Sports lovers are interested in knowing how much their favorite player earns and want to see their favorite player in the list of highest paid athletes. Cristiano Ronaldo’s annual playing salary almost doubled to around $200 million after he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr. Do you want to know who is the richest athlete in the world? Here is the list of the top 10 richest athletes in the world in 2025. Do you have a favorite player in this list?
Note: This list has been made only according to the last year’s earnings of the athletes and not according to the total wealth.
10. Lamar Jackson – $100 million
Last year earnings: $100.5 million
- Sport: NFL
- Country: United States
Lamar Jackson is an American professional football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, won the Heisman Trophy in 2016, and was selected by the Ravens with the final pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million extension with the Ravens in May 2023 after representing himself in negotiations. Kareem is one of the richest athletes in the world, earning $100 million last year.
A two-time recipient of the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and the all-time leader in quarterback rushing yards, Jackson is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks of his generation, and the greatest dual-threat quarterback of all time.
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09. Stephen Curry – $102 million
Last year earnings: $102 million
- Sport: Basketball
- Country: United States
Wardell Stephen Curry is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
Also considered the greatest shooter in NBA history, Curry is credited with revolutionizing the game by inspiring teams and players to take more three-point shots.
An eight-time NBA All-Star and eight-time All-NBA selection, including four times on the first team, he has been named NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice, has won four NBA championships, and has reached the NBA Finals.
08. Karim Benzema – $106 million
Last year earnings: $106 million
- Sport: Soccer
- Country: France
Karim Mostafa Benzema is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker and captains Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad. With earnings of $106 million last year, Karim is one of the richest athletes in the world.
Benzema is a creative forward regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest strikers of all time, known for his technical prowess, vision and versatility on the field.
Benzema is Real Madrid’s second-highest goalscorer and top assist provider of all time. He won 25 trophies with Real Madrid, including four La Liga, three Copa del Rey and five UEFA Champions League titles. He has scored over 400 career goals for club and country.
07. Neymar – $108 million
Last year earnings: $108 million
- Sport: Association football
- Country: Brazil
Neymar da Silva Santos is a Brazilian professional football player. He plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. Neymar A prolific goalscorer and renowned playmaker, he is regarded as one of the best players in the world.
He has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, making him one of only three players to achieve this. Neymar is one of the top 10 richest athletes in the world by 2025, earning $108 million last year by Forbes.
He then achieved the domestic double in the 2015-16 season. Propelled to become a talisman at club level, Neymar was transferred to PSG in 2017 in a €222 million move, making him the most expensive player ever.
06. Kylian Mbappé – $110 million
Last year earnings: $110 million
- Sport: Soccer
- Country: United States
Kylian Mbappé is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and is the captain of the France national team. At just 24, Mbappe has become the face of French football, picking up three Ligue 1 Player of the Year awards and leading the league in scoring four times in four years.
Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his dribbling, pace and finishing. Born in Paris and raised in nearby Bondy, Mbappé began his senior club career with Monaco in 2015, where he won the Ligue 1 title in the 2016-17 season.
In 2017, at the age of 18, Mbappé signed for Paris Saint-Germain on a permanent transfer worth €180 million, making him the second most expensive player ever and the most expensive teenage player ever. Mbappe is the 6th richest athlete in the world with an earning of $110 million.
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05. Giannis Antetokounmpo – $111 million
Last year earnings: $111 million
- Sport: Basketball
- Country: Greece
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. He is on the 5th position in the top 10 richest athletes in the world in 2025. He earned $111 million last year.
Antetokounmpo’s country of origin, in addition to his size, speed, power and ball-handling skills, has earned him the nickname “Greek Freak”. Antetokounmpo has received six All-Star selections, including being selected as an All-Star captain in 2019 and 2020, as he led the Eastern Conference in voting each of these two years.
Born and raised in Athens to Nigerian parents, Antetokounmpo began playing basketball for the youth teams of Filathlitikos in Athens. The two-time MVP of the Milwaukee Bucks signed a five-year, $228 million contract in December 2020, the NBA’s largest contract by total value to date.
04. LeBron James – $128 million
Last year earnings: $128.2 million
- Sport: Basketball
- Country: United States
With earnings of $128 million, LeBron James is the 4th richest athlete in the world by 2025. He is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He is widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history and is often compared to Michael Jordan in debates about the greatest basketball player. During his 18-year career, James holds the records for all-time playoff points, third in all-time points, and eighth in career assists.
In October he sold a significant minority stake in SpringHill, the production company behind both projects, at a valuation of $725 million, increasing his net worth to $850 million, according to estimates. After announcing an endorsement deal with Crypto.com in January, James appeared in a Super Bowl commercial alongside a computer-generated version of his younger self.
03. Lionel Messi – $135 million
Last year earnings: $135 million
- Sport: Association football
- Country: Argentina
Lionel Andres Messi is an Argentine professional footballer. He plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and is the captain of the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Messi has won a record six Ballon d’Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named in the Ballon d’Or Dream Team in 2020. Messi has scored over 750 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals scored by a player for a single club.
Lionel Messi is the 3rd richest athlete in the world with an earnings of $135 million in 2024. He also became Hard Rock International’s first athlete brand ambassador in a deal announced last June, helping Messi draw level with Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of his off-field earnings for the first time since 2013.
02. Jon Rahm – $218 million
Last year earnings: $218 million
- Sport: Golf
- Country: Spain
Jon Rahm is a Spanish professional golfer from the Basque Country, last year ranked by Forbes as the second-highest-paid athlete in the world. Rahm was born on 10 November 1994 in Barrica, a town in the Biscay province of the Basque Country, Spain. In June 2021, Rahm became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open.
In 2023, he won the Masters Tournament, his second major championship. On 7 December 2023, Rahm announced he was joining LIV Golf.
As an amateur player he represented Spain at various levels and was part of the Spanish teams that won the 2011 European Boys’ Team Championship and the 2014 European Amateur Team Championship. He was the individual leader at the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy.
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01. Cristiano Ronaldo – $260 million
Last year earnings: $260 million
- Sport: Association football
- Country: Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese professional footballer. He plays as a forward for Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr and captains the Portugal national team. With an earnings of $260 million Ronaldo is the richest athlete in the world.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, the most by any European player.
Most of Cristiano Ronaldo’s earning power comes from his huge social media presence. She has over 849 million followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, giving her the advantage of demanding skyrocketing rates from sponsors like Nike, Herbalife and Clear Shampoo.
He has won 34 trophies in his illustrious career, which includes seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League.
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