How Shane Warne monetised his brilliant career | WATCH

Shane Warne’s prodigious talent on the field and larger-than-life character off it made him one of cricket’s first stars to turn his extraordinary career into a financial gold mine.

The exact extent of Warne’s wealth is difficult to quantify but a lavish lifestyle and string of high-end properties in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs hint at his success in parlaying sporting fame into lucrative sponsorship deals and a media career that lasted until his unexpected death on Friday.

Warne started his long-running relationship with Nine Network as a commentator in 1994, just two years into his international career, and by 2004 his appearances were earning him $300,000 a year.

As his profile ballooned, sponsors followed. By 1999 he had minted a five-year deal with Nike worth $1 million, along with a $200,000 deal with Nicorette to quit smoking and endorsements for everything from Oakley sunglasses ($200,000 a year) to Just Jeans ($80,000) and tinned food maker SPC Ardmona.

Like his playing career, though, controversy affected Warne’s business dealings.

Media baron Kerry Packer personally called Warne to cancel his Nine contract in 2005 amid a string of high-profile sex scandals, while sponsors became harder to find after his one-year suspension in 2003 for taking a banned diuretic.

But by the time he hung up the baggy green for good in 2007, he was back making $1.5 million a year in sponsorship deals, which included the hair-loss treatment service Advanced Hair.

“When you throw a big number out there, you’re not really expecting to get it.”

Shane Warne

All was forgiven at Nine, too (Nine Entertainment Co is the owner of this masthead). The television network welcomed him back in 2008 and even gave him a short-lived talk show, Warnie. His first interview subject was Kerry Packer’s son James. Ratings were poor, however, and it wrapped up early.