New research reveals Canada’s richest athletes with surprise at top

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New research has revealed who Canada’s richest athletes are in terms of net worth.

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While a pair of hockey legends are right near the top, the richest Canadian athlete is a bit of a surprise.

OLBG.com, a sports betting community platform, analyzed data surrounding Canada’s most successful athletes to find out who was the most well off. It wasn’t a shock to see Hockey Hall of Fame members and all-time greats Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, but rally driver Peter J. Thomson, with a net worth of $11 billion Canadian, came out on top, according to the research.

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That said, most of Thomson’s wealth has nothing to do with sports, but instead from his businesses. Thomson is the son of the late Ken Thomson, who at the time of his death in 2006, was the richest man in Canada and the ninth richest in the world.

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Peter Thomson, 56, has been rally racing since 1986 and has won a number of races.

Gretzky’s net worth of $320 million mostly comes from his off-ice ventures, as only a little over $60 million came from his NHL playing days.

Gretzky built his status through hockey, however, even after his retirement he’s continued to build his career with many other investments and business ventures both within and outside the hockey world.

Fellow icon Lemieux’s net worth of $193 million placed him third and, like Gretzky, most of the money didn’t come from his playing career. Lemieux owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, the franchise he starred for.

Baseball star Joey Votto, of the Cincinnati Reds, who was recently lost for the season due to injury, placed fourth, with a net worth of $140 million. Votto signed a 10-year, $240-million contract with the Reds in 2014.

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Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, now the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, placed fifth with a net worth of $122 million. Nash made nearly $190 million in salary as a player, according to Basketball-reference.com.

Rounding out the list was Sidney Crosby, another Penguins icon, with a net worth of $96 million; Chris Pronger, the dominant defenceman who has a net worth of $84 million; Fellow hockey players Jarome Iginla and Joe Thornton ($77 million apiece) and Formula One driver Lance Stroll ($64 million).

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The findings showed a lack of equality, as a majority of the mentions were white males. There was only 1 POC and no women were included in the top 10. An investigation by CBC Sports reveals there is a prevalent issue among Canadian sports. They looked at 400 top positions at 56 universities and only 10% of the positions were held by POC.

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