Prime ten costliest sports activities stars: Cristiano Ronaldo highest paid athlete, Forbes reveals

Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the world’s highest paid athlete, due to an enormous cash transfer to Saudi Arabia, in response to Forbes.

His wage, thought to be in the region of $75m (£59m) a year, and his off the pitch actions, earned him round $136m (£108m) within the final 12 months – the very best of any athlete on Earth, Forbes journal has estimated.

It’s a part of the enterprise journal’s annual collation of sports activities stars, which maps out who the cash goes to in skilled sport.

Down from first final 12 months and coming second is Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi, who had an estimated earnings of round $130m (£103m) within the 12 months.

Messi, who captained his nation to victory at last year’s World Cup, has a hefty wage invoice at Paris Saint-Germain, and rumours recommend he could possibly be eyeing a transfer to hitch Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia, where he was pictured earlier this week.

He additionally has model offers with the likes of PepsiCo and Budweiser, as effectively sponsorships from tech corporations.

Kylian Mbappe joins his Paris Saint-Germain teammate by nabbing third place in Forbes’ record with earnings of $120m (£95m).

He is the very best salaried footballer on this planet, and his endorsements embody a cryptocurrency-based fantasy soccer recreation.

In fourth is LeBron James, the LA Lakers participant, who has additionally carved out a profitable enterprise portfolio.

With earnings of round $119.5m (£95m) within the final 12 months, his earnings consisted of his $44.5m basketball wage, in addition to his movie manufacturing work, sports activities funding (he’s an investor within the agency that owns Liverpool FC) and vitamin manufacturers.

Boxer Canelo Alvarez is fifth ($110m/£87m), raking tens of millions of {dollars} for each combat he takes half in, in addition to having model offers with whiskey and beer firms.

Dustin Johnson, who has defected to the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour, is in sixth place on the record, with earnings of $107m (£85).

Fellow LIV golfer Phil Mickelson is in seventh place with an earnings final 12 months of $106m (£84m), and NBA star Stephen Curry is eighth, with $100.4m (£80m).

Ninth is tennis icon Roger Federer, who lately introduced his retirement from the game, with an earnings made largely from sponsorships of roughly $95.1m (£75m), and rounding out the record is one other NBA star, Kevin Durant, who made $89.1m (£71m) from his basketball wage and investments in sporting endeavours.

Seven sporting stars on the record had been there in 2022, with solely Kylian Mbappe, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickleson being new additions.

The journal takes into consideration all prize cash, salaries and bonuses earned between 1 May 2022 and 1 May 2023, together with an estimated earnings from sponsorships – taxes will not be taken into consideration.