• Forbes released the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2023 list, which includes salaries, bonuses, and endorsements.
• The top 10 list is dominated by football, basketball, and golf players, with one representative each from boxing and tennis.
• Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with a total of $136 million, followed closely by Lionel Messi with $130 million and Kylian Mbappe with $120 million. LeBron James and Canelo Álvarez complete the top five with $119.5 million and $110 million, respectively.

American business magazine, Forbes has released its annual ranking of the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2023. The list includes salaries (pretax) for the 2022-23 season, bonuses and endorsements.

The list which is topped by three football players has an estimated total of $ 1.11 billion calculated prior to taxes and agents’ fees over the last 12 months. The total for this year increased by $ 120 million and 12% compared to that of last year which is $ 990 million and 5% from the record of $1.06 billion set in 2018.

The World’s 10 Highest Paid Athletes list contains 3 athletes from the footballing world, 3 from basketball, and 2 from Golf while Boxing and Tennis have a representative each.

Cristiano Ronaldo tops the Forbes list for the first time since 2017 following his big-money move to Saudi Arabia where he earns a huge $ 75 million salary annually, with a total of $ 136 million. He sits ahead of his fierce rival, Lionel Messi, who is just $ 6 million shy away from Ronaldo’s total.

The two rivals are followed closely by French star, Kylian Mbappe who has a total of $ 120 million. The French star has the highest-paying salary in the world of football earning $ 100 million from his on-field activities.

NBA legend LeBron James is next on the list with a revenue of $ 119.5 million and Mexican boxer Canelo Álvarez completes the top five with a revenue of $110 million.

Tennis legend, Rodger Federer who announced his retirement from Tennis in September is 9th on the list with a huge $ 95 million earned from sponsorship activities.

The top 10 highest-paid athletes are:

Name: Cristiano RonaldoSports: FootballOn Field: $46millionOff Field: $90millionTotal: $136million

Name: Lionel MessiSports: FootballOn Field: $65millionOff Field: $65millionTotal: $130million

Name: Kylian MbappeSports: FootballOn Field: $100millionOff Field: $20millionTotal: $120million

Name: LeBron JamesSports: BasketballOn Field: $44.5millionOff Field: $75millionTotal: $119.5million

Name: Canelo AlvarezSports: BoxingOn Field: $100millionOff Field: $10millionTotal: $110million

Name: Dustin JohnsonSports: GolfOn Field: $102millionOff Field: $5millionTotal: $107million

Name: Phil MickelsonSports: GolfOn Field: $104millionOff Field: $2millionTotal: $106million

Name: Stephen CurrySports: BasketballOn Field: $48.4millionOff Field: $52millionTotal: $100.4million

Name: Rodger FedererSports: TennisOn Field: $0.1millionOff Field: $95millionTotal: $95.1million

Name: Kevin DurantSports: BasketballOn Field: $44.1millionOff Field: $45millionTotal: $89.1million