The 7 Highest Paid Athletes in the World

Who is the highest paid athlete in the world? According to Forbes magazine in a recent article not all of them are football players as we might expect.

#1 Lionel Messi

The Argentinian football star plays for Paris Saint-Germain and his income reached an astounding 130 million USD including 55 million in bonuses within 12 months till May 2022.

#2 LeBron James

The Los Angeles basketball player’s income was 121 million dollars (41.2 million on-field and 80 million off-field).

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo

The Portuguese football player is both the captain of the Portuguese National Team and a Manchester United player. Ronaldo’s income was 115 million dollars (60 million on-field and 55 off-field).

#4 Neymar

Neymar is a member of the Brazilian National Team and Messi’s fellow player at Paris Saint-Germain. His income on-field was 70 million and off-field was 25 million for a total of 95 million dollars.

#5 Stephen Curry

The Golden State Warriors guard is the highest paid NBA player this season with a total income of 92.8 million dollars (45.8 on-field and 47 off-field).

#6 Kevin Durant

The American Brooklyn Nets star’s income was 92 million dollars (42.1 on-field and 50 million off-field).

#7 Roger Federer

The Swiss tennis player made 90.7 million dollars even though he participated in only 5 championships in 2021 (0.7 million on-field and 90 million off-field).

Some info on Forbes statistics:

Off-field numbers are an estimation of the players’ endorsements, appearances, memorabilia, and licensing fees in addition to the returns of any businesses they are involved in over the duration of 12 months till May 2022.

Forbes’ list includes only active athletes over those 12 months. The numbers do not include profit from investments such as shares and profit share but it does include profit made if the athlete sold any shares they own. Forbes does not deduct taxes paid during that period or agent fees.