Al Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo leads the list of highest paid sports athletes in the world According to Forbes. The Portuguese has earned $136 million in the financial year 2022-2023.
The 37-year-old Portuguese football icon became the highest-paid earner in the sports world after moving to the 18-time Saudi champions.
Ronaldo is at the top of the list for the first time since 2017, and the third time in his career. A football player’s annual wage of $136 million is also the largest in history.
Ronaldo earns about $46 million from former his team Manchester United and current ream Al Nassr. The remaining $90 million comes from non-sporting sectors such as advertising and business.
Historically, only three athletes have earned more than $90 million off the court: Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Conor McGregor.
Second place on the Forbes list belongs to Lionel Messi. The Argentinian dropped one rank compared to last year, but still maintained an income of $130 million.
Third place belongs to Kylian Mbappe with $ 120 million. In which, $100 million comes from the team. Mbappe is the only member under the age of 30 and the last footballer on the list.
Basketball legend LeBron James ranked fourth with $119.5 million, right above the Mexican champion Canelo Alvarez with $110 million.
Golfer Dustin Johnson was sixth with $107 million, of which 102 million came from tournaments. The seventh is also a golfer, Phil Mickelson with $106 million. Another basketball star, Stephen Curry ranked eighth with $100.4 million.
Roger Federer is the only tennis superstar on the list. He ranked ninth with an income of $95.1 million. Federer announced his retirement in September 2022, but maintains many off-court partnerships.
At the bottom of the list is the third basketball star, Kevin Durant with an income of $89.1 million.
