Simone Biles Net Worth: The Olympian Gymnast Who Won Big

I’d rather regret the risk that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all. – Simone Biles

Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast in history, with seven Olympic gold medals, tying her with Shannon Miller. She’s an elite Olympian performing at the highest level of the sport. Simone has a net worth of $17 million, with the bulk of her wealth coming from her numerous sponsorship deals and brand endorsements.

Simone Biles is the only female gymnast with 19 World Gold Medals and 25 World Medals. She reached the final five in the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning individual golds in the all-around vault, floor, and bronze for the balance beam.

Simone Biles: The Facts

Simone experienced controversy at the 2020 Olympics. She could not bring her ‘medication’ into Japan, causing her to develop a case of ‘The Twisties.’ As a result, she had to pull out of her events, much to the fans’ and teammates’ disappointment.

The Japanese government prohibits the use of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall in the country, leaving her stranded without her meds. However, Biles is the most successful overall gymnast in the sport, and she continues to compete, with her eyes set on the 2024 Olympics in France.

Simone Biles – The Early Years

Born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, Simone Arianne Biles is the daughter of Nellie and Ronald Biles. However, during her youth, Simone and her siblings would move around foster homes while growing up in the suburbs of Houston, Texas.

As a result, her grandmother played a central role in her life, and she was raised in a Roman Catholic home. The athlete’s mother is Belizean, and Simone maintains her Belizean citizenship. It was clear Simone was a special athlete destined for greatness in her early years as a gymnast. She was homeschooled during her youth, allowing her to spend more time in training.

Simone Biles – Gymnastics Career

Simone started her gymnastics career early, training with top coaches like Aimee Boorman by the time she was eight years old. By the time she turned 14, Simone was competing in the American Classic in Houston, taking third place at the event.

In 2012, she broke into the international scene with a first-place finish at the American Classic in Huntsville. Her success at the event led to her nomination to the US Junior National Gymnastics Team. She made her senior debut in the sport in 2013 at the American Cup, competing at the City of Jesolo Trophy and winning a gold medal for the United States team.

However, the athlete had a poor performance at the 2013 US Classic. As a result, Márta Károlyi invited Simone to attend a private training camp where she started working with a sports psychologist. Biles’ performance improved significantly after the camp, earning a spot on the World Championships team.

She went on to win a gold medal at the 2013 Artistic Gymnastics Championships aged 16. By this stage in her professional career, Simone was already an incredible talent, outperforming more experienced international gymnasts.

Simone sustained a shoulder injury before the start of the 2014 season, bouncing back at the Chicago US Classic, taking first place by a wide margin. She went on to compete in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, claiming another victory and medal for the United States.

She took first place in the 2015 AT&T American Cup in Arlington, Texas. Her stunning performance earned her a nomination for the James E. Sullivan Award. Simone was gaining momentum in her career by this time, taking medals at the U.S. Classic, City of Jesolo Trophy, and US National Championships.

Biles and high-profile American gymnasts represented the US at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. She went on to receive her third consecutive win at the tournament.

At this stage of her career, Simone had 14 World Championships medals to her name. The athlete went on to win a string of results in 2016 at the Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil. Simone helped the US gymnastics team to its first place qualification and qualified as the top overall gymnast in four out of five individual final events.

She won her first Olympic gold medal during the team event, following up with a gold in the individual all-around category. She claimed a bronze in the balance beam final and a gold medal in women’s floor exercise, totaling four gold medals.

She took a brief two-year hiatus after the 2016 Olympics, returning to competition in 2018. The athlete continued her success before landing herself in controversy during the 2020 Olympics. More on that later.

Simone Biles – Endorsements

While Simone makes a decent living from her performances as a professional Olympic gymnast, the athlete receives most of her earnings from her numerous sponsorships and brand endorsements. She appeared in a Tide commercial alongside other gymnasts prior to her results at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

However, her success in Brazil led to many sponsorship deals with leading brands.  She signed a long-term deal with Nike after qualifying for the 2016 Olympics and signed an endorsement contract with GK Elite Sportswear.

GK Elite planned to use the athlete’s popularity to sell a line of leotards. The athletes appeared on a ‘Wheaties’ box special cover edition along with her fellow ‘Final Five’ teammates in August 2016. Her success at the 2016 Rio games saw her receive a flood of endorsement deals, sending her to multi-millionaire status.

Some companies looking to get a piece of Simone’s success include the following brands.

• United Airlines
• The Hershey Company
• Procter & Gamble
• Mattress Firm
• Spieth America
• Beats by Dre
• Athleta
• Visa
• Oreo
• Uber Eats
• MasterClass
• Facebook Watch

In the run-up to the 2020 Olympics in Japan, Simone was officially the highest-paid Olympic athlete due to her many endorsements. From 2019 through 2021, Simone earned an estimated $20 million in endorsement deals.

In April 2020, just months before the start of the Japan Olympics, the athlete made a shocking reveal, dropping her deal with Nike in favor of signing with the sportswear brand ‘Athleta.’ Simone felt she no longer resonated with the Nike brand, instead choosing to sign with Athleta.

Simone stated that she was against Nike’s policies of producing its products using labor in third-world countries. She said she was against using this labor and its harm to populations in emerging markets.

The athlete intends to launch a range of custom athleticwear with the brand. Simone signed the deal on the condition the brand would organize a national exhibition after the Olympics, competing in a competition coordinated by USA Gymnastics.

Simone Biles – Controversy

Simone Biles experienced controversy during her career. In 2018, the Olympian joined a class action lawsuit against USA gymnastics physician, Larry Nassar, accusing him of committing sexual assault. Simone, along with many of her fellow gymnasts, claimed USA Gymnastics was responsible for attempting to cover up the abuse shelled out by Nassar during his time on the support team.

Simone claimed USA Gymnastics was aware of the abuse for years, playing an active role in preventing it from leaking to the media. However, despite her accusations against Nassar and USA Gymnastics, the athlete decided not to appear in court when Nassar went on a trial in 2018. She claimed facing him in court was too much to deal with emotionally at the time.

In the 2020 Japan Olympics run-up, Simone was one of the most talked-about athletes on Team USA. Marketers had a field day using her reputation in the media, and Simone was the most endorsed athlete on the squad.

Despite the hype around Simone going into the games, she had a lackluster performance. After a year of delays to the games, thanks to the COVID crisis, Simone found herself falling apart during her events. The former gold medalist only managed to bring home a bronze for her performance on the balance beam and a silver in the team event.

Simone withdrew from her floor event due to a case of ‘The Twisties.’ The twisties are where gymnasts lose their ability to coordinate their bodies in space. As a result, they can’t complete landings, resulting in the prospect of sustaining severe injuries.

The athlete claimed she was dealing with mental health issues. However, an analysis of her bloodwork results from 2016 showed Biles tested positive for methylphenidate, the chemical compound known by the brand name ‘Ritalin.’

The athlete claimed mental health issues for her use of the drug. However, Ritalin is commonly used to treat ADHD in a classroom setting. The drug supposedly allows users to develop deeper levels of concentration, which we would assume would help with the focus required in professional sports.

Simone claimed she was using the drug as a child and that it has no impact as a performance enhancer. However, her results at the games that year would indicate otherwise. Japan has a law preventing the use of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall. These stimulants have an obvious performance-enhancing effect; without them, Biles fell apart on the world stage.

Biles took to Twitter with the following statement surrounding the controversy.

“Having ADHD and taking medicine for it is nothing to be ashamed of, Nothing that I’m afraid to let people know.”

During the 2016 Olympics in Rio run-up, Biles filed for a ‘therapeutic use exemption’ with WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency. This exemption allowed the athlete to continue to take the drug during the games, despite its known performance-enhancing effect.

However, athletes entering Japan can apply for a ‘Yakkan Shoumei’ import certificate for using prohibited drugs, like Ritalin. It’s not known if Simone’s use of the drug or lack thereof contributed to her performance, and it’s all speculation at this time.

Simone Biles – Real Estate and Assets

Simone has a net worth of $17 million, but she doesn’t flaunt her wealth on social media and lives a relatively modest lifestyle. The gymnast purchased a 4,000-square-foot home in Houston, Texas, in 2020.

The home features four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms, with Biles fitting a swimming pool to the property after moving in. According to property records, the house has a $750,000 valuation. Simone states she has a ‘fear of going broke,’ and it’s the cause of her frugal lifestyle. The athlete doesn’t buy fancy jewelry or spend her money on clothing.

She owns two vehicles, a Range Rover and a Mercedes Benz, but she doesn’t have a lust for exotic sports cars. The athlete shares her home with her fiancé, 25-year-old Houston Texans football player Jonathan Owens.

In February 2022, the Olympian was engaged to the Houston Texans Safety got engaged. The couple lives in the home and cares for Owens’ pet English Bulldog, ‘Zeus.’ According to media sources, her engagement ring has a $300,000 valuation. There is no information on Simone’s investments.

Simone Biles Quotes

If I thought of gymnastics as a job, it would put too much stress on me … At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day.

I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps … I’m the first Simone Biles.

It feels amazing to inspire little kids to want to do gymnastics and have fun with it.

I would say to always follow your dream.  And dream big because my whole career, including any of the things that I’ve accomplished, I never thought in a million years that I would be here.

Don’t wait until you’ve reached your goal to be proud of yourself. Be proud of every step you take toward reaching that goal.

It’s inspiring to young athletes that there are more records that can still be broken.

You have to make your own luck. You make it in practice and with training and conditioning.

The reaction of the public plays a very important role. It gives us an adrenaline boost, especially when people start to shout and clap their hands in time with the music. That really helps us to go on.

I feel this year gave me a voice. I tried to find my voice this year and use that to the better potential in positive manners.

Stay healthy, have fun with it, and embrace all the moments. Because anything can happen.