Cristiano Ronaldo ranked Forbes highest-paid athlete again

By Fatima | Published on May 16, 2025

Sports / May 16, 2025

Cristiano Ronaldo ranked Forbes highest-paid athlete again

In the recently released Forbes list of world's highest paid athletes, Cristiano Ronaldo has topped it for the third consecutive year, increasing his already jaw-dropping income.

New Delhi:

Ace footballer Cristiano Ronaldo continues to reign on the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, released recently, making it his third successive year of being at the top.

Next to him is NBA star Stephen Curry, who moved up to second. As per the business magazine, Ronaldo has topped the list five times in his career so far, increasing his estimated total earnings by $15 million last year, taking it to $275 million.

World’s top 10 highest-paid athletes 2025 (Forbes)

Cristiano Ronaldo (football): $275 million

Stephen Curry (basketball): $156 million

Tyson Fury (boxing): $146 million

Dak Prescott (American football): $137 million

Lionel Messi (football): $135 million

LeBron James (basketball): $133.8 million

Juan Soto (baseball): $114 million

Karim Benzema (football): $104 million

Shohei Ohtani (baseball): $102.5 million

Kevin Durant (basketball): $101.4 million

The 40-year-old enjoys a strong social media following of 939 million, which backs his brand deals. Meanwhile, Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors as a guard and had reached 4,000 career three-pointers in March, becoming the first player to do so, has climbed up to second after earning $156 million.

Britain boxer Tyson Fury has moved to the third place with an income of $146 million in spite of losing his world heavyweight titles to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in December last year.

Fury benefited from a Netflix reality television show and a partnership with Maltese tourism as well. Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s long-standing rival Lionel Messi continues to fall behind the Portuguese after dropping from third to fifth spot with $135 million.

The jaw-dropping figure has only been eclipsed by former boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather, who recorded earnings of $300 million in 2015 and $275 million in 2018.

Portugal forward Ronaldo had moved to the lucrative Saudi Pro League in 2022, joining Al Nassr in December that year, and went on to generate greater income through brand endorsements and sponsorship deals.2.