Ronaldo tops Forbes’ richest athletes listing forward of Curry, Fury; Messi at No. 5

Cristiano Ronaldo topped Forbes’ 2025 listing of the world’s highest paid athletes, forward of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury. 

The listing takes under consideration every athlete’s respective salaries and paydays, in addition to sponsorship offers and look charges. 

Every of the listing’s prime 10 athletes are estimated to have earned at the least $100 million this previous 12 months, with Ronaldo coming in with round $275 million. The previous Actual Madrid and Manchester United star has topped the Forbes listing for 3 straight years.

Curry is available in second on the listing with $156 million, forward of two different NBA stars – LeBron James (at No. 6) with an estimated $133.8 million and Kevin Durant (at No. 10) with $101.4 million. 

Fury is the one athlete who doesn’t play a group sport to look on this 12 months’s listing. At No. 3, the boxer reportedly racked up $146 million in earnings. Behind him at No. 4 is Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott ($137 million) – the one NFL participant to crack the top-10 listing. 

Lionel Messi rounds out the highest 5, with the World Cup winner coming in with $135 million. 

Two MLB gamers – New York Mets slugger Juan Soto (No. 8, $114 million) and Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Otani (No. 9, $101.4 million) – additionally make the listing.

Forbes’ 10 highest-paid athletes for 2025

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, soccer: $275m2. Stephen Curry, NBA: $156m3. Tyson Fury, boxing: $146m 4. Dak Prescott, NFL: $137m5. Lionel Messi, soccer: $135m 6. LeBron James, NBA: $133.8m 7. Juan Soto, MLB: $114m 8. Karim Benzema, soccer: $104m 9. Shohei Ohtani, MLB: $102.5m10. Kevin Durant, NBA: $101.4m 

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