Derek Jeter is an American baseball player, one of the most popular and highest-paid athletes in American history, with a net worth of $125 million. Jeter grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, though he was born in New Jersey and often attended New York Yankee games with his grandparents during the summer. Jeter joined the minor leagues directly after high school and spent four years advancing from single-A to triple-A-level teams. He started as shortstop for the Yankees on Opening Day of 1996, hitting his first major-league home run on the same day, and went on to win both Rookie of the Year and the World Series, along with the rest of his team. He also played on Series-winning Yankee teams in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009.

In 2001, Jeter signed a ten-year, $189 million contract to remain with the Yankees, and went on to become one of the most distinguished players in baseball: in 2003, he was named the eleventh recognized captain in the team’s history; he has been an All-Star ten times and won the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards four times each; and he is the only player to win both the All-Star Game MVP award and the World Series MVP award in the same season. He also holds the Yankee record for the most hits, beating Lou Gehrig’s existing record in 2009. He has also attracted lucrative endorsement deals with Nike, Gatorade, Discover Card, Fleet Bank, VISA, Ford, and XM Satellite Radio, and is considered one of the most marketable players in baseball. Jeter has never married, though he has been linked to Mariah Carey, Jessica Biel, Jordana Brewster, and Minka Kelly.