Ronaldo becomes world’s highest-paid athlete after Al Nassr move: Forbes
Muscat: Following his move to Saudi Arabian football giants Al Nassr in January 2023, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo has become the world’s highest-paid athlete for the first time since 2017, according to Forbes list on Wednesday.
Forbes reported the 38-year-old forward earned US$136 million over the past 12 months.
His contract with Al Nassr is reportedly worth more than US$221 million per year.
Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi is second on Forbes’ list having earned US$130 million.
Forbes’ top-10 also features basketball star LeBron James and boxer Canelo Alvarez, while 20-time tennis Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is the only retired athlete on the list in ninth place.
Dustin Johnson (sixth) and Phil Mickelson (seventh) are the first golfers to make the top-10 since Tiger Woods in 2020.
Forbes’ figures include both on-field earnings – including salaries, prize money and bonuses – and off-field earnings – sponsorship deals, appearance fees and memorabilia and licensing income.
In all, the world’s ten highest-paid athletes collected an estimated US$1.11 billion before taxes and agents’ fees over the last 12 months, up 12% from last year’s US$990 million and 5% from the record of US$1.06 billion set in 2018.
The 2018 total was tilted by an extraordinary outlier in boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who hit US$285 million that year – the second-highest payday for an athlete in the 33-year history of the Forbes list.
The 2023 top-10, however, is imposing from top to bottom.
Ronaldo leads the way with an estimated haul of $136 million, including $46 million from his playing salary and bonuses and $90 million from endorsements, appearances, licensing income and other business endeavors.
Kylian Mbappé, who at age 24 comes in at No. 3 with US$120 million, and Johnson, who lands at No. 6 with US$107 million, make eye-popping debuts in the top ten.
Those three are part of a group of eight athletes who each earned more than US$100 million over the last 12 months, twice as many as in any previous year.
Ronaldo, Messi ($130 million) and LeBron James ($119.5 million) have all reached that threshold before, but the other five—Mbappé and Johnson, plus boxing champion Canelo Álvarez (US$110 million), Mickelson (US$106 million) and NBA sharpshooter Stephen Curry (US$100.4 million) – earned nine figures for the first time. Only seven other sports stars have ever joined this exclusive club.
Tennis ace Roger Federer is one of them, and he didn’t miss the milestone by much in 2023, either, with an estimated US$95.1 million, almost all of it coming off the court. His total would have made him the world’s highest-paid athlete as recently as 2017, when Ronaldo led the list with US$93 million. Kevin Durant rounds out the 2023 top ten with US$89.1 million, pushing the cutoff up 10% from 2022’s record US$80.9 million.
The biggest surprise of 2023 may be the inclusion of the two golfers. Mickelson is 52 and, with the exception of a magical run at the Masters last month, no longer resembles the player who cracked the earnings top ten for 11 straight years, from 2006 to 2016. (He ranked 31st on last year’s list with US$45.3 million.)
Johnson, meanwhile, missed the earnings top-50 last year and has seen his off-course pay dry up to an estimated US$5 million, from an estimated $29 million in 2022, as sponsors treat LIV Golf warily.
World’s top 10 highest paid athletes 2023
1. Cristiano Ronaldo, football: US$136m
2. Lionel Messi, football: US$130m
3. Kylian Mbappe, football: US$120m
4. LeBron James, basketball: US$119.5m
5. Canelo Alvarez, boxing: US$110m
6. Dustin Johnson, golf: US$107m
7. Phil Mickelson, golf: US$106m
8. Stephen Curry, basketball: US$100.4m
9. Roger Federer, tennis: US$95.1m
10. Kevin Durant, basketball: US$89.1m
