He has also published two books, pushing his early earnings to about US$20 million.
So, for him, the prize money available on the IAAF Diamond League circuit from which most athletes earn a stable living (winners are paid US$10,000 an event) is negligible. Typically, Bolt will command an appearance fee of between US$200,000 and US$350,000 a meeting. Promoters may baulk at this, but his appearance guarantees a full stadium. He alone can confer respectability and glamour on the Glasgow tournament.
So why isn't he interested in competing in the best-known events? A Commonwealth Games medal would not add commercial value to Bolt's brand, and a defeat or disqualification (remember: he was disqualified from the 2011 World Championships) would be damaging from a marketing perspective.
Bolt's declination of the 100m and 200m is a big blow for the Commonwealth Games. But you can imagine the cost-benefit calculation behind the decision.
The tournament has nowhere near the lustre of the Olympics, nor even the IAAF World Championships. Its television audience is relatively small and interest among the world's richest economic nations is limited. The Commonwealth embraces some of the world's poorest countries, such as Mozambique and Rwanda. About 31 of the member states have populations of 1.5 million or less.
So while there is a collective population of near two billion and a few fast-emerging economies, the games are not especially attractive to advertisers.
One can imagine the global corporations that pay Bolt wondering out loud whether it is worth risking his reputation in a tournament that counts for little. Allowing him to compete in the relay might have been seen as a compromise - it will not expose him to any conceivable embarrassment or brand damage and will be entirely ritualistic.
Those who reject this explanation as too cynical should recall the fuss Bolt kicked up last year when he was invited to take part in a post-Olympics event. HMRC, the British Government's tax service, requires its 50 per cent cut of sports stars' earnings.
HMRC agreed to International Olympic Committee demands that it grant stars an amnesty for the Olympics, and it will repeat this for the Commonwealth Games, but these are exceptions. Bolt is one of a number of stars who have avoided UK events because of the tax rules. Asked if he was staying away because he would lose as much money as he would earn from running in London, Bolt replied: "That's what my agent told me." It goes without saying, agents are in business to make money. It may disappoint fans to learn their heroes are motivated by much the same pecuniary incentives as everyone else, but sports stars are not idealists. It's not unknown for them to skip training or even competition to attend events for their commercial sponsors.
Bolt's official position is not clear: he is apparently not injured but just hasn't trained enough for the big events. He is not the only Jamaican sprinter to be giving the games a cold-ish shoulder. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is also competing only in the 4x100m relay, while Yohan Blake last week went further and pulled out altogether. Double Olympic silver medallist Blake said he could not put his preparations for Rio 2016 at risk.
Luckily the organisers are having slightly better luck with athletes closer to home. English Tour de France winner and Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins will be competing, though this appears to be only because he was left out of the Sky team for this year's Tour de France. English double Olympic champion Mo Farah will also compete in Glasgow.
Bolt may be disappointed: an appearance at a venue where he can do his usual shtick in front of TV cameras and pick up another medal for his cabinet would not be onerous, even if he did end up enriching the British taxman.
But he isn't in control: like other sports stars, he's made a Faustian pact that renders him at the mercy of his corporate paymasters.
Ellis Cashmore is professor of culture, media and sport at Staffordshire University, England.
