For the sixth year in a row, Cristiano Ronaldo has been named by Forbes as the highest-paid athlete in the world.
Ronaldo has reportedly earned over $275 million since joining the Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.
The Portuguese forward’s 939 million followers on social media alone helped him get lucrative commercial agreements and off-field endorsements, boosting his revenue by $15 million in May.
Meanwhile, with $156 million, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors soared to second position, becoming the first NBA player to surpass 4,000 career three-pointers in March.
Boxer Tyson Fury earned $146 million, putting him in third place. Despite suffering a loss of world heavyweight belts to Oleksandr Usyk in December, Tyson Fury has seen an increase in his income from endorsement deals for Maltese tourism and his reality show on Netflix.
Thanks to a record-breaking signing bonus and a generous contract deal, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott reached fourth with $137 million.
Even though he remains a high-profile endorsee for Adidas and Apple, Argentine Lionel Messi fell to fifth position with $135 million, the same as last year. Messi has relocated to Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.
Sixth place went to LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers with $133.8 million. James is approaching the conclusion of his legendary career.
Juan Soto, an outfielder for the MLB New York Mets, earned $114 million and came in at an astounding seventh place. The biggest baseball deal ever signed by a 26-year-old Dominican was for $765 million over 15 years.
Karim Benzema, a striker for Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, is the ninth-highest earner with $104 million.
Japanese player Shohei Ohtani, who has deferred most of his earnings from his mega-contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB franchise, is in ninth position with $102.5 million. Last year’s World Series triumph greatly increased his wages.
With $101.4 million, NBA player Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns completes the top ten.