Cristiano Ronaldo's big money move to Saudi Arabia has helped him topple Lionel Messi on the Forbes athletes rich list.
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What's the story?
Forbes has revealed that Al-Nassr star Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the athletes earning list for 2023, outdoing long-time rival Lionel Messi who's in second place.
In a list that features Kylian Mbappe and Lebron James, Ronaldo tops the Forbes athletes list due to his blockbuster move to Saudi Arabia after parting ways with Manchester United in November.
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Let's take a closer look...
Ronaldo tops Forbes athletes list
Five-time Balon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo has been listed as Forbes' highest paid athlete for 2023, and ranks ahead of PSG stars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
The top-10 highest earning athletes list was revealed by Forbes this week, crediting Ronaldo's Saudi move as the main reason for the Portuguese star topping the list.
Ronaldo's move to the Saudi Pro League on a huge new contract in January nearly doubled his annual playing salary to an estimated $75 million (Over R1.3 billion).
As stated by Forbes, Ronaldo's Saudi pay increase sees him atop the athlete earnings list for the first time since 2017, and the third time overall, and he's set an all-time high year's earning for a footballer with his $136 million (Over R2.4 billion) in total.
World Cup winner Messi is listed second on the list, with his on-field earning matching his off-field efforts at an estimated $65 million (Over R1.1 billion).
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Like Ronaldo, the Argentine has a long list of lucrative endorsements, that include his athletic partner adidas, Budweiser, PepsiCo and Socios, a blockchain-based fan platform, that pays him around R365.8 million a year.
Forbes mentioned that Messi also launched an investment firm called Play Time in October last year.
Messi's teammate Kylian Mbappe, who extended his stay with PSG last year, finishes in third place on the Forbes list, boasting on-field earning of $100 million and $20 million off the pitch.
The 24-year-old French superstar makes his Forbes top ten debut and is the athlete still under 30 on the list.
Here's the world's 10 highest-paid athletes for 2023:
- 10. Kevin Durant
- 9. Roger Federer
- 8. Steph Curry
- 7. Phil Mickelson
- 6. Dustin Johnson
- 5. Canelo Alvarez
- 4. Lebron James
- 3. Kylian Mbappe
- 2. Lionel Messi
- 1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Scroll through the gallery to view the top thee athletes on the Forbes list:
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