There has never been a better time to be a top athletes in your sport or key player in a popular team sport. As athletes get more money, it’s fuelling massive increases in athletes salaries across all of sports.
We’ve crunched the numbers to find the current top 10 richest athletes on the planet. There are many other names out there who used to be athletes and then went on to make fortunes, an example of that would be the former professional wrestler and now billionaire Vince McMahon. Our list is professional athletes who are either still competing or made their fortunes from being global icons for many years.
You’ve been poor? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.
10. Lionel Messi
Net worth: $280 million
The only thing that could stop Lionel Messi is Cristiano Ronaldo — if Cristiano Ronaldo were to get injured.
The best-paid athletes of 2019 is Lionel Messi. He earned a salary of $80 million playing for Barcelona and his many top-tier endorsement deals, such as his lifetime partnership with Adidas, made him the highest-paid athletes of 2019.
His income is well-earned, however, as he has been FIFA’s athletes of the year five times.
In a twist of events, a Spanish court found Messi guilty of tax fraud in July 2016, the Argentine captain was sentenced to 21 months in prison, although he almost certainly will serve the time as probation instead of behind bars.
It’s not hard to see the appeal of the FIFA World Cup and how it could help bring in more money.
9. Phil Mickelson
Net worth: $400 million
Phil Mickelson is a former U.S. professional golf champion. He’s nicknamed Lefty because he’s ambidextrous. He had 43 wins on the PGA Tour in his career, including five major championships.
It’s an absolute mystery how these two men became such good friends. Michael Phelps is one of the greatest athletes to ever play the game. Each shirt has the brand name on it during each tour event.
8. LeBron James
LeBron has made three All-Star teams, gone to two NBA Finals, cemented his place as one of the all-time basketball greats by leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to defeat a 3-1 series deficit and win Cleveland’s first professional sports championship in over 50 years. “The King” James has been signed to Nike since he was a baby-faced teen.
Paired with a coke endorsement, it seems his bank account will be nearly a billion dollars in the black for the foreseeable future.
When LeBron James decided to join the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, he signed a $153 million contract for four years of play.
7. David Beckham
Net worth: $450 million
The English Premier League player of the year earns the same amount as the Premier League’s top earner, despite retiring five years ago.
TEMPs David Beckham has always been a brandable player. And he has helped other sports do the same, doing lots of work to help others.
He started with a few small businesses, then moved on to fashion, food and drink, television, entertainment, and more. He’s continuing to reap the rewards of this work.
After spending the winter playing exhibition matches for the Dallas Mavs, Beckham made a surprise announcement on January 21, 2018 that he was leaving the team and was joining the Miami Mavs. In return, the Mavs traded their first round draft pick in the 2019 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo
Net Worth – $450 million
With both club and country, Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed a stellar 2016, lifting the Champions League with Real Madrid in May before leading Portugal to a record-breaking victory at the European Championships in the summer
Ronaldo has an estimated net worth of $100 million. He’s the second highest-paid athletes of the year after Floyd May weather.
Throw in his fourth Balon D’or and it’s not hard to see why Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the highest-earning athletes of 2017.
He’s the world’s most popular athletes with over 200 million social media followers, helping him land head-to-toe sponsorships including Nike, Tag Heuer, Sacoor Brothers suits, and Monster headphones
5. Floyd Mayweather
Net worth: $565 million
Despite the loss, Pacquiao made $200 million more in endorsements for his fight with Floyd Mayweather. He was at the top of the pay per view list and all over the media.
The super fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov is a major event that occurred in August of 2017.
Mayweather cashed in and beat McGregor in the later rounds, a win that earned Floyd his 50-0 record.
4. Magic Johnson
Net Worth: $600M
“Magic” is the greatest basketball athletes of all time. He played a key role in bringing the NBA to Los Angeles and his legacy will live forever.
Though a Laker, Magic Johnson was a five-time champion and three time Finals MVP. He retired from the NBA in 1996 and has been extremely successful as an entrepreneur.
Johnson started Magic Johnson Enterprises, where he’s partnered with Sony Pictures and Starbucks.
Johnson is a dominant presence in sports and has made a fortune as a result of his ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
3. Roger Federer
Net worth: $700 million
Roger Federer’s 16-year streak of Grand Slam appearances ended in May 2016 when a back problem caused him to pull out of the French Open. He then made an incredible comeback in 2017 cementing his status as the greatest tennis player of all time with 20 grand slams and 103 ATP career tiles. He has amassed over $130 million in total career winnings, but his endorsements and sponsorships with brands, including Rolex and Mercedes-Benz, are what push his net worth to $450 million.
He also recently signed a 10-year deal worth $300 million with clothing brand Uniqlo.
This is a no-brainer. Roger Federer is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. The world is his for the taking. Just one thing: he just became a global ambassador for the Swiss brand On Cloud. So we need to have him do an equity deal so that he’ll invest some of that $10 billion in On Cloud.
Roger Federer owns 3 percent of On Running, valuing his stake at around $300 million.
2. Tiger Woods
Net worth: $800 million
Tiger Woods was in his prime when he dominated the golf world. He won 14 major championships, including 7 PGA Championships, 5 Masters, and 2 U.S. Opens. No one has come close to competing with his level of talent.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say “Tiger Woods is number one or Tiger is number one” I’d be pretty rich! In all honesty, there’s no such thing as Tiger Woods, there are only golfers.
Tiger Woods has earned more money from his business ventures than he ever made playing golf. He’s the best professional golfer of all time, and with the right strategy and planning, you can be one step closer to earning big bucks.
Tiger Woods has shown time and again that, when it comes to winning, nothing can stop him. After a turbulent 2017 that saw him move from 656 in the world to 13 in the world within 1 season, Tiger Woods has shown that nothing can stop him when it comes to winning.
Tiger Woods, the sporting legend on the 15th of April 2019, won the US Masters by two shots, and he did so for the first time in the tournament’s history. Tiger’s first major win in 10 years. We know you want to learn to make the most of this amazing opportunity and do your absolute best work.
LeBron James has won a lot of money, but he’s also made millions, too. He’s the second best basketball player ever to play the game, and he deserves a nod on this list as well.
1. Michael Jordan
Net Worth – 1.9 billion
At the top of the list is Michael Jordan. He’s a six-time NBA champion, six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, ten-time NBA scoring leader, a fourteen-time NBA All-Star and an eight-time NBA Finals MVP. He also earned a total salary of $90 million.
Cristiano Ronaldo is worth over $400 million because of his many achievements on the court and off, but the best thing about him is that he makes his millions and his billions off his performance as a professional athletes.
Jordan is one of the most famous basketball players of all time. He was in the fan-favorite film “Space Jam,” and he now owns the Charlotte Hornets. He also has a deal with Nike and Gatorade.
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