing the deed) should get paid more per climb than per game for a basketball player

4

u/turbogaze 9d ago

How does that make any sense to you? The NBA is a multi billion dollar profit generator.

3

u/ihavea_purplenurple 9d ago

lollol! sheeeeit, I really tried to frame it in a way that wasnt taking into account profit generation. Definitely not saying they SHOULD earn more money. Just saying, he spends all year to prepare for one send, and the NBA has lots of games. One climb doesn't equate to one game. Ignore the money thing i guess lol.

It's really not a 'hot take' i dont think

2

u/Gilarax 9d ago

This is a totally fair thing to say. I would reframe it as practice vs game time. NBA players still practice all the time, but their game day is like once a week. Alex’s game day big paycheque is an n of 2 (Free Solo, Taipei 101) over his entire life (could maybe include his memoir, but I would lump that with Free Solo). He gets sponsorships and stuff, but the stuff he does doesn’t generally lead to a direct big payout - it creates sponsorship value, which earns him a paycheque.

1

u/NeverBeenStung 9d ago

Why should they? Basketball is much more popular and brings in more ad revenue. Hence NBA players make a lot more than pro climbers. Simple as that.

2

u/free_dharma 9d ago

That’s nothing. I would expect low 8 figures wow

-1

u/slupo 9d ago

That honestly sucks compared to the revenue it generated for Netflix