"$70 million a year" but only $2 million in cash… the secret behind Shohei Ohtani's three salary figures
Shohei Ohtani's nominal Dodgers salary is $70 million. His 2026 cash salary is just $2 million. 97% of the contract value has been deferred, interest-free, to 2034 and beyond.
Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.
On paper, the salary is $70 million a year. Yet the cash salary Shohei Ohtani receives from the Dodgers in 2026 is, before taxes, $2 million. The two figures differ by a factor of 35. The cash salary is only 2.9% of the nominal salary. The $70 million, $46.08 million, $2 million and $127 million cited for the same player's income in the same year are different metrics. This article lays out the four figures in chronological order as of September 2026.
Ohtani is 32, from his Nippon Ham debut to four MVP awards
Shohei Ohtani was born on July 5, 1994, is a Japanese national, and is 32 as of September 2026. He debuted with the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2013. He moved to the LA Angels in 2018 and won the American League Rookie of the Year award that year. He is a right-handed pitcher and left-handed hitter who plays both ways. He has won four MVP awards, all of them unanimous.
As a hitter, he hit 280 career MLB home runs through the 2025 season, and as a pitcher he went 39-20 with 670 strikeouts. In 2024, his first year after joining the Dodgers, he became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. In the 2025 season he hit .282 with 55 home runs, 102 RBIs and 146 runs scored.
Ohtani's $700 million contract, announced December 11, 2023
The starting point for the four figures is December 11, 2023 (U.S. local time). According to MLB.com, the Dodgers officially announced that day a 10-year, $700 million contract with Ohtani covering 2024 to 2033. Dividing $700 million over 10 years gives $70 million a year. The commonly cited "Ohtani salary of $70 million" is this nominal annual average.
Of the $700 million contract total, $680 million was deferred until after the contract period. Dividing $680 million by $700 million gives 97.1%. The money he receives during the 10-year contract is the remaining $20 million.
Cash salary of $2 million; deferred money of $68 million a year from 2034 to 2043
Starting with the first year of the contract, 2024, the cash salary the Dodgers pay is $2 million a year before taxes. Forbesalso tallied Ohtani's 2026 game-related income at $2 million. It is easy to mistake this for take-home pay after taxes, but it is a pre-tax figure.
The deferred $680 million is paid starting in 2034, the year after the contract ends. He receives it in equal installments of $68 million a year for 10 years through 2043. According to AP, no interest accrues on the deferred money. In 2043, when the last deferred payment arrives, Ohtani turns 49 by birthday reckoning.
| Segment | Period | Annual payment | Segment total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract period | 2024–2033 | $2 million | $20 million |
| Deferred payment | 2034–2043 | $68 million | $680 million |
| Total | 20 years | — | $700 million |
Ohtani's CBT figure of $46.08 million, the third number on the team's books
The team's books carry one more number. It is the amount used to calculate the CBT (luxury tax, a levy a team pays when its total payroll exceeds a set threshold). According to Spotrac, Ohtani's 2026 salary for CBT purposes is $46,081,476 (as of August 28, 2026). That is 65.8% of the nominal annual average and about 23 times the cash salary.
The three figures differ because they serve different purposes. $70 million shows the scale of the contract, and $2 million is the cash actually paid out that year. $46.08 million is the amount used in the team's luxury tax calculation. The CBT figure is neither a tax payment nor money the player receives.
Ohtani's total income of $127 million is 2.2 times that of runner-up Bellinger
In its MLB player earnings tally released on March 24, 2026, Forbes estimated Ohtani's total annual income at $127 million. That is the sum of $2 million in game-related income and $125 million in off-field income such as endorsements, licensing and memorabilia. These are figures before taxes and agent fees.
| Rank | Player | Team | Estimated 2026 total income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | LA Dodgers | $127 million |
| 2 | Cody Bellinger | New York Yankees | $56.5 million |
| 3 | Kyle Tucker | LA Dodgers | $56 million |
| 4 | Juan Soto | New York Mets | $51.9 million |
| 5 | Aaron Judge | New York Yankees | $46.1 million |
Source: Forbes, released March 24, 2026. All figures are estimates.
Second-place Cody Bellinger was estimated at $56.5 million and third-place Kyle Tucker at $56 million. The gap between first and second place is $70.5 million. Dividing $127 million by $56.5 million gives about 2.2 times. Ohtani's off-field income of $125 million alone is greater than the total income of anyone ranked 2nd through 5th. Off-field income makes up 98.4% of his total income.
This article updates the contract amounts and payment schedule whenever a contract change is announced. Forbes' income rankings and endorsement income are updated each year when a new tally comes out. The table above shows estimates based on the March 2026 release and is not a finalized settlement as of September.
Of the $700 million contract announced in December 2023, the money coming in as cash in 2026 is only $2 million a year. Total contract value and total income are not wealth, and no verifiable tally of net worth exists, so we have not included an estimate. The year most of the contract money starts to become actual cash is 2034. From that year, $68 million is paid every year.
Frequently asked questions
Q. How much is Ohtani's salary?
The amount depends on the measure. The nominal annual average under the contract is $70 million, the 2026 pre-tax cash salary is $2 million, and the 2026 CBT figure is $46,081,476 (as of August 28, 2026).
Q. When will Ohtani receive his deferred money?
The deferred $680 million is received in installments of $68 million a year from 2034 to 2043, after the contract ends. According to AP reporting, no interest accrues.
Q. How old is Ohtani?
Born on July 5, 1994, he is 32 as of September 2026. He debuted with the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2013, spent time with the LA Angels from 2018, and has played for the LA Dodgers since 2024.
Related official sites
- MLB Shohei Ohtani official profile and stats — Check latest season stats and career records
- Los Angeles Dodgers official website — Team announcements and game schedule
- NPB Shohei Ohtani official year-by-year stats — Year-by-year records from his Nippon Ham years
- MLB official website — League-wide standings and stats
Representative image · Archival photo · Not an on-site photo of a current game in the article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Mogami Kariya), CC BY-SA 2.0
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