Are you interested in finding out who the most expensive athlete in the world is

Updated on August 13, 2022 14:33 PM by Ella Bina

Let us look at some names that have already achieved tremendous success in sports. We have many great players with relatively high ratings who are considered the highest-paid athletes in the world. 2022 was when the world's best highest-paid athletes were mostly on the sidelines, working at low wages, playing to empty seats, or isolating themselves in the competitive bubble that has crippled an epidemic.

Play. As a result of competing, millions of dollars have been depleted from professionals. Still, the finances of the professionals are going well, at least in terms of how much money they have at their disposal. In the past 12 months, the world's highest-paid athletes made $2.97 billion before taxes and agent fees, an 8% increase over last year's record.

While two of the most famous players in football took pay cuts when switching clubs this season, sponsors keep them at the top, with Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi earning $130 million and Manchester's star receiving $115 million. With $115 million, United's Cristiano Ronaldo has slipped to number three. Last year, the group recorded $1.04 billion in endorsement deals and other off-the-field efforts.

A thriving media company is owned by LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Serena Williams founded a venture capital firm with a $111 million fund. Naomi Osaka has over 20 corporate partners and started her skincare line. In addition, Tom Brady launched Autograph, an NFT platform of his own, with a massive partnership with cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi earned a staggering USD 130 million in 2022 as the world's highest-paid athlete. Due to endorsements extending well beyond his usual Adidas, Budweiser, and PepsiCo contracts, the athlete has tied with Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time ($55 million) in off-field earnings. Last June, the football star became Hard Rock International's ambassador, bringing him to the top of the football industry.

He signed a contract with Barcelona in 2017 that paid him a base salary of $168 million, which made him the world's most highly paid soccer player when he was at his peak with Barcelona. A previous contract for his annual base salary was $44.68 million, but it was leaked in January 2021 by Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Lionel signed with Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021. In his initial contract, Messi earns $75 million yearly before taxes or approximately $40 million after taxes. As part of endorsements, Messi earns an additional $40 million annually. In addition to earning additional bonuses based on milestones, Messi's contract allows him to receive a cut of jersey sales.

Between June 2018 and June 2019, Messi earned a staggering $130 million through a lifetime endorsement contract with Adidas. In addition to serving as the face of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, he assisted with the trailer and motion capture for the game. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 feature Messi on the covers.

Lebron James

While the Los Angeles Lakers struggled on Court No. 23, King James continued to make money even though an NBA-record payday capped his basketball career. LeBron turned his fortunes off the court by using an $80 million cash duffel bag to double his on-court earnings.

The 2021 movie was supposed to launch him as Hollywood's leading man in 2022. Still, Springhill Entertainment needed to capitalize on that investment by selling a minority stake in Springhill Entertainment for $725 million. Forbes estimates his net worth at $850 million.

From the NBA, LeBron James earns around $40 million a year, and from endorsements, he earns another $55 million. His total income is approximately $100 million annually. During his first ten seasons in the NBA, LeBron James earned approximately $126 million in salary.

He earned around $86 million between June 2016 and 2017. LeBron earned about $85.5 million between June 2017 and June 2018. From June 2018 to June 2019, LeBron earned a further $85 million.

Throughout his career, LeBron earned $452 million. In 2023, he will earn $428 million in NBA salaries. He recently signed a two-year extension to his contract worth $85 million with the Lakers. The value of LeBron's contracts and endorsements has been around $800 million as of this writing.

Also read: Stephen Curry Reaction, LeBron James Wanting To Play With Him

Cristiano Ronaldo

With 500 million followers combined across his social accounts in 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first person to reach this number. With 690 million followers by 2022, Ronaldo can make unlimited profits in brand partnerships, as evidenced by his $55 million off-field earnings in 2022.

As the most popular footballer, he earned £85million in wages and endorsement deals in 2019. He earned £ 36m a year from brand endorsements like Nike, with whom he has a lifetime contract.

In addition to his CR7 brand, he has earned more than £500 million in wages throughout his career. In addition, he is the top-earning celebrity on social media. The average social media post earns him more than £1 million. Forbes predicts that he will earn another £600 million in 2022.

Neymar

He has not stopped releasing bags since he formally withdrew from Nike's Jordan brand in 2021 after reporting an early withdrawal. Netflix's new documentary, Neymar: Perfect Anarchy, helped Neymar keep his projected earnings on track in 2022. NFTSTAR, a partnership worth a few million dollars with Bored Apes, is also on Neymar's books for 2022.

A year ago, Neymar signed his first major contract for Brazilian club Santos for $1.7 million per year. Santos attempted to extend Neymar's contract by $20 million a year later.

Since Neymar knew that the competition in the Brazilian league would not be as good as that in the European league, he rejected the offer because he believed he would lose his chance to become one of the best players in the world if he accepted the offer.

While Santos paid him $4 million per year, he was also allowed to seek other options before signing a short-term contract. Barcelona signed Neymar to a $119 million contract in 2013. In addition to his salary, Neymar earned an estimated $16 million from endorsements during this mega-deal. From 2013 to 2017, he earned an estimated $30 million.

Steph Curry

In the course of utilizing his four-year, $215 million expansion deal signed last August, Steph Curry is expected to stay on this list for at least a few more years. Considering he is set to earn nearly $60 million during the contract's final year, where do you see him? We can't predict the future, but if investments in FTX Metaverse and Unimus Media pay off, it could become a top contender.

In a typical year for Steph, he earns approximately $3 million from his NBA salary and endorsements, making him one of the world's highest-paid celebrities. For a total of $80-90 million, he earns $50 million from NBA salary and $30-40 million from endorsements. He had no notable endorsement contracts in his first few seasons in the NBA.

The salary and endorsements Steph Curry earned between June 2016 and June 2017 totaled around $50 million. Between June 2017 and June 2018, Steph earned $80.7 million. During his first decade of playing in the NBA, Steph Curry made around $130 million in salary and another $150 million from endorsements. Between June 2018 and 2019, Steph earned $80 million from various endeavors.

Kevin Durant

Having been sidelined for the 2019-2020 season due to a torn Achilles tendon, Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is back to bagging a big bag. In 2021-2022, the Nets' playoff aspirations were dashed, but off-court revenues provided an additional $50 million cushion. Their latest investments include OpenC, Coinbase, Weedmaps, and NBA Top Shot, four of the top NFT platforms.

With a net worth of $200 million, Kevin Durant is one of the highest-paid professional basketball players in the league. With a salary of $42 million, he is among the five highest-paid players in the league.

He earns tens of millions of dollars more annually from his numerous lucrative endorsement deals. His Nike endorsement deal pays him $26 million yearly. When these two sources are combined, Kevin earns $68 million a year.

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Roger Federer

Roger Federer made the most money off the court this year's tennis season. Tennis star Roger Federer made $90 million in off-court earnings, including deals with Uniqlo and Rolex. With a $600 million raise this September, his investment in On Running has proven to be wise.

Federer is worth around $550 million (£448.3m). Even though he has not competed since he lost in three sets to Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon in 2021, he remains arguably the greatest tennis player of all time. He is now one of the two richest tennis players in history, behind Ion Tiriac, who made most of his money from his business ventures after retiring.

With 96 in the ATP world rankings, Federer has suffered a drop in his career, but his legendary status has helped him win 20 Grand Slam titles from 31 finals, including eight at Wimbledon.

Canelo Alvarez

With more than $40 million earned in two boxing matches in 2022, Alvarez has become one of the most highly paid athletes in the world. While this figure has not yet been verified, it is believed that the actual earnings of the Talking Moose are over $300 million. Matchroom Boxing and DAZN will be brought boxing matches from Mexico through deals with Hennessy and Canelo Productions.

Canelo Alvarez signed a five-year deal with Oscar De La Hoya's promotion company and DAZN on October 17, 2018. Canelo Alvarez is estimated to have a net worth of $180 million and is expected to fight 11 fights starting on December 15, 2018, in New York with Rocky Fielding.

Tom Brady

As the 44-year-old NFL quarterback approaches his sixth season since retirement, he isn't looking to slow down anytime soon. He is an American football quarterback, an NFL spokesman, and an entrepreneur. According to Forbes, his endorsement contracts with eyewear maker Christopher Klose, apparel juggler fanatics, and Fox total $540 million for 2022.

Tom Brady's net worth is $250 million at the time of writing. Gisele Bundchen, who is worth $400 million on her own, has a net worth of $250 million. The two of them are worth $650 million as a couple.

Brady has won six New England Patriots Super Bowls, the most among all NFL players. The four Super Bowl MVP awards he has received and the three NFL MVP awards he has won over the past decade are records for him.

Also read: Now that Tom Brady has left the NFL, Rob Gronkowski is expected to retire

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the only athlete under 30 to sign a five-year, $228 million contract in December 2020, is likely to be one of the highest-paid athletes in the future. In addition to WhatsApp, a forthcoming film on Disney+ titled Rise, and the court's support, he will remain on the list for a while. A long time will pass before they are removed.

With his supermax contract coming into effect at the beginning of the 2021/22 season, Giannis earned $27,528,088, which increased his salary to $394,900 last season. If Giannis accepts the player option in the fifth year of Gianni's five-year deal worth $228,200,420, he will make $51,935,268 as the contract begins with a lower cap hit and increases as the deal progress.

Based on his game-by-game salary this season, the Greek Freak earns $479,816 for every game he plays. When you shrink his salary to a salary per quarter, he earns $136,614. Finally, when you shrink down his salary to a salary per minute, he earns $11,385.

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American basketballer Michael Jordan

The retired American basketball player Michael Jordan is an entrepreneur, product endorser, team owner, and retired NBA player. In his NBA career, Michael Jordan earned $93.7 million in salary. He became the first athlete to earn more than $30 million annually. A base salary of $30.14 million enabled him to accomplish that feat in 1996-1997.

Michael hasn't played basketball professionally for nearly two decades but makes $100 million in endorsements and other business ventures every year.

As a result of inflation, Michael earned $33.14 million the following season, which is equal to $53.4 million today. It is important to note that Michael earns at least $60 million in Nike/Jordan brand royalties yearly, which is more than he earns from his salary in 16 NBA seasons combined.

The American wrestler Vince McMahon

With a net worth of $1.8 billion, Vince McMahon is a professional wrestling promoter, commentator, film producer, and occasional wrestler. After years of sexual harassment allegations, WWE CEO Vince McMahon announced he would retire from WWE on July 22, 2022.

The current share count of WWE is 28.7 million shares, which is 80% of the company's voting power and roughly 37% of the shares outstanding. Vince's stake in WWE stock was worth $1.2 billion pre-tax when it reached an all-time high in April 2019 at $96 and then dropped about half its value over the following six months.

Also read: McMahon bids farewell to Pat McAfee

An entrepreneur from Romania, Ion Tiriac

Having initially become a tennis player and ice hockey player, Ion Tiriac pivoted to becoming a businessman, earning billions of dollars after a relatively successful tennis career. As the richest former professional athlete in the world, Ion Tiriac peaked at around $2 billion in the last decade.

Between 2014 and 2019, Michael Jordan's net worth ranged from $1.5 million to $1.9 billion, making him the second richest athlete. Ion's fortune had been cut in half by 2020 to $1.2 billion, while Michael Jordan's net worth had increased to $2.2 billion, allowing him to become the world's richest athlete by April 2020.

An ex-pro wrestler, Dwayne Johnson

A former professional wrestler, actor, and entrepreneur, Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, is worth $800 million. It is estimated that The Rock owns 30-40% of Teremana Tequila and is valued at $2 billion conservatively. Theoretically, The Rock could make over $1 billion from the tequila company. His entire entertainment career would be worth less than $1 billion.

A typical year for The Rock earns at least $100 million from his various films and endorsements. His net worth in 2018 stood at $280 million, driven largely by his stunning $125 million earnings from last year. Between June 2018 and June 2019, his earnings totaled $90 million, bringing his net worth to $320 million.

The Rock was added to Celebrity Net Worth in December 2009 with a net worth of $30 million. He crossed $50 million for the first time within a year and a half. A celebrity net worth survey published in September 2012 named The Rock the world's richest wrestler with a net worth of $75 million. Despite some incredibly savvy business movies, his net worth surpassed $160 million in 2015.