Ronaldo tops Forbes highest-paid athlete list again

May 16, 2025 09:38 am

Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the Forbes list of highest-paid athletes for the third consecutive year, while NBA star Stephen Curry has moved up to second.

The business magazine, external says Ronaldo, who has topped the list fives times during his career, has increased his estimated total earnings by $15m to $275m (approx £206m).

That figure has only been surpassed by former world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300m in 2015 (then £194m) and $275m in 2018 (then £205m).

Portugal forward Ronaldo, 40, moved to the lucrative Saudi Pro League with Al Nassr in December 2022 and has generated greater income through off-field endorsements and sponsorship deals backed by his social media followers, which currently total 939m.

Golden State Warriors guard Curry, who became the first NBA player to reach 4,000 career three-pointers in March, climbs up to second after earning $156m (approx £117m).

British boxer Tyson Fury moved up to third with $146m (approx £109m) despite losing his world heavyweight titles to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in December.

Fury was the beneficiary of a Netflix reality television show and a partnership with Maltese tourism.

Ronaldo’s long-standing rival Lionel Messi has fallen further behind the Portuguese after dropping from third to fifth.

World’s top 10 highest paid athletes 2025
All £ figures are approx

Cristiano Ronaldo, football: $275m (£206.6m)

Stephen Curry, basketball: $156m (£117.2m)

Tyson Fury, boxing: $146m (£109.7m)

Dak Prescott, American football: $137m (£103m)

Lionel Messi, football: $135m (£101.4m)

LeBron James, basketball: $133.8m (£105.5m)

Juan Soto, baseball: $114m (£85.7m)

Karim Benzema, football: $104m (£78.2m)

Shohei Ohtani, baseball: $102.5m (£77m)