Sportico has released its list tracking the highest-paid athletes of all time, and Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer sit at the top.
According to the sports industry news site, Michael Jordan figures as the highest-paid athlete of all time, “with inflation-adjusted career earnings of $2.62 billion—and only 6% of the total is from his playing contracts with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.
Tiger Woods is the next top earner with $2.1 billion to his credit. And some other well-known names also fill out the top five.
The rest of the list includes:
- 3) Arnold Palmer, $1.5 billion
- 4) Jack Nicklaus, $1.38 billion
- 5) Cristiano Ronaldo, $1.24 billion
- 6) Floyd Mayweather, $1.2 billion
- 7) LeBron James, $1.17 billion
- 8) Lionel Messi, $1.14 billion
- 9) Michael Schumacher, $1.13 billion
- 10) Roger Federer, $1.12 billion
Granted, Jordan has had 30 years of earning time, and as the NBA’s GOAT, he has had opportunities to engage in many deals. However, the next closest NBA player is James, the only other basketball player on the list.
Of course, both Palmer and Nicklaus surpass even Jordan in the number of years in the sports spotlight. Their fame and earning power is nearly unrivaled. Still, one suspects that James will continue rising on this list before his days are up.
It also seems unlikely that boxing will ever see a competitor as popular as Floyd Mayweather is now.
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