Here Are The World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2025

Forbes

Whether Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer’s GOAT is up for debate, but he turned in an all-time earnings year with $275 million, leading 10 superstars who collectively hauled in $1.4 billion.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2025/05/15/the-worlds-10-highest-paid-athletes-2025/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, the world's 10 highest-paid athletes 2025.

00:06For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall,

00:10Cristiano Ronaldo is the world's highest-paid athlete.

00:13But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.

00:18Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia's Al Nasser

00:23and his off-field business endeavors,

00:25Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees,

00:31the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.

00:36On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather,

00:41who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.

00:48And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard,

00:50Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over number two,

00:55Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

00:58The gap is especially impressive,

01:00considering that Curry's $156 million total is also a record for his sport,

01:06beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.

01:12And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year's 10 highest-paid athletes,

01:17starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at number six.

01:25Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, at number four with $137 million,

01:31and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto, at number seven with $114 million,

01:37broke records for the NFL and MLB.

01:40Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion,

01:46up slightly from last year's $1.38 billion,

01:49and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.

01:55This year is also only the second time, after 2024,

01:58that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.

02:02In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Alexander Youssef, with $101 million,

02:09and golfer Jon Rahm, with $100 million,

02:12reached the milestone too, without managing to crack this top 10 list.

02:18Two athletes, Curry and Los Angeles Dodgers two-way phenom Shohei Otani,

02:23at number nine with $102.5 million,

02:26hit nine figures over the past 12 months with their off-field earnings alone,

02:30racking up an estimated $100 million each

02:33from endorsements, appearances, memorabilia, and licensing fees.

02:39Only three other athletes have ever matched that feat

02:41while still active in their sports, according to Forbes estimates.

02:46MMA fighter Conor McGregor, with $158 million in 2021,

02:51golfer Tiger Woods, with $105 million in 2009,

02:55and tennis player Roger Federer, with $100 million in 2020.

03:00Neither Curry nor Otani has any known business connection to Saudi Arabia,

03:05which makes them something of an outlier for athletes in their income bracket.

03:10Three years after the kingdom shook up the sports landscape with the creation of Live Golf,

03:14four members of the 2025 top 10 have significant ties to Saudi Arabia.

03:20Tyson Fury, at number three with $146 million,

03:23fought Yousseq twice in Riyadh,

03:26while Lionel Messi, at number five with $135 million,

03:30has a massive sponsorship deal to promote the country as a tourist destination,

03:34making up a significant chunk of his estimated $75 million in off-field earnings.

03:40And Karim Benzema, at number eight with $104 million,

03:44is based full-time in Saudi Arabia as a striker for soccer club Al-Itihad.

03:49Then, of course, there is Ronaldo,

03:52who has played in the Saudi Pro League for two and a half seasons,

03:56and earns an estimated $225 million on the field annually for doing so.

04:02His paychecks demonstrate just how much this ranking has been supercharged.

04:06When he first grabbed the top spot, in 2016,

04:10his total was $88 million,

04:11and he boosted the number to $93 million a year later.

04:15Now, neither figure would place any higher than 14th among the world's highest-paid athletes,

04:21and the sum of the two would still be $94 million short of Ronaldo's big score this year.

04:27His ascent may not be done yet either.

04:30While Ronaldo's contract with Al Nasser is believed to expire this summer,

04:34rumors suggest that he may sign an extension with the club,

04:37or perhaps seek a lucrative deal elsewhere.

04:41Not mentioned here so far, and rounding out the top ten,

04:44is number ten, Kevin Durant, with $101.4 million.

04:50For full coverage and to see the top ten list in detail,

04:53check out Brett Knight's piece on Forbes.com.

04:57This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:00Thanks for tuning in.

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