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He’s coming for you, Judge Judy.
The rumor and speculation surrounding Aaron Judge is over. The record-setting slugger is returning to the Yankees on a new nine year, $360 million deal that will effectively keep the 30-year-old in the Bronx for the rest of his career.
Congrats to Aaron for getting such an astounding bag, but this whole contract got me thinking: Is Aaron Judge the wealthiest judge of all time? Being a judge is typically high paying, and there are several well known people who have either been born with, or adopted judge. So where does Aaron rank among the highest paid judges?
The Supreme Court
They might be the best known judges in the United States, but does this lifetime appointment pay? Hell yeah it does. The yearly salary of a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court pays $280,500 a year, with the associate justices making $268,300 — with their salaries being public record as they come out of tax dollars.
Obviously Judge’s contract pays more than a justice, but he’s getting it over nine years — whereas Chief Justice has some staying power. The average age of appointment for these justices was 53, and the average age of death in the United States is 77.
This means that on average a Chief Justice of Supreme Court makes $6.73M over the course of a lifetime. With associate justices making $6.44M. If we factor in those cushy benefits lets round it all out to $7M a judge.
With nine justices on the supreme court Aaron Judge could afford to pay the lifetime appointment of every single justice 5.7 times over on his new contract. Should have learned to hit dingers, Alito.
Winner: Aaron Judge
Judge Judy
Okay, let’s amp things up a little by going to a famous TV Judge. Taking away the rights of Americans on a whim might be nice for those fancy Supreme Court Judges, but what about a humble woman who needs to decide about unpaid rent by a roommate who left stale cottage cheese inside the bathroom radiator?
Judge Judy is the highest paid TV host in America with a yearly salary of $47M. That’s way more year-over-year than Aaron Judge, who is making $40M per year over the life on his contract. However, Judy is already 80 and I don’t want to be morbid, but is she going to make it another nine years?
IT DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE SHE HAS A NET WORTH OF $460M AND SHE’S STILL MAKING BANK!
Winner: Judge Judy
Mike Judge
Let’s take a break from the legal system and move over to entertainment. Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead as well as King of the Hill is an icon of adult animation. An absolute legend. Hell, he even wrote and directed Office Space one of the greatest cult comedies of all time, and he was in every Jackass movie to boot.
All this iconic entertainment doesn’t translate into dollar bills though, as Judge has a net worth of $75M.
Winner: Aaron Judge
Judge Dredd
The 1995 Sylvester Stallone movie had a worldwide box office of $113M, with a budget of $90M. Meanwhile 2012’s Dredd had a worldwide box office of $41M on a budget of $50M.
That’s a net worth of $14M. Let’s give it some help and throw in a copy of the comic Judge Dredd No. 1 that’s graded, which is worth… $160.
Winner: Aaron Judge
Gaius
One of the most famous jurists of all time, Gaius served in the Roman Empire from 130 to 180AD. He’s responsible for forming a lot of the legal principles we still use today. He also wore robes and was broke AF.
Winner: Aaron Judge
Judge Reinhold
If you were a teen in the 80s, you knew Judge Reinhold. Dude was in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Gremlins and Beverly Hills Cop — just to name a few. This Judge has been a working actor for his entire adult life, but that’s left him with an estimated net worth of $2.5M.
Winner: Aaron Judge
Judge’s final verdict
Aaron Judge is only behind Judge Judy for the wealthiest Judge in history. With this $360M contract, paired with the endorsements money he’ll get over the next decade and beyond, I have no doubt that when the dust settles he will eclipse Judy and become the wealthiest Judge in the history of humanity.
SUPREME WINNER: AARON JUDGE
