Cristiano Ronaldo Retains Top Spot in Forbes World’s Highest-Paid Athletes List
June 8, 2017
Cristiano Ronaldo is still the richest sportsperson on the planet, according to Forbes World’s Highest-Paid Athletes annual list.
The Real Madrid striker topped the list for the second year in a row, with a net worth of $93m (£72.05m). However, the Spanish club lost its top spot in the football rich list.
Basketball superstar LeBron James was second with $86.2m (£66.79m).
Both Ronaldo and James saw an increase in the revenues. The Portuguese footballer saw his earnings rise $5m, whilst the Cavaliers’ power forward earned $9m more.
Basketball dominated the list with 32 NBA players among the top 100, followed by baseball with 22 and American football with 15.
The top 100 people earned a total of $3.11bn (£2.4bn) over the last year, a slight decrease from last year’s earnings of $3.15bn (£2.43bn).
Serena Williams is the only female athlete in the top 100. The American tennis player is 51st, having made $27m (£20.92m) in the last 12 months.
Here’s the top ten list:
- Cristiano Ronaldo – football ($93m/£72.05m)
- LeBron James – basketball ($86.2m/£66.79m)
- Lionel Messi – football ($80m/£61.98m)
- Roger Federer – tennis ($64m/£49.58m)
- Kevin Durant – basketball ($60.6m/£46.95m)
- Andrew Luck – American football ($50m/£38.74m)
- Rory McIlroy – golfer ($50m/£38.74m)
- Stephen Curry – basketball ($47.3m/£36.64m)
- James Harden – basketball ($46.6m/£36.10m)
- Lewis Hamilton – formula 1 ($46m/£35.64m
