It's immediately obvious that boxers are raking it in. The list starts and end with someone from the ring - Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas led the charts back in 1990 while Floyd Mayweather is seen towards the top come 2019. In all, 16 boxers made the top 10 at some stage over that 30-year period.
The 90s were largely dominated by Jordan (topping the charts 6 times) and Tyson, although the latter's fall from grace saw him quickly slide down the list.
Tiger Woods spent eleven years as a top earner in the world but after being caught in controversy, his career (and earnings) quickly declined. Mayweather, who is earning a staggering $217,507, 250 in 2019, reportedly took home $US100 million alone from his fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
Footballers feature strongly in recent times: Messi (2019), Ronaldo (2016, 2017), and Neymar finished 2nd to 4th respectively while Lebron James rounded out the top 5 come 2019.
In 2019, these are the top 10 highest paid athletes, combining for yearly earnings of over US$1 billion.
- Floyd Mayweather - $US 208,278,00
- Lionel Messi - $US 115,307,200
- Cristiano Ronaldo - $US 108,269,200
- Neymar - $US 93,733,500
- LeBron James - $US 86,371,150
- Roger Federer - $US 81,232,180
- Stephen Curry - $US 77,621, 810
- Conor McGregor - $US74,358,900
- Matt Ryan - US$59,549,030
- Matthew Stafford - US$45,409,408
From 1989 to 2019, these are the highest paid athletes and the year they topped the chars.
- Tiger Woods, 11 (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013)
- Michael Jordan, 6 (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998)
- Floyd Mayweather, 4 (2012, 2014, 2015, 2018)
- Mike Tyson, 2 (1990, 1996)
- Michael Schumacher, 2 (1999, 2000)
- Christiano Ronaldo, 2 (2016, 2017)
- Evander Holyfield, 1 (1991)
- Lionel Messi, 1 (2019)
