20 World’s Top-Earning Athletes

The World’s Top-Earning Athletes - Worlds Richest Athletes: See How Much They Make...

Who are the highest paid athletes? According to Forbes, Floyd Mayweather tops the list of 100 highest-paid athletes in the world between 2011-2012,  losing out Tiger Woods who has been hailed by Forbes as the highest earning athlete from 2001-2011. Woods landed in the third rank with total earnings of $59.4 million. Mayweather got a huge payday amounting to a total of $85 million for his fights against Victor Ortiz with $40 million and Miguel Cotto with $45 million. He is part of the 4 biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view events throughout the boxing history. He owns the Mayweather Promotions which he uses to promote his fight thereby increasing his earnings substantially.
The total earnings of the athletes are derived from their bonuses, salaries, appearance fees, prize money, endorsement and licensing from June 2011 to June 2012. According to Forbes, the 100 highest-paid athletes made a combined $2.6 billion in the past 12 months. The athlete’s agent’s fees and taxes were not deducted from their earnings.

#1. Floyd Mayweather

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $85 million      Salary/winnings: $85 million
Endorsements: $0
Sport: Boxing , Age: 35

#2. Manny Pacquaio

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $62 million
Salary/winnings: $56 million
Endorsements: $6 million (Monster Energy, Hennessy, Nike, Hewlett-Packard)
Sport: Boxing , Age: 33

#3. Tiger Woods

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $59.4 million
Salary/winnings: $4.4 million
Endorsements: $55 million (Nike)
Sport: Golf, Age: 36
Net Worth: $500 million – As of September 2010, according to Forbes

#4. LeBron James

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $53 million
Salary/winnings: $13 million
Endorsements: $40 million ( Nike, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, State Farm and others)
Sport: Basketball, Age: 27

#5. Roger Federer

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $52.7 million
Salary/winnings: $7.7 million
Endorsements: $45 million (Nike, Rolex, Wilson, Credit Suisse)
Sport: Tennis, Age: 30

#6. Kobe Bryant

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $52.3 million
Salary/winnings: $20.3 million
Endorsements: $32 million
Sport: Basketball, Age: 33

#7. Phil Mickelson

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $47.8 million
Salary/winnings: $4.8 million
Endorsements: $43 million (Callaway, Barclay’s, KPMG, Exxon, Rolex, Amgen/Pfizer)
Sport: Golf, Age: 41

#8. David Beckham

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $46 million
Salary/winnings: $9 million
Endorsements: $37 million (Burger King, Sainsbury’s, Samsung)
Net Worth: £160 million ($260m) – As of April 2012, according to the Sunday Times Rich List
Sport: Football, Age:37

#9 Cristiano Ronaldo

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $42.5 million
Salary/winnings: $20.5 million
Endorsements: $22 million (Nike, Castrol, Konami and others)
Sport: Football, Age: 27

#10 Peyton Manning

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $42.4 million
Salary/winnings: $32.4 million
Endorsements: $10 million (Reebok, Sony, Wheaties, DirecTV, Gatorade, Papa John’s)
Sport: Football (NFL)  , Age: 36

#11. Lionel Messi

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $39 million
Salary/winnings: $20 million
Endorsements: $19 million (PepsiCo, Herbalife, EA Sports, Cherry, Audemars Piguet, Dolce & Gabanna and others)
Sport: Football, Age: 24

#12 Haloti Ngata

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $37.3 million
Salary/winnings: $37.1 million
Endorsements: $200,000
Sport: Football (NFL)

#13 Larry Fitzgerald

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $36.8 million
Salary/winnings: $35.3 million
Endorsements: $1.5 million (Nike, EAS, University of Phoenix, AT&T and others)
Sport: Football (NFL)

#14 Ndamukong Suh

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $36 million
Salary/winnings: $35.5 million
Endorsements: $500,000
Sport: Football (NFL)

#15 Charles Johnson

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $34.4 million
Salary/winnings: $34.3 million
Endorsements: $100,000
Sport: Football (NFL)

#16= Rafael Nadal

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $33.2 million
Salary/winnings: $8.2 million
Endorsements: $25 million ( Nike, Babolat, Kia Motors, Richard Mille and Bacardi)
Sport: Tennis, Age: 26

#16= Mario Williams

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $33.2 million
Salary/winnings: $32.9 million
Endorsements: $250,000
Sport: Football (NFL)

#18. Alex Rodriguez

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $33 million
Salary/winnings: $31 million
Endorsements: $2 million (Nike, Rawlings, Topps and Vita Coco)
Sport: Baseball, Age: 36

#19 Fernando Alonso

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $32 million
Salary/winnings: $29 million
Endorsements: $3 million
Sport: Race Car (Formula One)

#20= Valentino Rossi

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $30 million
Salary/winnings: $17 million
Endorsements: $13 million
Sport: Motorcycle racing

#20= Michael Schumacher

Total Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $30 million
Salary/winnings: $20 million
Endorsements: $10 million
Sport: Race Car (Formula One)