50 Cent: $80 million
50 Cent was chosen by Reebok to be the spokesperson for their shoes, and they certainly paid him very well for those role. He was paid $80 million to promote and be the face of their G-Unit sneakers. At the time, the commercial was the highest earning ad of all time. The campaign was so successful that apparently Reebok was scrambling to restock the shoes during the holiday shopping season.
Lebron James: $90 million ($12.9 million/year)
Basketball star Lebron James signed on with Nike for an advertisement deal that earned him $12.9 million per year in a seven year contract, coming in a total of about $90 million. While that means he can only publicly wear Nike shoes, we don’t think that it’s a bad tradeoff at all for him. The campaign was a success, as its sales increased by $350 million after Lebron began his endorsement deal.