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Cristiano Ronaldo topped Forbes’ 2025 ranking of the world’s highest-paid athletes, with estimated earnings of $275 million. The list covers income earned from May 1, 2024, through May 1, 2025—not calendar-year 2025—and ranks estimated earnings rather than net worth or career income.
The top 10 highest-paid athletes in 2025
Forbes’ May 15, 2025, ranking put all ten athletes above $100 million in estimated earnings. The figures below are U.S. dollars and split each estimate between on-field and off-field income.
| Rank | Athlete | Sport | Total estimated earnings | On-field | Off-field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | $275 million | $225 million | $50 million |
| 2 | Stephen Curry | Basketball | $156 million | $56 million | $100 million |
| 3 | Tyson Fury | Boxing | $146 million | $140 million | $6 million |
| 4 | Dak Prescott | American football | $137 million | $127 million | $10 million |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | $135 million | $60 million | $75 million |
| 6 | LeBron James | Basketball | $133.8 million | $48.8 million | $85 million |
| 7 | Juan Soto | Baseball | $114 million | $109 million | $5 million |
| 8 | Karim Benzema | Soccer | $104 million | $100 million | $4 million |
| 9 | Shohei Ohtani | Baseball | $102.5 million | $2.5 million | $100 million |
| 10 | Kevin Durant | Basketball | $101.4 million | $51.4 million | $50 million |
Forbes reported that the ten athletes’ combined estimated earnings totaled $1.4 billion, the largest total since it began compiling the ranking in 1990, compared with $1.38 billion the previous year. It also said this was only the second time every athlete in the top ten had reached at least $100 million; the other was 2024. Stephen Curry’s $156 million was a record estimate for an NBA player at the time, while Forbes described Ronaldo’s $275 million as the third-best year it had measured for an active athlete. (Forbes Australia, May 15, 2025)
What the earnings figures include
Forbes’ on-field category includes salaries, bonuses and prize money. Depending on the sport and arrangement, it can also include soccer image-rights payments or wages subsidized by team or league sponsors. Off-field estimates cover sponsorships, appearance fees, memorabilia and licensing income, plus cash returns from businesses in which an athlete has a significant interest. Forbes excludes investment income such as interest and dividends, but includes payouts from sold equity stakes. (Forbes methodology, May 15, 2025; updated May 27, 2025)
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Why the split can look surprising
Ronaldo’s estimate was led by on-field earnings: $225 million of his $275 million total. Ohtani’s mix was nearly the reverse: Forbes estimated $100 million off-field and $2.5 million on-field for the period. The categories describe different income sources; a high off-field estimate does not mean the athlete earned that amount as salary or cash from playing.
How Forbes built the 2025 ranking
The ranking tracks income earned from May 1, 2024, to May 1, 2025. Forbes says it drew on conversations with dozens of industry insiders, news reports and salary databases, including Capology, Over the Cap and Spotrac, and converted figures to U.S. dollars using current exchange rates. The list includes athletes who were active at any point in the period. It does not subtract taxes or agents’ fees, and the estimates are not audited individual financial statements.
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Timing matters: this is an estimate of income attributed to a specific twelve-month window, not simply an annual salary multiplied by one year. Forbes assigns a full season’s salary in some cases when the season ended within the window but paychecks continued afterward. It included playoff bonuses for the 2024 MLB and NFL seasons and the 2023–24 NBA season, while excluding salary forfeited during league suspensions. On-field figures are rounded to the nearest $100,000; off-field figures are generally rounded to the nearest half-million, except when under $1 million.
Dak Prescott’s unusual position
Prescott’s fourth-place estimate reflects a calendar and contract-payment quirk, according to Forbes: a contract restructure accelerated a signing bonus, effectively putting two seasons of paychecks inside the twelve-month earnings window. His $137 million total should therefore not be read as a typical recurring annual salary.
How to interpret this list
- It is not a wealth ranking. Forbes is estimating income received during one defined period, not the athletes’ net worth or lifetime earnings.
- The totals are gross estimates. They are before taxes and agents’ fees and are assembled from reported information and insider conversations rather than audited personal accounts.
- Payment timing can affect rank. Contract structures, season calendars and bonus timing can concentrate payments within the measured window.
- The year in the title is the list year. The 2025 ranking covers May 2024 through May 2025, not January through December 2025.
BBC Sport independently reported the same top-ten order and total earnings figures as Forbes’ ranking. (BBC Sport, May 15, 2025)
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