Who is the richest athlete in the world? Which athletes earned the most during the past year? Here is the classic 2025 of the Scrooges of sport, with football and basketball dominating.
Who are the highest paid athletes in the world? A question that Forbes, the famous American magazine that regularly and scrupulously examines the salaries and extra-sports earnings of athletes from all over the world, tries to answer every year.
A “titanic” task given the complexity of the topic, with sports stars who for years have been able to count on earnings from sponsors and investments that in many cases exceed those guaranteed by their salaries or winnings on the field.
In total, the 50 richest athletes in the world earned a whopping 3.88 billion dollars in 2024, a figure from which, however, the amount given to the tax authorities and agents must be subtracted. The fact remains that the general income of the Scrooges of sport has increased by 13% compared to the previous year, thus marking a new record.
According to the Forbes ranking of the richest athletes, Cristiano Ronaldo would have been the highest paid athlete in the world, surpassing in this special ranking the golfer John Rahm and the other soccer star Lionel Messi.
World’s Highest-Paid Athletes Ranking 2025
Based on total earnings - salaries, winnings, endorsements and investments - these would be the thirty richest athletes in the world in 2025 according to the Forbes ranking drawn up on last year’s earnings.
| Athlete | Sports | Salary | Other earnings | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Football | 200 | 60 | 260 |
| John Rahm | Golf | 198 | 20 | 218 |
| Lionel Messi | Football | 65 | 70 | 135 |
| LeBron James | Basketball | 48.2 | 80 | 128.2 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | Basketball | 46 | 65 | 111 |
| Kylian Mbappé | Football | 90 | 20 | 110 |
| Neymar | Football | 80 | 28 | 108 |
| Karim Benzema | Football | 100 | 6 | 106 |
| Stephen Curry | Basketball | 52 | 50 | 102 |
| Lamar Jackson | Football | 98.5 | 2 | 100.5 |
| Joe Burrow | Football | 96 | 4 | 100 |
| Kevin Durant | Basketball | 47.8 | 45.5 | 93.3 |
| Shohei Ohtani | Baseball | 25.3 | 60 | 85.3 |
| Canelo Alvarez | Boxing | 75 | 10 | 85 |
| Patrick Mahomes | Football | 59.4 | 25 | 84.4 |
| Anthoney Joshua | Boxing | 75 | 8 | 83 |
| Max Verstappen | Formula 1 | 76 | 5 | 81 |
| Aaron Rodgers | Football | 71.8 | 9 | 80.8 |
| Rory Mcllroy | Golf | 35.1 | 45 | 80.1 |
| Justin Herbert | Football | 67.7 | 11 | 78.7 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Formula 1 | 57 | 12 | 69 |
| Nick Bosa | Football | 66.5 | 1.5 | 68 |
| Tiger Woods | Golf | 12.2 | 55 | 67.2 |
| Kirk Cousins | Football | 60 | 2.5 | 62.5 |
| Klay Thompson | Basketball | 43.3 | 19 | 62.3 |
| Damian Lillard | Basketball | 45.9 | 16 | 61.9 |
| Erling Haaland | Football | 46 | 15 | 61 |
| Max Scherzer | Baseball | 58.9 | 1 | 59.9 |
| Scottie Scheffler | Golf | 39.2 | 20 | 59.2 |
| Joel Embiid | Basketball | 47.7 | 10 | 57.7 |
Figures in millions of dollars
Cristiano Ronaldo would be by far the highest paid athlete in the world by virtue of his pharaonic salary received from the Saudis of Al Nassr, but the Portuguese champion could also count on huge incomes that go beyond football.
As for income other than salaries or winnings in various tournaments, LeBron James would be number one followed by Lionel Messi and the other basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it is also worth mentioning the 60 million put together by the baseball star Shohei Ohtani.
As for the highest paid sports and present in this special ranking, football and basketball would be the big protagonists together with golf and football. Broadening the view to the top 30 of the highest paid athletes ranking we then also find athletes from Formula 1, baseball and boxing.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Gli sportivi più pagati al mondo, la classifica 2025
