Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi earned more than £1BILLION in last decade as top 10 highest paid athletes is revealed
CRISTIANO RONALDO and Lionel Messi earned more than £1BILLION in the last decade, it has been revealed. The two biggest names in football combined to earn a ten-figure sum in the decade just gone, according to Forbes. But, incredibly, neither were crowned richest sportsperson of the 2010s. In fact, it wasn’t even a footballer who […]
CRISTIANO RONALDO and Lionel Messi earned more than £1BILLION in the last decade, it has been revealed.
The two biggest names in football combined to earn a ten-figure sum in the decade just gone, according to Forbes.
But, incredibly, neither were crowned richest sportsperson of the 2010s.
In fact, it wasn’t even a footballer who took home the crown.
Find out who Forbes named as the top-earning sporting superstar of the decade, below…
10. LEWIS HAMILTON
Sport: Formula One
Decade earnings: £293million
HAVING won five World Championship titles in the past ten years, it’s little wonder Hamilton cracks the top ten.
What is strange is that the Mercedes star has only ONCE in that time made the annual top ten, proving longevity and consistency is key to success.
Hamilton is set to go for title No7 – having won his first in 2008 – this year, but is subject to a bidding war between Mercedes and Ferrari for his services.
9. MANNY PACQUIAO
Sport: Boxing
Decade earnings: £298million
THE second-highest paid sports star of 2012 and 2015 makes this list mostly thanks to his monster clash with Floyd Mayweather.
A massive £122m of his £298m was made from that one fight alone.
Pacquiao – the Senator of the Philippines – plans to retire in 2021.
8. NEYMAR
Sport: Football
Decade earnings: £306million
THE money rapidly began to roll in for Neymar in 2013 after his move to Barcelona from Santos.
However, his move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 saw his income skyrocket, with Neymar pocketing £76m alone in 2019 – third in the world.
7. PHIL MICKELSON
Sport: Golf
Decade earnings: £366million
JUST about clinging on to his place in the list is Mickelson, who was regularly an annual top ten feature between 2010 and 2016.
Still raking in around £37m a year, Mickelson has dropped down the annual list significantly, but is the first of two golfers on this one.
6. TIGER WOODS
Sport: Golf
Decade earnings: £472million
TAKING a huge leap, Woods comes in at No6, raking in more than £100m more in that past ten years than compatriot Mickelson.
In 2019, Woods ended an 11-year major trophy drought by winning the Masters in April.
But despite that being his only major of the decade, Woods easily cracks the top ten highest-earners from the 2010s.
5. ROGER FEDERER
Sport: Tennis
Decade earnings: £488million
FEDERER spent most of the 2010s fighting Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray for tennis supremacy.
But despite that, the Swiss legend, 38, is the only tennis ace to crack this list with nearly £500m earned, thanks in no small part to winning five Grand Slam titles in the last ten years.
4. LIONEL MESSI
Sport: Football
Decade earnings: £517million
MUCH like Federer, Messi was locked in a personal battle of his own this decade, going up against Cristiano Ronaldo for the title of greatest of all time.
But Messi is beaten to the punch in Forbes’ list, pocketing £517m thanks to a stellar decade with Barcelona, in which he won FIVE Ballons d’Or.
Some reports suggest Messi earns close to £2m a week at the La Liga giants, so it’s little wonder he made the top ten here.
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3. LEBRON JAMES
Sport: Basketball
Decade earnings: £518million
ARGUABLY the greatest basketball player to ever live, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron takes the final spot on the podium here.
The NBA legend won all three of his titles in the 2010s with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers – and hopes to make it No4 this summer with his Lakers flying high atop the Western Conference.
LeBron also won three of his four Most Valuable Player awards in the past decade to go with all three of his Finals MVP gongs.
2. CRISTIANO RONALDO
Sport: Football
Decade earnings: £548million
EKING past Messi for another personal accolade, Ronaldo is the highest-paid footballer of the decade, according to Forbes.
The forward won two La Liga crowns, four Champions League trophies and a Serie A to boot – as well as bagging FOUR Ballons d’Or in the past decade.
1. FLOYD MAYWEATHER
Sport: Boxing
Decade earnings: £667million
FAR and away the highest-earning sports star on the planet – raking in over £100m more than second-placed Ronaldo – is the aptly named “Money”.
Mayweather took home £667m thanks to huge fights with Pacquiao, Conor McGregor and Miguel Cotto amongst others.