Paris Saint-Germain soccer star Lionel Messi was the highest-paid athlete in the world over the last 12 months, according to the Forbes highest paid athlete ranking.
The Argentinian is reported to earn $130 million a year, $75 million from his PSG contract, and an additional $55 million from sponsorship deals and endorsements.
NBA icon Lebron James came in a narrow second on this year’s edition of the richest athletes list, earning $121.2 million a year. James cashed an additional income thanks to his talk show and after starring in last year’s Space Jam: A New Legacy movie.
According to Forbes, James is now worth $850 million.
Portuguese star and Messi’s foe Cristiano Ronaldo completes the top three with $115 million in earnings. Ronaldo earns the same as Messi off-field mostly from his social media activity.
The top 10 list include three soccer players, four NBA players and it is completed with historic veterans like tennis ace Roger Federer and NFL legend Tom Brady.
Despite suffering a hard defeat last week, Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez also made it to the list.
This is Forbes’ Top 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2022:
Lionel Messi (soccer) $130 million
LeBron James (NBA) $121.2 million
Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer) $115 million
Neymar (soccer) $95 million
Stephen Curry (NBA) $92.8 million
Kevin Durant (NBA) $92.1 million
Roger Federer (Tennis) $90.7 million
Canelo Alvarez (Boxing) $90 million
Tom Brady (NFL) $83.9 million
G. Antetokounmpo (NBA) $80.9 million
