- The 10 highest earning athletes in the world took home a combined $941 million each year in wages and sponsorships between June 2018 to June 2019, according to Forbes.
- Lionel Messi, LeBron James, and Roger Federer are amongst them.
- See below for the full list, as well as a breakdown of how each superstar earns their money.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
10: Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets netted a cool $65.4 million.
Durant, 31, joined the Nets in 2019 after three seasons with the Golden State Warriors. He signed a four-year deal worth a total of $164 million, though is yet to play a game for his new side due to undergoing surgery on his achilles tendon.
He has as many as 30 sponsors including Gatorade, Beats by Dre, and Nike, the latter of whom he signed a 10-year-old, $300 million deal with in 2014, according to USA Today.
9: The Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry apparently earned $79.8 million.
Stephen Curry earned $42 million from his sponsorship deals between June 2018 and 2019. The most recent of those is with Rakuten, who pay him $20 million per year, according to CNBC.
The 31-year-old's $37.8 million annual wage packet made up the rest of his earnings.
8: LeBron James is the NBA's highest earner with an income of $89 million.
James was basketball's biggest baller when it came to cash. In wages alone he earned $36 million between June 2018 and 2019, according to Forbes.
However, his off-court earnings far superseded that — the Los Angeles Lakers star earned $53 million from his deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, and Kia Motors.
7: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers earned $89.3 million.
NFL players take home far more in wages than those in the NBA or MLB, and Rodgers is one of the league's biggest earners; his salary for the Packers earned him just over $80 million.
Off the field however, the 36-year-old made a relatively modest $9 million from his endorsement deals with Adidas and Ford, amongst others.
6. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks pocketed $89.5 million.
The highest earner in the NFL was Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
Like Rodgers, he made most of his money in wages, taking home a salary of $80.5 million. And again like Rodgers, he topped that up with $9 million worth of sponsorship deals with Nike, Microsoft, and Bose.
5: The only tennis player in the top ten, Roger Federer made $93.4 million.
Roger Federer may not have won a major title between June 2018 and 2019, but he was still tennis' biggest cash cow, mostly thanks to his many profitable sponsorship deals.
Between that period, the Swiss star took home $86 million — more than any other athlete in the world — from his partnerships with Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, and more.
To top it off, he also won $7.4 million in prize money from tournament wins in Dubai, Germany, and his home country.
4: The world's highest paid combat athlete is Saul Alvarez, who earned $94 million.
No other combat sport athlete came close to earning what Mexican boxer Saul "Canelo" Alvarez did over the course of last year.
Alvarez signed a $365 million, 11-fight deal with streaming service DAZN in late 2018, and banked around $50 million from his first two with Rocky Fielding and Daniel Jacobs.
3: Neymar Jr. is the first of three soccer players heading the list, receiving $105 million.
Neymar became the world's most expensive ever soccer player in 2017 when he joined Paris Saint Germain for a $263 million fee.
The Brazilian signed a five-year contract worth $350 million, which expires in 2022.
He's also one of most followed sportspeople on social media with more than 200 million followers across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, meaning brands such as Nike, Gillette, and Red Bull are willing to pay big bucks to have his name and face associated with them.
2: Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo comes in second, having banked $109 million.
Ronaldo earns more money from the social media platform than he does from his wages at Juventus — he truly is an Instagram king.
Ronaldo makes approximately $1 million per post, representing brands such as Clear Haircare, Nike Football, and Six Pad Europe.
That being said, his wages aren't too shabby either — he earned $65 million last year.
1: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona is the world's biggest earner, hauling in $127 million.
Messi's current contract with FC Barcelona, which expires in 2021, pays him more than $80 million annually.
He also has a long-standing deal with Adidas that earns him $12 million each year, according to Investopedia, whilst his other partnerships with Pepsi and Mastercard see him soar ahead of everyone else as the world's highest paid athlete.
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