The financial scale of global elite sports continues to expand rapidly. According to the latest Forbes ranking of the world’s highest-paid athletes, all 10 athletes at the top of the list earned more than 100 million US dollars over the past year. Together, they generated an estimated 1.414 billion US dollars.
Cristiano Ronaldo once again leads the ranking. The Portuguese football superstar reportedly earned around 300 million US dollars over the last 12 months. Of that total, 235 million US dollars came from sporting income, while another 65 million US dollars came from sponsorships and business activities. Ronaldo has been playing for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr since 2023 and continues to benefit from Saudi Arabia’s massive investments into international sports.
Football Remains a Global Financial Engine
Alongside Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema are also among the world’s highest-paid athletes. Messi ranks third with 140 million US dollars, while Benzema comes eighth with 104 million US dollars. Football therefore remains heavily represented in the ranking, although no longer driven solely by Europe’s traditional top clubs. Saudi Arabia and the United States are now playing an increasingly important role in shaping football’s financial landscape.
Messi’s income at Inter Miami is boosted not only by salary payments, but also by commercial partnerships and sponsorship deals. Benzema continues to profit from the enormous spending power within the Saudi Pro League. The ranking therefore reflects a broader shift in the global economics of football.
Athletes Become Global Business Brands
One of the most striking trends is that top athletes no longer depend primarily on salaries, prize money, or bonuses. Sponsorship agreements, equity investments, personal brands, media projects, and business ventures now account for a growing share of their wealth.
Shohei Ohtani is one of the clearest examples. According to Forbes, the baseball star earned 127.6 million US dollars, with 125 million US dollars coming from sponsorships and commercial activities rather than his playing contract.
LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Lewis Hamilton also demonstrate how modern sports careers increasingly overlap with entrepreneurship. Many of today’s top athletes are not only competitors, but also investors, producers, ambassadors, and media personalities.
Saudi Arabia and the US Shape the Sports Economy
The ranking also reveals where the largest financial flows in global sports are currently concentrated. Many of the world’s top earners are active either in the United States or Saudi Arabia. While the US has long dominated through highly commercialized leagues such as the NBA, MLB, and NFL, Saudi Arabia has aggressively expanded into football, golf, boxing, and other sports over recent years.
This development is reshaping the income structure of elite sports. The biggest earners today benefit from a combination of athletic success, global visibility, media reach, and large-scale geopolitical investment strategies.
No German Athletes in the Top 50
Notably, no German athletes appear among the world’s top 50 earners. Female athletes are also absent from the top 50 ranking, underlining how strongly the highest income levels in sports remain concentrated among male stars and a small number of highly commercialized sports markets.
The Forbes ranking is therefore more than just a list of wealthy athletes. It reflects how modern elite sports have evolved into a global entertainment, branding, and investment industry. Athletic performance still matters — but the largest fortunes are increasingly built where sporting success, media reach, and business strategy intersect.
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