Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

The World's 10 wealthiest athletes, 2018

June 06, 2018 16:08 IST

Boxer Floyd Mayweather topped the Forbes list of best paid athletes for the fourth time in seven years, followed by soccer superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Mayweather pocketed a massive $275 million from last year's fight against Conor McGregor, whose cut of the purse elevated him to fourth spot.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who topped the rankings for the last two years, slipped to third in the standings behind his Barcelona rival Messi.

Brazil's Neymar, who became the world's most expensive soccer player after his $260 million move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain last August, is fifth.

Tennis great Roger Federer, basketball players LeBron James and Stephen Curry and National Football League quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford round off the top 10 of the 100 wealthiest athletes on the planet.

Virat Kohli is the only sportsperson from India on the list, ranked 83rd with earnings of $24 million (about Rs 1.4 billion/Rs 140 crore).

There are shockingly no women on the list, with tennis icon Serena Williams, the sole lady on last year's roster, having dropped out of the rankings after taking a baby break from the sport.

Check out the World's Top 10 highest earning athletes in 2018

#1. Floyd Mayweather
Earnings: $285 million
(Salary $275 M + Endorsements $10M)
Sport: Boxing
#2. Lionel Messi
Earnings: $111 million
(Salary $84 M+ Endorsements $27 M)
Sport: Football
#3. Cristiano Ronaldo
Earnings: $108 million
(Salary $61 M+ Endorsements $47 M)
Sport: Football
#4. Conor McGregor
Earnings: $99 million
(Salary $85 M+ Endorsements $14 M)
Sport: Mixed Martial Arts
#5. Neymar
Earnings: $90 million
(Salary $73 M+ Endorsements $17 M)
Sport: Football
#6. LeBron James
Earnings: $85.5 million
(Salary $33.5 M+ Endorsements $52 M)
Sport: Basketball
#7. Roger Federer
Earnings: $77.2 million
(Salary $12.2 M+ Endorsements $65 M)
Sport: Tennis
#8. Stephen Curry
Earnings: $76.9 million
(Salary $34.9 M+ Endorsements $42 M)
Sport: Basketball
#9. Matt Ryan
Earnings: $67.3 million
(Salary $62.3 M+ Endorsements $5 M)
Sport: American football
#10. Matthew Stafford
Earnings: $59.9 million
(Salary $57.5 M+ Endorsements $2 M)
Sport: American football
#83. Virat Kohli
Earnings: $24 million
(Salary $4 M+ Endorsements $20 M)
Sport: Cricket
(* The only Indian in the list)

All Photographs: Getty Images
Harish Kotian, Ashish Narsale