Alex Honnold reveals details behind ‘embarrassing amount’ he was paid to risk his life climbing 1667ft skyscraper

Alex Honnold has opened up about some of the behind-the-scenes of his daring climb up a 1,667ft skyscraper, including how much he was paid.

In an astonishing feat, Honnold climbed to the top of Taipei 101 in Taiwan. The building is known for its enormous damper, which helps prevent it from swaying in high winds, as well as its futuristic exterior design.

This design features a section structure on the exterior that tapers outwards as you go up, culminating in a ledge that marks the beginning of the next section, which again tapers out.

For a climber, this is effectively eight consecutive overhangs that you have to negotiate before you come to a final, thinner section right at the top.

But that didn't stop Honnold, who made it all the way to the top, with the whole thing being streamed on Netflix over a nail-biting 1 hour and 35 minutes of Skyscraper Live.

Need I mention he did all this without safety ropes or life insurance, too?

Taipei 101 has a distinctive design (Cavan Images/Getty)

With his life potentially at stake, you'd think there'd be a sweet payday in it for him at the end, but it may have been less than expected.

When asked by The New York Times, Honnold didn't go into specific amounts, as he said: "Maybe. It’s less than my agent aspired to."

He said he wouldn't be revealing how much he earned, though he added that it's an 'embarrassing amount'.

Honnold then went on to explain that this was far less than what players in big sports are paid, as he continued: "Actually, if you put it in the context of mainstream sports, it’s an embarrassingly small amount.

"You know, Major League Baseball players get like $170 million contracts. Like, someone you haven’t even heard of and that nobody cares about."

He added: "So in that case, yeah, an embarrassingly small amount."

However, according to sources, Honnold will be paid somewhere in the 'mid-six figures' for the climb, though for him, it was never about the money.

Honnold managed to make his way to the top of the building (I-HWA CHENG / AFP via Getty Images)

"I mean, I would do it for free," he said. "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 went on to describe the sensation of being able climb a building like Taipei 101, as he said: "I mean, just sitting by yourself on the very top of the spire is insane.

"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."

As for why he got paid, Honnold said: "I’m not getting paid to climb the building. I’m getting paid for the spectacle. I’m climbing the building for free."

He also decided not to get any life insurance as he thought it'd be 'too expensive', adding: "I think insurance in general is kind of a scam. The whole point is to pay in.

"There’s a reason insurance companies are financial giants. Because everyone else is getting screwed."