20 famous athletes who are very expensive

Every year, Forbes issues the rating of the highest paid and wealthy athletes, but recently a rating of the highest paid athletes in history, in which most basketball players and golfers turned out to be. This list lists the richest sportsmen who, during their professional careers, were costly both to the teams they played for and to the sponsors.

20. Manny Pacquiao - $ 490 million

Six fights from all, in which Pacquiao participated, were marked by the fact that for each of them the border of a million sales of views was passed. And for each of his last ten fights he earned at least twenty million clean.

19. Oscar De La Hoya - $ 510 million

Oscar De La Hoya earned 52 million US conventional units for one fight with Floyd Mayweather in 2007, in which he lost. At that time, it was the highest single-time earnings in the history of boxing.

18. Jeff Gordon - 515 million dollars

For each of his victory, racer Jeff Gordon earned an average of about five and a half million US conventional units.

17. Lionel Messi - $ 520 million

The annual earnings of soccer player Lionel Messi amounted to 53.4 million US conventional units. This figure in the world of football is second only to the salary of Cristiano Ronaldo, which is 56 million dollars.

16. Alex Rodriguez - $ 600 million

Rodriguez held two top places at the same time in the ranking of the biggest contracts in the history of the sport, until Giancarlo Stanton received an incredible offer that made him very, very rich.

15. Roger Federer - $ 600 million

Although Federer's earnings on the court are gradually declining, outside of him in 2016, the tennis player earned sixty million on contracts. But he still remains one of the most famous tennis players, and his fights with Rafael Nadal have already become a classic of modern tennis.

14. Cristiano Ronaldo - 620 million dollars

Ronaldo was the highest paid athlete in 2016, according to Forbes, leaving behind Lionel Messi and LeBron James. At the same time, he is the most highly paid football player of our time, even taking into account the fact that China blew up the football market, offering mediocre players extraordinary wage.

13. LeBron James - $ 640 million

So far, LeBron is in the middle of this rating, but the day will come when he will occupy the first position in it. Ahead he still has enough time, and his earnings are constantly growing, increasing his fortune with incredible speed.

12. Greg Norman - $ 680 million

Norman became the first golfer to earn ten million dollars for one golf tour. And he is the only golfer in the world, with the exception of Tiger Woods, who managed to stay in the first place for more than a hundred weeks. However, for today it occupies only 108 place on earnings among golfers.

11. Mike Tyson - $ 685 million

Tyson, unfortunately, quite tragically lost all his fortune, in 2003 being bankrupt. However, during his career, he managed to earn a lot of money, even if he could not successfully dispose of them in the future.

10. Shaquille O'Neal - 700 million dollars

Shak earned $ 29.4 million for the 2004/05 season - ten million more than his closest pursuer. And since then he has remained one of the most influential and popular basketball players in the world, making up the grand three with Jordan and Bryant.

9. David Beckham - $ 730 million

In the end, Beckham does not appear in the advertising of underwear for free. For his football career, he earned quite an impressive amount of money, but even then most of his income was from advertising and sponsorship agreements.

8. Phil Mickelson - 760 million dollars

If you believe sports statistics, then Mickelson earned 81 million dollars for his career only with prize money. Other sources had other incomes, but you should not be in a hurry to be surprised, as in the rating there will still be golfers who earned significantly less than actual sports and at times more - by advertising and contracts.

7. Floyd Mayweather - $ 765 million

Mayweather can easily climb at least one position higher in one day if his fight with Conor McGregor or a rematch with Manny Pacquiao someday takes place. In the meantime, he is in seventh position, earning more than an impressive amount in his career.

6. Kobe Bryant - 770 million dollars

During his twenty-year career, Kobe earned about $ 320 million exclusively as a salary in the Lakers. And after Michael Jordan, he is definitely the most influential basketball player in the world.

5. Michael Schumacher - 1 billion dollars

Very often the best racers of Formula-1 have the highest salary indicators among all sportsmen in the world. A sevenfold world champion earned about thirty million dollars a year during his cooperation with Mercedes.

4. Jack Nicklaus - 1 billion 150 million dollars

Interesting fact: Nicklaus earned only 9 million dollars in prize money for his entire career. All other revenues had other sources, such as contractual agreements or shooting in various commercials.

3. Arnold Palmer - 1 billion 350 million dollars

If it seemed odd to you how much Jack Nicklaus earned money for his career, you will be surprised by the performance of another golfer, Arnold Palmer. His prize for the whole career amounted to two million dollars. Apparently, people are very fond of tea and lemonade, mixed together. How else could you earn such a fortune on advertising and contracts?

2. Tiger Woods - 1 billion 650 million dollars

Woods would definitely be in first place in this ranking, if he did not have a crisis right in the middle of his career. However, it should be noted that it nevertheless comes first, if we take actual revenues without recalculating them taking into account inflation.

1. Michael Jordan - 1 billion 700 million dollars

Jordan still earns more than any other NBA player. And this is not surprising, since he actually is one of the most outstanding athletes and the most outstanding basketball player of our time.