Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo Ronaldo has overtaken retired boxer Floyd Mayweather to become the world’s highest earning athlete with $88m from wages and endorsements over the past year.
The striker topped Forbes’ annual list of top earning athletes beating Barcelona striker Lionel Messi who earned $81.4m, and basketball player LeBron James, who earned $77.2m.
It is the first time since 2001 that an athlete other than Mr Mayweather or golfer Tiger Woods has topped the list, Financial Times added.
Tennis star Roger Federer earned more in endorsements than any other athlete, with nearly $60m, in addition to about $7.8m from tennis winnings. Numerous sponsors, including Nike, Rolex, Mercedes-Benz and Credit Suisse helped him earn $12m more than Novak Djokovic, the current world number one male tennis player.
One in four of the top 100 earning stars in the Forbes list is a baseball player and 65 of them are Americans. Together, the 100 earned $3.15bn in 2015.
As in 2015, no woman made it to this year’s top 20 list.
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