Highest Paid Athletes… Tiger No Longer #1! Who is?
Forbes Magazine has released its annual list of the top 100 highest paid athletes over the past year. Since 2001, Tiger Woods has been the highest paid athlete on that list. Not this year! Find out who the new number one is.
- 1
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Total Earnings: $85 million, Salary/Winning: $85 million, Endorsements: $0With two big fights in the last 12 months, Floyd Mayweather Jr. earned $85 million before heading off to jail for a few months. In September, Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz and earned $40 million before winning a unanimous decision against Miquel Cotto in May to earn $45 million. Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. spent less than an hour in the ring to earn the top spot on Forbes list.
- 2
Manny Pacquiao
Total Earnings: $62 million, Salary/Winning: $56 million, Endorsements: $6 millionPacquiao also had two fights over the past 12 months, netting him $56 million from the ring. He also has income through endorsement deals with Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Hennessy and Monster Energy.
- 3
Tiger Woods
Total Earnings: $59.4 million, Salary/Winnings: $4.4 million, Endorsements: $55 millionTiger had been the highest paid athlete each year since 2001 but his income is down due in part to un-renewed endorsement deals from sponsors like Tag-Heuer and Gillette. Woods total earnings dropped $16 million from last year and is now half of what it was in 2009 when he was at an earnings peak. Because of his Nike deal, Tiger remains one of the highest paid athletes.
- 4
Lebron James
Total Earnings: $53 million, Salary/Winnings: $13 million, Endorsements: $40 million13 basketballers made the Forbes Top 100 but none made more than King James. Lebron had his salary cut by 20% due to the NBA lockout but has made a mint from endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, State Farm and McDonald's. James' income also gets a boost from a marketing partnership with Fenway Sports Group which gives him a stake in the Liverpool soccer club.
- 5
Roger Federer
Total Earnings: $52.7 million, Salary/Winnings: $7.7 million, Endorsements: $45 millionFederer may no longer be the number one tennis player in the world but he is still the number one earner and his endorsement portfolio may be the best in all of sport. He collects more than $30 million annually from long term deals with sponsors like Nike, Rolex, Wilson and Credit-Suisse. Roger gets $1 million from each exhibition event he plays in. He has more than $71 million in career winnings, a record for tennis players.
- 6
Kobe Bryant
Total Earnings: $52.3 million. Salary/Winnings: $20.3 million, Endorsements: $32 millionKobe has been the highest paid player in the NBA for the last two years but he lost about $5 million in salary from the NBA lockout. His net worth is down since his wife Vanessa announced plans to divorce him in December.
- 7
Phil Mickelson
Total Earnings: $47.8 million, Salary/Winnings: $4.8 million, Endorsements: $43 millionPhil has more than $66 million in career prize money. He rakes it in as well with more than $30 million each year from sponsors like Callaway, Barclay's, KPMG, Exxon, Rolex and Pfizer. In 2010 "Lefty" was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and was treated with the drug Enbrel which he now promotes.
- 8
David Beckham
Total Earnings: $46 million, Salary/Winnings: $9 million, Endorsements: $37 millionSponsors love David Beckham as he endorses Burger King, Sainsbury's and Samsung. Although Beckham has likely signed his last player contract, he plans to exercise his option to buy an MLS franchise when his playing days are over.
- 9
Cristiano Ronaldo
Total Earnings: $42.5 million, Salary/Winnings: $20.5 million, Endorsements: $22 millionRonaldo may be the highest paid soccer player in the world but he earns even more off the pitch with deals from Nike, Castrol, and Konami among others.
- 10
Peyton Manning
Total Earnings: $42.4 million, Salary/Winnings: $32.4 million, Endorsements: $10 millionPeyton is the NFL's top pitch man with endorsement deals from Reebok, Sony, DirecTV, Wheaties, Gatorade and Papa John's. After being released from the Colts in March he signed a contract with the Denver Broncos for five years and $96 million.