Celebrities typically make huge amounts of money in their day jobs, but brands will pay them millions more for endorsing their products to draw in customers. From actors promoting perfumes to a sports brand that has spent hundreds of millions on LeBron James, click or scroll through a run-down of the biggest celebrity endorsement deals of all time.

In 1983, Michael Jackson brought a whole new meaning to “the King of Pop” when he sealed a $5 million (£3.7m) partnership with PepsiCo, which at the time shattered the previous record for a celebrity endorsement deal. Having released Thriller the year before, Jackson was in high demand, and had already rejected a $1 million (£734.9k) endorsement offer from Coca-Cola. In 2012 Pepsi brokered a deal with Jackson’s estate to feature the star’s famous silhouette on Pepsi cans, and the late singer also featured heavily in the company’s 2018 #PepsiGenerations campaign.

If anyone can give coffee an air of the debonair, it’s George Clooney. Since 2006 the celebrated actor has been an ambassador for coffee company Nespresso, featuring in a series of print and TV ads all around the world. Some sources report that Clooney makes $5 million (£3.6m) a year from his endorsements, while others suggest he’s earned $40 million (£29.3m) over the course of the lengthy partnership. In 2013, the actor revealed that most of the money from his Nespresso commercials went towards “keeping a satellite over the border of North and South Sudan to keep an eye on Omar al-Bashir”, the then-president of the country, according to the Guardian newspaper. This came after Clooney was arrested in 2012 for protesting against Sudan’s humanitarian crisis in Washington DC.

Jennifer Aniston became the face of Dubai-based airline Emirates in 2015 in a deal that reportedly landed her $5 million (£3.2m) per campaign. The Friends star appeared in several global print and television campaigns, including one video showing Aniston having a nightmare about being on a non-Emirates plane that didn’t have shower facilities, which drew ire from US airline Delta.

The partnership between actor Charlize Theron and luxury fashion house Dior has lasted longer than most, as the Oscar-winning star has fronted the brand’s campaigns around 17 years. The deal was originally penned to last three years and would net Theron a rumoured $3 million (£2.2m) annually. As the contract was extended, so was the actor’s pay cheque, and sources suggest Theron receives $5 million (£3.7m) a year from her work with the brand. 

American rapper Travis Scott has scored many lucrative endorsement deals, including partnerships with PlayStation, Epic Games and General Mills. But it’s Scott’s work with McDonald’s that really took America by storm. In 2020, the fast-food giant teamed up with the rapper to create the Travis Scott Meal, which consisted of a Quarter Pounder with bacon, fries with barbecue sauce, and a medium Sprite. It was such a hit that burger shortages were reported at some US locations. Scott didn’t do too badly from the deal either, reportedly earning $5 million (£3.7m) from the initial partnership and a further $15 million (£11m) in merchandise sales, which included a $90 (£70) three-foot Chicken McNugget body pillow. 

A singer that jumped on the McDonald’s train long before BTS and Travis Scott was Justin Timberlake, who pocketed $6 million (£3.8m) for delivering the I’m Lovin’ It jingle in 2003. JT was far from proud of the partnership though, telling British GQ magazine in 2007: “I regret the McDonald’s deal.” But the singer didn’t elaborate as to why the multimillion-dollar contract wasn’t a career highlight.

Actor Brad Pitt is no stranger to million-dollar endorsement deals. In 2012 he became the face of the Chanel No. 5 fragrance and netted $7 million (£4.4m) in the process, and the following year the actor scored a $3 million (£2m) contract to star in Cadillac print ads and TV commercials in China. Pitt has also popped up in a number of lucrative Super Bowl ads and made a rumoured $4 million (£2.1m) for his part in Heineken’s commercial in 2005, which only aired once. Most recently Pitt narrated the introductions at February’s game for an undisclosed sum.

In 2003 actor Nicole Kidman landed a AU$12 million ($7.3m/£4.6m) contract to film a series of adverts for Chanel No.5. When Kidman took on the role, it was reported by The Sydney Morning Herald as the first time that the person advertising the perfume was better known than the iconic product itself.

Actor Catherine Zeta-Jones was integral to the US launch of T-Mobile in 2002 and appeared in numerous television and radio commercials as well as print adverts for the telecommunications brand. The star’s initial three-year contract was extended to span five years, and sources close to the deal suggested it was worth between $7 million and $8 million (£4m-£4.6m). Zeta-Jones was also the face of American cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden for several years.

In 2016, Disney starlet turned pop sensation Selena Gomez signed a $10 million (£7.3m) contract to become the face of luxury fashion brand Coach. At the time of the lucrative deal, Gomez was the most followed person on Instagram with over 100 million followers. Coach hoped to cash in on her popularity and attract a younger audience to the brand. The contract also saw Gomez design her own line with the fashion house. 

Justin Bieber was a teenage heartthrob in the late 2000s and 2010s, and nail varnish brand OPI saw his popularity as an opportunity to win over younger buyers. In 2010 a line of shades named after the pop sensation’s top songs hit the shelves, including One Less Lonely Glitter and Give Me the First Dance. The then 16-year-old reportedly made $12 million (£8m) from the collaboration. Within five years, Bieber had moved on from nail varnish to underwear, and has since fronted several Calvin Klein campaigns, including one with wife Hailey to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 2019.

After starring in the hugely successful Twilight saga, actor Robert Pattinson snagged a $12 million (£7.5m) deal to become the new face of Dior in 2012. The contract was set to expire after three years, but Pattinson still fronts the luxury brand’s male fragrance campaigns today.

Rapper Snoop Dogg has injected his musical genius into his most successful endorsement campaigns, including his 2012 “Pocket Like It’s Hot” advert, an adaptation of his hugely successful song Drop It Like It’s Hot for Hot Pockets, and his incredibly catchy rap for delivery service Just Eat, as well as a version for Just Eat's Australian business called Menulog, for which he reportedly received $5 million (£3.9m). Snoop has also appeared in adverts for MTV, Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts.

In 2013, music mogul Jay-Z inked a $20 million (£13.3m) deal between Samsung and his company Roc Nation. The rapper and producer appeared in several commercials discussing the inspiration behind his album Magna Carta Holy Grail while Samsung gave away one million pre-release copies to Galaxy phone owners who downloaded the promotional app.

Taylor Swift has featured in Diet Coke ads since 2014, and the collaboration is rumoured to have made her an astonishing $26 million (£18.7m). One of the brand’s “Stay Extraordinary” campaigns shows Swift penning lyrics to a new song while sipping on a Diet Coke, in what the Coca-Cola Company describes as “a peak behind the curtain at an extraordinary day in the life of a true American superstar”. The megastar has also put her name to the “Got milk?” campaign, adverts by Keds footwear and Apple Music, and also endorsed the Democratic Party in Tennessee in 2018.

The relationship between Beyoncé and Pepsi is a long-standing one, with the megastar having become a global spokesperson for the brand back in 2002, when she was the lead singer in girl group Destiny’s Child. Fast-forward 10 years and the singer secured an incredible $50 million (£31.4m) deal to team up with the brand once again ahead of her iconic performance at Super Bowl in 2013, which was sponsored by the soft drink brand.

Beyoncé and other big stars who own the world's largest companies

The most successful female tennis player of all time comes with a hefty price tag, and in 2003 Nike spent a reported $55 million (£34.9m) for a sponsorship deal with Serena Williams. The deal was five years long, with an option to add a further three years and included royalties and performance bonuses for winning Grand Slam tournaments. Williams still works as an ambassador for Nike today and it’s safe to say that Nike got plenty of on-court endorsement for its money, with the tennis player having won a remarkable 23 Grand Slam titles in her career, and 19 since she first partnered with the activewear brand. Williams' has also endorsed dating app Bumble, Beats headphones by Dr. Dre, Berlei lingerie, Tempur-Pedic mattresses and AccorHotels.

NBA legend Dwayne Wade has racked up a number of partnerships with shoe companies over the years, including Jordan and Converse. After parting ways with those brands, in 2012 Wade made a deal with left-field company Li-Ning, a Chinese shoemaker founded by and named after the Olympic gymnastics champion who went on to be known as the “Prince of Gymnastics”. Wade’s 10-year contract had a reported value of $60 million (£37.6m) plus equity in the business, and within the first year of collaborating Li-Ning and Wade had released seven signature shoes. In fact, Wade went as far as signing a lifetime contract with Li-Ning in 2018, and even though financial details were not revealed it was thought to be worth millions of dollars.

In 2010 Maria Sharapova netted the most valuable brand endorsement ever given to a female athlete in the form of a $70 million (£44m) deal with Nike. The eight-year contract was temporarily suspended in 2016 when Sharapova failed a drug test. Other brands followed suit, and sponsors such as Porsche postponed campaigns until attention around the scandal simmered down. While Nike also resumed its endorsement deal with the tennis star, watchmaker Tag Heuer abandoned collaboration plans altogether. Sharapova retired from tennis in February last year.

Aged just 16, Olympic superstar Usain Bolt first signed a deal with sportswear brand Puma in 2003, and in 2010 signed another multi-year contract described as “by far the largest ever given to a track and field athlete”, which was thought to be worth $9 million (£6m) a year. When that deal came to an end in 2013, Puma offered Bolt another contract that would see him earn $10 million (£6.7m) every year that he competed, and $4 million (£2.7m) annually once he retired to act as a Puma ambassador. Bolt retired in 2017.

Another superstar sports player snapped up by Nike was Tiger Woods, who first teamed up with the brand in a $40 million (£26.2m) deal when he turned professional in 1996. The golfer then broke records in 2000 when he agreed to a $100 million (£63.3m) contract to continue as a brand ambassador for the next six years. The contract was extended for another eight years in 2006 for an estimated $20 million to $40 million (£11.4m-£22.8m) annually and was last renewed for an undisclosed sum in 2013. Nike stood by Woods through a 2009 sex scandal and a period when the golfer was injured and saw his career affected, even though other sponsors such as Gillette and Gatorade dropped him. 

David Beckham is one of the most recognisable faces in football, and Adidas was quick to snap the player up in 2003, which was the same year as his move to Real Madrid. The lifetime contract is rumoured to have been worth an astonishing $160.8 million (£102m), and it’s one of many sponsorship deals the footballer has profited from over the years. Off-pitch Beckham is seen as something of a style icon, and has collaborated with H&M, Armani and Calvin Klein, and he has also worked with the likes of British supermarket Sainsbury’s and tech giant Samsung.

In 2003 LeBron James signed his first deal with Nike – a seven-year contract that would earn him $90 million (£57m), and then signed a new contract when that came to an end for an unknown sum. James was a clear money-maker for the brand, which sold $340 million (£245m) of his signature shoes between February 2014 and January 2015 alone according to Forbes, and so perhaps unsurprisingly in 2016 the Los Angeles Lakers player became the company’s first ever lifetime signing in a deal that James' business partner Maverick Carter told GQ magazine was worth more than $1 billion (£720m) depending on product performance. The illustrious basketballer came fifth in Forbes’ most recent round-up of the world’s highest-paid athletes, earning $88.2 million (£63.6m) in 2020. As if that wasn’t enough cash to keep him going, James has also bolstered his salary and endorsement earnings with savvy investments, including pizza franchises across Chicago and South Florida. 

But LeBron James wasn't the only sports star that signed a lifetime deal with Nike in 2016. In November that year the sportswear brand also secured the endorsement of football legend Cristiano Ronaldo, which is also reportedly worth around $1 billion (£720m). Similar to James, Ronaldo's relationship with Nike began in 2003, when he started playing for Manchester United. The Portuguese sporting icon then moved to Real Madrid in 2009. At the time of the deal, Ronaldo had worn 60 different Nike cleats over a 13-year period. 

Discover the celebrities making a fortune from their business interests