Messi is the highest paid athlete, ahead of James and Ronaldo

For the second time since 2019, football star Lionel Messi took first place in the financial rating of athletes by business magazine “Forbes”.

According to the ranking, the 34-year-old Argentine earned 130 million US dollars (123.617 million euros) in the past twelve months after moving from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, the same period last year. The quarterback replaces mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor, who made $180 million the previous year. The Forbes list is based on research by the magazine’s editors and is based on estimates believed to be reliable.

Forbes initially only published the top 10 highest-earning athletes, and the top 50 athletes are scheduled to be announced in May. Overall, the top ten leaderboard earned $992 million ($943.293 million) between May 2021 and May of this year. This represents a six percent decrease from the previous year of $1.05 billion (€998.445 million).

Income is also outside of sports

According to Forbes estimates, Messi suffered a salary loss of $22 million as a result of his transfer, but he still earned a salary of $75 million. The Argentine has earned $55 million from non-sporting deals. Second place in the standings is basketball star LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers with $121.2 million ($41.2 million / $80 million), ahead of Messi rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United with $115 million ($60 million / $55 million).

Tennis player Roger Federer, ranked No. 1 in 2020, is seventh, with $90 million, and is the top leader in non-sports earnings. In total, the long-injured Swiss earned $90.7 million, including $0.7 million from tournaments.

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