American business magazine, Forbes has released its annual ranking of the World’s 100 Highest-Paid athletes, who collectively earned $4 billion over the last 12 months, up 5% from last year’s earnings of $3.8 billion.
Top on the list is Lionel Messi, who is crowned the world’s best paid athlete ahead of his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentine and Barcelona star took home £99.8million from salary and endorsements over the past 12 months, while Juventus striker Ronaldo, who is second on the list earned £85.7m million between his salary and endorsements.
The world’s most expensive ever footballer and PSG star Neymar completes the top three after ranking in £82.5m
Check out the list of the World’s Top 10 Highest-Paid Athletes in 2019 below.
Rank Athlete Sport Salary/Winnings £ ($) Endorsements £ ($) Total Earnings £ ($)
1 Lionel Messi Soccer 72.3m (92m) 27.5m (35m) 99.8m (127m)
2 Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer 51.1m (65m) 34.6m (44m) 85.7m (109m)
3 Neymar Soccer 58.9m (75m) 23.6m (30m) 82.5m (105m)
4 Canelo Alvarez Boxing 72.3m (92m) 1.6m (2m) 73.9m (94m)
5 Roger Federer Tennis 5.8m (7.4m) 67.6m (86m) 73.4m (93.4m)
6 Russell Wilson Football 63.2m (80.5m) 7m (9m) 70.3m (89.5m)
7 Aaron Rodgers Football 63.1m (80.3m) 7m (9m) 70.2m (89.3m)
8 LeBron James Basketball 28.3m (36m) 41.7m (53m) 70m (89m)
9 Stephen Curry Basketball 29.7m (37.8m) 33m (42m) 62.7m (79.8)
10 Kevin Durant Basketball 23.9m (30.4m) 27.5m (35m) 51.4m (65.4m)
