"I've had two expensive divorces & support 4 children": Boris Becker gets brutally honest about not being as rich as billionaire Roger Federer

Boris Becker has never been one to mince words, and this time he got brutally honest about his financial situation. The former Wimbledon champion admitted that he isn’t nearly as wealthy as Roger Federer, who is now a billionaire, citing factors such as multiple divorces and child support, among others.

There’s no denying Federer’s immense wealth, and it only grew more impressive when Forbes revealed in August this year that he had officially become the seventh athlete to join the billionaire club with a net worth of $1.1 billion. He is also the second tennis player, after Ion Tiriac, to achieve that feat.

While the 20-time Grand Slam champion's on-court earnings of $130,594,339 contributed significantly, his investments, particularly his minority stake in the Swiss shoe and apparel brand On, have played a major role in boosting his fortune.

When Boris Becker was asked in a recent interview with Corriere Della Sera why he couldn’t achieve billionaire status like Federer, he gave a candid explanation. He said that prize money in his era wasn’t nearly as high as it is today, and even then, almost half of it went to taxes.

"Those were different times," Becker said. "In the '80s at Wimbledon you won 300,000 pounds, now it's 3 million. And anyway, half the prize money goes to taxes, then you have to deduct the costs. People hear these figures and get unrealistic ideas."

The German also pointed out that his personal life came with its own financial burdens, citing two costly divorces and child support for his four children:

"As for me, I've had two expensive divorces and had to support four children. I've always lived a certain standard of living, but I've never squandered money on yachts or Ferraris."

Boris Becker was married to actress Barbara Feltus from 1993 to 2001, and they share two sons, Noah and Elias. He later married Lilly Kerssenberg in 2009, with whom he has a son named Amadeus, before their divorce in 2018. He also has a daughter named Anna, born from a one-night encounter in 1999.

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Boris Becker on going bankrupt: "I made mistakes...it came as a shock"

Boris Becker | Image Source: Getty

Boris Becker’s financial troubles date back to 2017, when a London court declared him bankrupt over an unpaid loan of around £3 million tied to a property in Mallorca. Later investigations revealed that he had concealed assets and failed to disclose accounts and trophies worth approximately £2.5 million.

In April 2022, he was convicted on four counts under the UK Insolvency Act for hiding and transferring assets during his bankruptcy. Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison but served only about eight months before being deported to Germany in December 2022.

The German, who was officially declared no longer bankrupt in 2024 and now has an estimated net worth of around $200,000 (according to Celebrity Net Worth), opened up about his bankruptcy during his conversation with Corriere Della Sera, saying:

"I made mistakes. The bankruptcy came as a shock, while I was driving: yet, I still had income, other properties in Germany, in London. But the damage was done, the brand compromised, the companies in retreat."

Since his release, Boris Becker has resumed his roles in tennis commentary and coaching, calling his prison stint a painful but humbling chapter of his life. The 57-year-old is also expecting a child with his wife, Liliana de Carvalho, with whom he tied the knot last year.

Edited by Pritha Ghosh