Cristiano Ronaldo has moved back to the top of the world’s highest paid athlete list by Forbes. The Portugal international’s switch to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr helped bump him up to regain the top spot. Ronaldo was previously third in the American business magazine’s 2022 rankings. He last finished atop of the list in 2017 while with Real Madrid.
Ronaldo will make even more money over the next year
Forbes released their annual top 10 list of highest paid athletes in the world on Tuesday. The outlet claims that Ronaldo raked in $136 million over the last 12 months. It also seems as if the 38-year-old soccer star will continue his climb in annual salary as well.
Al Nassr is reportedly paying Ronaldo around $220 million to play in the Middle East. Not all of this money was counted in the Forbes list, as he only just switched to the club in January.
Ronaldo on Forbes list along with Messi, Mbappe
Along with the Portuguese superstar, there are two other soccer players in the rankings. Lionel Messi finished second, just $6 million behind Ronaldo. Forbes reports that the World Cup winner with Argentina made $130 million over the last year. This massive amount of money is apparently split between his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and endorsement deals.
Messi’s PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe also made the prestigious list. In fact, the trio of soccer players were the top three athlete earners last year. Mbappe made $120 million over the last 12 months while with the Ligue 1 champions. This only narrowly beat basketball superstar LeBron James.
World’s highest paid athletes in 2023:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer) – $136 million
2. Lionel Messi (soccer) – $130 million
3. Kylian Mbappe (soccer) – $120 million
4. LeBron James (basketball) – $119.5 million
5. Canelo Alvarez (boxing) – $110 million
6. Dustin Johnson (golf) – $107 million
7. Phil Mickelson (golf) – $106 million
8. Stephen Curry (basketball) – $100.4 million
9. Roger Federer (tennis) – $95.1 million
10. Kevin Durant (basketball) – $89.1 million
