Global athletes "money-making king": total career income of 30 billion yuan, surpassing Ronaldo, James and Messi

The American sports business media "Sportico" has included the top 50 athlete income list in history, and comprehensively considers the athletes' game bonuses, salary income, and off-site income such as commercial endorsement and brand cooperation in their careers. According to sports, 13 people in basketball are on the list, ranking first; followed by 8 people in golf, 7 people in boxing, 5 people in tennis, 4 people in football, F1, and American football, 2 people in baseball and NASCAR, and 1 person in motorcycle.

From the perspective of national distribution, the United States occupies 34 seats and stands out as the most powerful. The United Kingdom and Spain each hold two seats. One person was shortlisted for Portugal, Argentina, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, Australia, the Philippines, Mexico, Italy, Serbia, South Africa and Finland.

Serena Williams ("Sealway") is the only female athlete in the TOP50. As one of the greatest champions in women's tennis history, he has won 858 wins and 156 losses in his career singles, with a winning rate of 84.6%. He has won 73 championships, including a record 23 Grand Slam singles champions (7 times in the Australian Open, 3 times in the French Open, 7 times in the Wimbledon, and 6 times in the US Open). His victory spans 18 seasons, making it the best in the Open era.

She is also the only tennis player to achieve the "career Golden Slam" of singles and doubles. She is the female player with the longest number of singles in the world in the Open era. Her career total income reached US$485 million. After inflation adjustment, it is equivalent to US$660 million today, ranking 40th on the list. There are 5 tennis players on the list, in addition to Serena Williams, Nadal (26), Djokovic (33), and Agassi (44). "Swiss King" Roger Federer ranked 9th on the list with US$1.59 billion. He won 03 professional singles titles and 20 Grand Slam titles in his career (8 Wimbledon, 6 Australian Open, 5 US Open, and 1 French Open). He ranked first in the world in singles for a total of 310 weeks (including 237 consecutive weeks).

Although it has retired in September 2022, more than a dozen brands including Rolex, Mercedes-Benz, Wills, Uniqlo, Moet and Chandon, Lindt still maintain cooperative relationships with Federer. In 2019, after ending his 24-year partnership with Nike, he joined ON as a dual shareholder and spokesperson, one of the fastest-growing sports brands in recent years.

Although there are only 4 football players on the list, 3 of them are in the top ten, and Ronaldo (US$2.23 billion) and Messi (US$1.85 billion) are in the top five. Cristiano Ronaldo has more than 1 billion followers on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube and other platforms, making it the first person in the world to have a total of more than 1 billion followers.

With wide appeal, he has many endorsement brands such as Nike, TAG Heuer, Toyota Motor, and Qingyang. Relying on the personal image, the CR7 brand has launched underwear, jeans and other clothing products, and also covers the fields of footwear, blankets, perfume series, mobile applications, creative agents, restaurants and other fields.

It is worth mentioning that the 40-year-old Ronaldo has no plans to retire. According to exclusive news from Saudi media "Okaz", after another failed season, the Portuguese superstar plans to use his contract renewal to 2027 as a condition to promote Riyadh's victory, including selling goalkeeper Bento, defenders Laporte, Angelo and forward Wesley, while retaining powerful helpers such as Mane, Otavio, Brozovic, Duran, and Simakan, as well as replacing head coach Pioli. There are 13 NBA players shortlisted for

. Michael Jordan, the "God of Basketball" who has been retired for more than 20 years, still earned about US$300 million in 2024, and his total career income reached US$3 billion. After inflation adjustment, it is equivalent to US$4.15 billion (about RMB 30 billion), firmly sitting in the throne of the most profitable athlete in history.

Jordan's huge revenue is inseparable from in-depth cooperation with Nike. In 1984, after he was selected by the Chicago Bulls with a 3-car lottery in the NBA draft, Nike signed him with his first endorsement contract, worth $2.5 million in five years, which is a turning point for sports stars.

In 1988, Jordan signed a lifetime contract with Nike, obtaining a 4.5% stake, and Nike set up a subsidiary company Air Jordan for Jordan. In 2003, Air Jordan became independent, and Jordan received a 5% sales share of the brand. Brand sales exceeded US$7 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 6%, while sales in other Nike businesses remained basically the same.

In addition to Nike, Jordan also involves investment in many industries such as tequila brand, catering, clothing, and games. In 2010, he spent $175 million to buy about 65% of the NBA team Charlotte Bobcats (later renamed the Charlotte Hornets). In 2023, the majority stake will be sold at a valuation of US$3 billion. In addition, he is one of the owners of the NASCAR team "23XI Racing" and the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB).