For the third consecutive year Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the Forbes list of highest-paid athletes with NBA star Stephen Curry moving 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 boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300m in 2015 and $275m in 2018
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.
Here is a list of the top 10 highest paid athletes 2025
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)
Kevin Durant, basketball: $101.4m (£76.2m)
