Katarina Witt: The fortune of the ex-figure skater

How much money does Katarina Witt have?

As a figure skater, Katarina Witt was one of the flagships of the GDR. She was world champion four times and Olympic champion twice. Although she stopped competing in competitions in 1988, she remained loyal to the sport as a show skater. She also began a career as a book author, actress and presenter. Katarina Witt’s estimated net worth is 6.5 million euros .

Katarina Witt’s earnings

As one of the most successful sportswomen in the history of the GDR, Katarina Witt did not earn a fortune. She only generated high incomes after the end of her career. In the 1990s and early 2000s, she regularly appeared in the live shows Stars on Ice and Champions on Ice in the USA. She earned more than a million euros for the nude photos that appeared in Playboy in 1998 .

Witt published several books and earned a lot of money from their sales. With her company WITH WITT Sports & Entertainment GmbH, which she founded in 1995, the former athlete also works as a producer of films and live shows. She has also been the advertising figure for companies such as BMW, Garnier, EA Sports and Coca Cola.

Serial champion of the GDR

Katarina Witt began figure skating at the age of five. From 1977 onwards she was coached by Jutta Müller, who is now considered one of the most successful figure skating coaches of all time. At the beginning of 1979 Witt took part in the GDR championship for the first time and achieved third place. This qualified her for the European championship a few weeks later, where she finished in 14th place. In 1980 Witt came second in the national championship, and a year later she became GDR champion for the first time . She repeated this triumph seven times until 1988.

World champion and Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt

Witt won her first international medals in 1982. She won silver at both the World and European Championships. In 1983 she became European champion for the first time and defended the title five times until 1988. Witt won the title at the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo, as well as at the World Championships in Ottawa in the same year. By 1988 she had added three World Championship titles and the Olympic victory in Calgary in 1988. After the 1988 World Championships Witt ended her sporting career . Instead she was a guest star at several shows at the Holiday on Ice event from late 1988 to early 1989 .

US tours and Olympic comeback

In 1990, Witt played the title role in the German film Carmen on Ice and received an Emmy together with her co-stars Brian Boitano and Brian Orser. From 1990 to 1992, she completed three tours of the USA with Boitano and built up a considerable fortune in the process. Among other things, the couple managed to fill every seat in Madison Square Garden in New York. At the end of 1993, Witt made her comeback at the German Championships and came second behind Tanja Szewczenko. At the 1994 European Championships, she came eighth and at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, she came seventh. She then retired again and published her autobiography My Years Between Compulsory and Freestyle in 1994 .

Sold out Playboy issue

Witt continued to increase her wealth by touring the USA and Canada in the mid-1990s. She also played the lead role in the German film Die Eisprinzessin in 1996 , a supporting role in the Hollywood film Ronin in 1998 , and guest roles in individual episodes of series such as Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond . In 1998, she received a seven-figure sum of money to pose nude for Playboy . The issue in which the photos appeared was only the second in the magazine’s history to be completely sold out worldwide. In 2001, Witt stripped off again for Playboy .

Moderation and farewell to ice skating

In 2005, Witt published a guide for young athletes who want to become professional figure skaters. The book, entitled Only with Passion, was only published in the USA. In 2006, the book Gesund und fit mit Kati Witt followed . From 2006, the former athlete also tried her hand at presenting. She was hired by ProSieben for the show Stars on Ice – by and with Katarina Witt , which ran for two seasons from October 2006 to February 2008. In 2007, she presented the Bavarian Television Awards, and in 2009 the first season of the show The Biggest Loser . In 2008, Witt said goodbye to active ice skating as part of a tour of Germany.