Good athletes have to always be at the top of their game. I mean, they always have to excel at what they are doing in order to be the best. They have to push further and further every time, if they want to achieve the top.
It is hard to be the first at something. However, they do have a great incentive. As you will be able to see from this top – the top world’s to 50 highest paid athletes.
Money is definitely not an issue to these boys and girls. I can see that they really have to work hard, but it is really worth it – at all levels.
Please notice that this list was taken from Forbes and the data is from June 2013.
Without any further ado, here is the top 50 of the world’s highest paid athletes, by rank, name, sport, pay, salary/winnings and endorsements:
1. Floyd Mayweather (Boxing)
$105.0M, $105.0M $0 (1. Boxing)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer)
$80.0M, $52.0M, $28.0M (1. Soccer)
3. LeBron James (Basketball)
$72.3M, $19.3M, $53.0M (1. Basketball)
4. Lionel Messi (Soccer)
$64.7M, $41.7M, $23.0M
5. Kobe Bryant (Basketball)
$61.5M, $30.5M, $31.0M
6. Tiger Woods (Golf)
$61.2M, $6.2M, $55.0M (1. Golf)
7. Roger Federer (Tennis)
$56.2M, $4.2M$, 52.0M (1. Tennis)
8. Phil Mickelson (Golf)
$53.2M, $5.2M, $48.0M
9. Rafael Nadal (Tennis)
$44.5M, $14.5M, $30.0M
10. Matt Ryan (Football)
$43.8M, $42.0M, $1.8M (1. Football)
11. Manny Pacquiao (Boxing)
$41.8M, $41.0M, $0.8M
12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Soccer)
$40.4M, $36.4M, $4.0M
13. Derrick Rose (Basketball)
$36.6M, $17.6M, $19.0M
14. Gareth Bale (Soccer)
$36.4M, $25.4M, $11.0M
15. Radamel Falcao (Soccer)
$35.4M, $32.4M, $3.0M
16. Neymar (Soccer)
$33.6M, $17.6M, $16.0M
17. Novak Djokovic (Tennis)
$33.1M, $12.1M, $21.0M
18. Matthew Stafford (Football)
$33.0M, $31.5M, $1.5M
19. Lewis Hamilton (Racing)
$32.0M, $29.0M, $3.0M (1. Racing)
20. Kevin Durant (Basketball)
$31.9M, $17.9M, $14.0M
21. Fernando Alonso (Racing)
$31.0M, $29.0M, $2.0M
22. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Cricket)
$30.0M, $4.0M, $26.0M (1. Cricket)
23. Dwyane Wade (Basketball)
$29.9M, $18.9M, $11.0M
24. Carmelo Anthony (Basketball)
$29.4M, $21.4M, $8.0M
25. Wladimir Klitschko (Boxing)
$28.0M, $24.0M, $4.0M
26. Peyton Manning (Football)
$27.1M, $15.1M, $12.0M
27. Amar’e Stoudemire (Basketball)
$26.7M, $21.7M, $5.0M
28. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Racing)
$25.9M, $14.9M, $11.0M
29. Dwight Howard (Basketball)
$25.5M, $20.5M, $5.0M
30. Cliff Lee (Baseball)
$25.3M, $25.1M, $200.0K (1. Baseball)
31. Joe Mauer (Baseball)
$24.8M, $23.0M, $1.8M
32. Miguel Cabrera (Baseball)
$24.6M, $22.6M, $2.0M
33. Zack Greinke (Baseball)
$24.5M, $24.4M, $50.0K
34. Maria Sharapova (Tennis)
$24.4M, $2.4M, $22.0M
35. Derek Jeter (Baseball)
$24.3M, $15.3M, $9.0M
35. Rory McIlroy (Golf)
$24.3M, $4.3M, $20.0M
37. Chris Paul (Basketball)
$24.2M, $18.7M, $5.5M
37. CC Sabathia (Baseball)
$24.2M, $23.0M, $1.2M
39. Prince Fielder (Baseball)
$23.9M, $23.5M, $400.0K
40. Darrelle Revis (Football)
$23.8M, $23.0M, $0.8M
41. Li Na (Tennis)
$23.6M, $5.6M, $18.0M
42. Jimmie Johnson (Racing)
$23.5M, $17.0M, $6.5M
43. Wayne Rooney (Soccer)
$23.4M, $18.4M, $5.0M
44. Sergio Aguero (Soccer)
$23.3M, $18.3M, $5.0M
45. Usain Bolt (Track)
$23.2M, $200.0 K$23.0M (1. Track)
45. Dirk Nowitzki (Basketball)
$23.2M, $22.7M, $0.5M
47. Blake Griffin (Basketball)
$23.0M, $16.5M, $6.5M
48. Alex Rodriguez (Baseball)
$22.9M, $22.6M, $300.0K
48. Johan Santana (Baseball)
$22.9M, $22.5M, $400.0K
50. Mark Teixeira (Baseball)
$22.7M, $22.5M, $200.0K
Featured Image – By SportsAngle.com (CC BY-SA 2.0)