Who are the highest paid athletes in the world? The good people at Sports Illustrated have released their annual list of the "Fortunate 50", aka the 50 highest earning athletes in the world. This year they also included a supplemental list of the 20 highest paid international athletes so we can really see who is banking the most cash in sports worldwide. Not surprisingly, for the second year in a row Floyd Mayweather tops the list with annual earnings of $90 million. Before Mayweather became cash king, Tiger Woods topped this list by a long shot for nearly a decade. Tiger's fortunes (and skills) have obviously waned since his off the course transgressions, while Mayweather went on to earn $50 million off his May 4th victory over Robert Guerrero alone. Coming in at a distant second is LeBron James with $56 million who earned nearly three times his $17.5 Miami Heat salary off endorsements with brands like Nike, Coca-Cola and McDonald's. David Beckham, who coincidentally announced his retirement from soccer earlier today, comes in at #3 with $48.4 million of which 96% percent was earned off the soccer field.
The sports that are represented on this list include boxing, football, basketball, baseball, tennis, Formula 1, NASCAR and golf. Interestingly, baseball players, especially pitchers, appear more frequently than any other type of athlete. It should also be noted that Michael Jordan, who has played a sport professionally in over 10 years, still earns $80 million off endorsements, investments and brand licensing deals. That's enough to make him technically the second highest paid athlete in the world today, right behind Mayweather and nearly $25 million above LeBron.
Highest Paid Athletes / Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Highest Paid Athletes:
- 1. Floyd Mayweather – $90 million
- 2. LeBron James – $56 million ($17.5m salary +$40m endorsements)
- 3. David Beckham $48.4 million ($2.35m salary + $46.05m endorsements)
- 4. Drew Brees – $48 million ($40m salary & bonus + $8m endorsements)
- 5. Kobe Bryant – $47 million ($27.8m salary + 19m endorsements)
- 6. Roger Federer – $43.4 million ($7.5 winnings + $36m endorsements)
- 7. Fernando Alonso – $42.8 million ($38m winnings + $4.8m endorsements)
- 8. Tiger Woods – $40.8 million ($7.8m winnings + $33m endorsements)
- 9. Phil Mickelson – $39.5 million ($3.5m winnings + $36m endorsements)
- 10. Cristiano Ronaldo – $35.3 million
- 11. Lionel Messi – $35.1 million
- 12. Manny Pacquiao – $35 million
- 13. Derrick Rose – $33.4 million ($16.4m salary + $17m endorsements)
- 14. Rory McIlroy – $33.3 million
- 15. Peyton Manning – $31 million ($18m salary + $13m endorsements)
- 16. Samuel Eto'o – $30.2 million
- 17. Alex Rodriguez – $29.9 million ($29m salary + $900k endorsements)
- 18. Zack Greinke – $29 million
- 19. Dwayne Wade – $28.6 million ($17.1m salary + $11.5m endorsements)
- 20. Kevin Durant – $27.7 million ($16.7m salary + $11m endorsements)
- 21. Johan Santana – $26.3 million
- 22. Felix Hernandez – $25.6 million (MLB pitcher)
- 23. Maria Sharapova – $25.5 million ($6.5m winnings + $19m endorsements)
- 24. Vincent Jackson – $25.3 million (NFL)
- 25. Carmelo Anthony – $25.3 million ($19.5m salary + $5.8m endorsements)
- 26. Cliff Lee – $25.2 million (MLB pitcher)
- 27. Mario Williams – $25.15 million
- 28. Derek Jeter – $25.1 million ($17m salary + $8.1m endorsements)
- 29. Joe Mauer – $25 million
- 30. Rafael Nadal – $24.9 million
- 31. Carl Nicks – $24.2 million (NFL)
- 32. CC Sabathia – $24 million
- 33. Prince Fielder – $23.5 million
- 34. Lewis Hamilton – $23.8 million (British race car driver)
- 35. Sergio Aguero – $23.5 million (Soccer)
- 36. Amar'e Stoudemire – $23.4 million ($19.95m salary + $3.5m endorsements)
- 37. Ryan Howard – $23.2 million
- 38. Tim Lincecum – $23.0 million
- 39. Matt Schaub – $22.8 million
- 40. Mark Teixeira – $22.7 million
- 41. Calvin Johnson – $22.6 million
- 42. Matt Kemp – $22.4 million
- 43. Dwight Howard – $21.9 million
- 44. Vernon Wells – $21.6 million
- 45. Chris Paul – $21.58 million ($17.78m salary + $3.8m endorsements)
- 46. Wayne Rooney – $21.5 million
- 47. Adrian Gonzalez – $21.35 million
- 48. Dirk Nowitzki – $21.3 million
- 49. Miguel Cabrera – $21.2 million
- 50. Pau Gasol – $21.1 million
- 51. Novak Djokovic – $20.9 million
- 52. Justin Verlander – $20.6 million
- 53. Roy Halladay – $20.2 million
- 54. Matt Cain – $20.1 million
- 55. Barry Zito – $20 million
- 56. Carl Crawford – $20 million
- 57. Joe Johnson – $19.9 million
- 58. Cole Hamels – $19.9 million
- 59. Michael Schumacher – $19.6 million
- 60. Joey Votto – $19.25 million
- 61. Albert Pujols – $19 million ($16m salary + $3m endorsements)
- 62. Yaya Toure – $19 million (Soccer)
- 63. Chris Bosh – $18.54 million
- 64. Eli Manning – $18.5 million
- 65. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – $18.4 million
- 66. Alfonso Soriano – $18.2 million
- 67. Li Na – $17.28 million (Tennis)
- 68. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – $17.2 million (Soccer)
- 69. Kaka – $16.69 million (Soccer)
- 70. Didier Drogba – $15.2 million (Soccer)
