History & Records

Forbes Ranks The Highest-Paid Athletes of All Time, Michael Jordan Tops Messi and C. Ronaldo

Published

7 years ago

December 13, 2016

Forbes has released a list of the highest paid athletes of all time. Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have made their way into Forbes alongside another footballer; David Beckham. Other popular athletes on the list are Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather.

Barcelona star Messi is ranked in 17th on the list, having earned £413m during his career while rival Ronaldo is 14th on the list after earning a total of £493m during his career.

20. Manny Pacquiao (£389 million)

18. Jeff Gordon (£409 million)19. Oscar De La Hoya (£405 million)

17. Lionel Messi (£413 million)

16. Alex Rodriguez (£477 million)

15. Roger Federer (£477 million)

14. Cristiano Ronaldo (£493 million)

13. Lebron James (£508 million)

12. Greg Norman (£540 million)

11. Mike Tyson (£544 million)

10. Shaquille O’Neal (£556 million)

9. David Beckham (£580 million)

8. Phil Mickelson (£604 million)

7. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (£608 million)

6. Kobe Bryant (£612 million)

5. Michael Schumacher (£794 million)

4. Jack Nicklaus (£914 million)

3. Arnold Palmer (£1.07 billion)

2. Tiger Woods (£1.31 billion)

1. Michael Jordan (£1.35 billion)

Former England captain David Beckham is higher on the list than both Messi and Ronaldo, sitting pretty in ninth having earned a whopping £580m in his career.