Alex Honnold Says His Netflix Payday for Scaling Taipei 101 Was ‘Embarrassingly Small’

Alex Honnold is known for doing things most people wouldn’t attempt even with a safety harness. But after climbing one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers without ropes, the legendary climber says the paycheck didn’t exactly match the risk.

Honnold, 40, recently revealed that his compensation for free-soloing Taipei 101 — the 1,667-foot tower in Taiwan — was far lower than what fans might expect. The climb, which was broadcast live on Netflix on Jan. 25, earned him a “mid-six figures” payday, according to the New York Times. Still, Honnold called the amount “embarrassing” when compared to salaries in mainstream sports.

“If you put it in the context of traditional athletics, it’s an embarrassingly small amount,” Honnold said in an interview with the New York Times published Jan. 23. He pointed to Major League Baseball players who sign contracts worth more than $170 million. “Somebody you’ve never even heard of makes that kind of money,” he added.

Despite the modest payout, Honnold made it clear that money wasn’t the reason he took on the climb. In fact, he said he would have done it for free.

“If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission,” he explained, “I would do it anyway. I know I can do it, and it would be amazing.”

Honnold completed the 101-story climb in just over an hour and a half. The feat is the latest addition to a career defined by extreme risk and historic achievements. In 2017, he became the first person to free-solo El Capitan in Yosemite National Park — a climb that was later documented in the Oscar-winning film Free Solo.

Climbing Taipei 101 had been a long-time goal. Honnold first scoped out the building more than a decade ago while working on a separate TV project that ultimately fell through.

“I’ve known for about 12 years that it was possible,” he said on The Jay Shetty Podcast earlier this month. “The building is actually uniquely suited for climbing.”

So why do it at all?

“Because it’s awesome,” Honnold said simply. “Because I get to. Because it’ll be fun.”

He also noted that getting permission to climb a skyscraper is rare — and once that permission is granted, it’s hard to turn it down.

Now a husband and father of two, Honnold shares daughters June, 3, and Alice, nearly 2, with his wife, Sanni McCandless. While his climbs may look terrifying to viewers, Honnold insists they are carefully planned and deeply personal challenges — not stunts designed for massive paydays.

For him, the reward is still the climb itself, even if the paycheck doesn’t come close to superstar-athlete money.