Indian skipper Virat Kohli is the only Indian athlete to be featuring in Forbes top 100 lists of world’s highest-paid athletes. He is currently standing at the 83rd position in the list. He is shown to have a salary and winning of $4m and endorsements worth $20m. In 2017, Virat was standing at the 89th position when Christiano Ronaldo was leading the charts. Last year, Kohli’s earning through salary and winnings was $3 million while brand endorsements earned him $19 million.
The champion Boxer Floyd Mayweather and football legend Lionel Messi are currently leading the charts. As per the list, the top-100 athletes are hailing from 22 different countries and compete across 11 different sporting disciplines. Close on the heels of Messi is another legendary footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo. Mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor and Brazilian footballer Neymar complete the top-5 list.
Interestingly, the top-100 paid athletes are all men and there is not a single woman on the list. Former sprint king Usain Bolt has gone down on the list as he is now standing at the 45th position. Tennis stalwart Roger Federer is 7th on the list while his toughest rival Rafael Nadal completes the top-20 list by occupying the 20th spot.
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Mayweather is leading the list of world’s highest-paid athlete for the fourth time in seven years, thanks to a $275 million payday for his August boxing match against UFC star Conor McGregor. Messi’s annual salary and bonus exceeded $80 million, making him the highest-paid player on the pitch this year.
The top-20 list goes: Floyd Mayweather, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Conor McGregor, Neymar, LeBron James, Roger Federer, Stephen Curry, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Kevin Durant, Lewis Hamilton, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Canelo Alvarez, Tiger Woods, Drew Brees, Sebastian Vettel, Derek Carr and Rafael Nadal.
See the complete list here
Forbes earnings figures include all salaries and bonuses earned between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018. Endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and licensing income for the period of 12 months through June 1 based on conversations with dozens of industry insiders. The earnings do not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees, nor include investment income.
