Portugal and Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo remained atop Forbes magazine’s list of 100 highest-paid athletes of the world with Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James moving up to second taking over from Argentina and FC Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi.
The 32-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo is estimated to have earned an estimated $93 million between his salary of $58 million and $35 million in endorsement income.
It’s the second straight year Ronaldo has topped the list, released Wednesday just days after he spearheaded Real Madrid’s 4-1 UEFA Champions League victory over Juventus that made the Spaniards the first team to retain the UCL title.
LeBron James, with estimated earnings of $86.2 million, was one of 32 NBA players who made the top 100, a massive increase of 14 more basketballers from last year.
Argentine footballer Lionel Messi dropped into third with $80 million ($53 million salary / $27 million endorsements).
The next best footballer in the ranking are strikers in Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona) in 18th position followed by Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid) in 24th and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Manchester United) in 30th position.
Here the list of the Top 25 under https://www.forbes.com/athletes/list/
The Forbes figures include salaries, prize money and bonuses earned between June 1, 2016, and June 1, 2017. Endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorships, appearance fees and licensing incomes for the same 12-month period based on conversations with industry insiders.