In today’s world, the athletes they are real individual companies, capable of obtaining earnings that go beyond their natural use on the competition field. Just think of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry who are owners of major media companies, or Serena Williams who is part of a venture capital, or Tom Brady, active in the field of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. According to reports from Forbes, the 50 highest paid athletes on the planet managed to add a total of 2.97 billion dollars – before taxes and fees due to agents – in 2021, increasing the record set just twelve months earlier by 8%. On the podium we still find the two aces of football and great rivals of the recent past, Lionel Messi, credited with a total profit of 130 million dollars, better than anyone else, and Cristiano Ronaldo, third at 115 million. Among the gold the basketball legend LeBron James, second at 121.2 million.
To find a representative of the motorsport you have to scroll to 17th position, with the seven-time world champion of Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton which added up to $ 57 million in salary and $ 8 million in off-the-shelf earnings, amounting to 65 million totals. The reigning world champion is also present in the ranking Max Verstappen, 27th at 48 million, achieved with 46 salary and 2 external activities.
Forbes top 10 highest paid athletes (dollar figures)
1. Lionel Messi (football) 130 million
2. LeBron James (basketball) 121.2 million
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (football) 115 million
4. Neymar (football) 95 million
5. Stephen Curry (basketball) 92.8 million
6. Kevin Durant (basketball) 92.1 million
7. Roger Federer (tennis) 90.7 million
8. Canelo Alvarez (boxing) 90 million
9. Tom Brady (football) 83.9 million
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo (basketball) 80.9 million
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