Is US Swimmer Ryan Lochte Broke? Ex-Olympian Lived Paycheck To Paycheck After Scandals

KEY POINTS

Ryan Lochte is a 12-time Olympic medalist who reportedly earned $2.3 million annually in the early 2010s
The professional swimmer came only second to Michael Phelps in terms of number of medals earned
A 2016 scandal involving a false police report destroyed Lochte's image, causing him to lose millions

Ryan Steven Lochte is one of the most successful competitive swimmers worldwide, coming only second to Michael Phelps in the number of medals earned. Despite his success, the athlete went from earning millions annually to living from paycheck to paycheck.

Lochte earned a total of 12 Olympic medals throughout his professional swimming career between 2004 and 2016. In the early 2010s, the professional swimmer reportedly earned up to $2.3 million per year from his various endorsement deals, including Speedo, Gillette, Gatorade, Ralph Lauren and Nissan, bringing his total net worth to $6 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth.

However, a scandal in 2016 left the 12-time Olympic medalist suspended for 10 months during the Rio Olympics by the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Swimming, USA Today reported. The incident involved Lochte claiming he and a friend were robbed after a night of drinking, which was later found to be false. He was also banned for 14 months in 2018 for a doping violation, according to Fanbuzz.

The controversies later caused Lochte to lose most of his major sponsors, leading him to only having an annual income of $75,000 from a single sponsor. The athlete and his wife, Playboy playmate Kayla Rae Reid, were forced to live more conservatively, moving from a 4,200-square-foot home to a 1,800-square-foot apartment in 2019, as per CNBC.

In the same year, Lochte revealed he only had $20,000 left in his savings, forcing him to remove or liquidate several assets, including his Porsche, which was costing him $835 per month, Celebrity Net Worth indicated.

Lochte’s lawyers recently said that five years after his Rio Olympics case, the charges filed against him in a Rio court regarding the false police report have been dismissed. Jeff Ostrow, the swimmer’s lawyer, said the statute of limitations on his client’s case expired and a judge ruled that Brazilian prosecutors were not able to prove their case against the Olympic medalist.

“As we always suspected, they can’t win their case and the judge finally dismissed it,” Ostrow said in an interview with USA Today Sports Thursday. “We are not going to Rio to celebrate, I assure you.”