Following his latest successful climb of one of the tallest buildings in the world, Alex Honnold notes he didn’t do it for the money.
Although the world-class climber, who scaled the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 in the Taiwanese capital for Netflix‘s Skyscraper Live on Friday, wouldn’t reveal the exact number he was paid for the special, but admitted it was “an embarrassing amount.”
“Actually, if you put it in the context of mainstream sports, it’s an embarrassingly small amount,” he told The New York Times. “You know, Major League Baseball players get like $170 million contracts. Like, someone you haven’t even heard of and that nobody cares about.”
The Times reported that Honnold was paid in the mid-six figures for the climb.
Watch on Deadline
Although he said it’s “maybe” the most he’s been paid for a climb, the amount is “less than my agent aspired to.”
“I mean, I would do it for free. If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission to go do the thing, I would do the thing because I know I can, and it’d be amazing,” he added. “I mean, just sitting by yourself on the very top of the spire is insane.
Honnold added, “And so, you know, if there wasn’t the whole spectacle around it, and I just had the opportunity to go do it by myself, I’d be fine with that. I would do that, but in this case, there is a spectacle. I’m not getting paid to climb the building. I’m getting paid for the spectacle. I’m climbing the building for free.”