Portuguese striker pulls in $260m in 2024, far ahead of those next on the list: Stephen Curry, Tyson Fury, Lionel Messi and LeBron James.
Cristiano Ronaldo again topped the list of the world’s highest paid athletes with a total income of $260m in 2024, according to sports industry news site Sportico, but there were no women in the top 100.
The leading 100, dominated by players from football, the NBA, NFL, golf and boxing, earned an estimated $6.2bn in total income last year. The figure includes $4.8bn in salary and prize money plus $1.4bn in endorsements.
Former United States Open tennis champion Coco Gauff was the top-earning female athlete last year at $30.4m, well short of Daniel Jones, quarterback of American football’s Minnesota Vikings, who squeezed in at number 100 with a total income of $37.5m.
Ronaldo’s lucrative contract with Saudi Arabian football team Al-Nassr ensured he retained the top spot for a second straight year after he moved to the Saudi Pro League in December 2022.
Sportico said the Portugal forward, who celebrated his 40th birthday last week, earned a hefty $215m in wages while he also made $45m in endorsements. Forbes last year reported an estimated return of $260m for the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward.
Ronaldo is so far ahead of the other athletes in the world that Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who is second on the list, came in more than $100m short of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. The NBA star earned $153.8m in 2024.
British boxer Tyson Fury, who lost to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in a heavyweight clash in December, is third on the list at $147m.
The top five are rounded out by Inter Miami’s Argentina captain Lionel Messi ($135m) and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James ($133.2m), the only 40-year-old currently playing in the NBA.
The top 100 is made up of athletes who play eight sports and hail from 27 countries.
While the American Gauff, who is only 20, could climb up the list in the years to come, there have been other female athletes who would have cracked the list in the past.
Business magazine Forbes said Japan’s four-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka was the world’s highest paid female athlete in 2022 after she pulled in $57.3m in prize money and endorsements.
Retired tennis great Serena Williams, who won 23 singles majors, earned $41.8m in 2021, according to Forbes. The American retired from the sport in 2022 at the US Open.
