Forbes Rankings: Lionel Messi becomes highest paid athlete in the world

Barcelona’s star forward, Lionel Messi has been crowned as the highest paid athlete by Forbes, in its latest rankings of 100 Highest-paid athletes around the world.
The ranking which is done annually, also revealed that the 100 athletes featured in the list, earned a whopping sum of $4 billion between last year and now cumulatively, beating the total of $3.8 billion recorded previously.
Messi defeated the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Federer, LeBron James, after earning the sum of £99.8million through his salary and other endorsements.
See the list of the top ten below.
Rank Athlete Sport Salary/Winnings £ ($) Endorsements £ ($) Total Earnings £ ($)
1 Lionel Messi Soccer 72.3m (92m) 27.5m (35m) 99.8m (127m)
2 Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer 51.1m (65m) 34.6m (44m) 85.7m (109m)
3 Neymar Soccer 58.9m (75m) 23.6m (30m) 82.5m (105m)
4 Canelo Alvarez Boxing 72.3m (92m) 1.6m (2m) 73.9m (94m)
5 Roger Federer Tennis 5.8m (7.4m) 67.6m (86m) 73.4m (93.4m)
6 Russell Wilson Football 63.2m (80.5m) 7m (9m) 70.3m (89.5m)
7 Aaron Rodgers Football 63.1m (80.3m) 7m (9m) 70.2m (89.3m)
8 LeBron James Basketball 28.3m (36m) 41.7m (53m) 70m (89m)
9 Stephen Curry Basketball 29.7m (37.8m) 33m (42m) 62.7m (79.8)
10 Kevin Durant Basketball 23.9m (30.4m) 27.5m (35m) 51.4m (65.4m)
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