The world’s 50 highest-paid athletes combined to rake in an estimated $4.1 billion over the past 12 months before taxes and agent fees, and while that total represents a slight step down from 2025’s record $4.2 billion, three superstars set new earnings highs for their respective sports this year.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula 1 driver to reach nine figures with an estimated $100 million in income from his on-track salary and his endorsements, appearances and other business endeavors off the grid. Meanwhile, Al-Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo, at $300 million, bested the soccer mark he himself had established last year. And after New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto stole baseball’s earnings crown from Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani last year, Ohtani snatched it right back, ratcheting up the MLB record to $127.6 million.
Here are some of the other most eye-popping figures from the 2026 ranking of the world’s 50 highest-paid athletes.
$300 million
Cristiano Ronaldo’s estimated earnings from the past 12 months.
The 41-year-old Portuguese soccer star’s 2026 total ties him with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s haul from 2015 for the largest for an active athlete ever tracked by Forbes, dating to 1990 (unadjusted for inflation).
6
The number of times Ronaldo has led the ranking across his career, including the last four years straight.
He is now level with NBA icon Michael Jordan for the second-most years at No. 1 on the Forbes athletes ranking. Only Tiger Woods, who topped the ranking 11 times from 2002 to 2013, has claimed the earnings crown more often.
30
The number of years since Tiger Woods last failed to appear in the Forbes athletes ranking.
The 50-year-old Woods, who earned roughly $46 million over the past 12 months, according to Forbes estimates, landed about $8 million shy of this year’s cutoff. He had appeared on every edition of the list since turning pro in 1996 and made the top ten every year from 1997 to 2015.
3
The number of athletes who are at least 40 years old on the 2026 list.
Ronaldo, Ferrari Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Lakers forward LeBron James are all 41. (For perspective, James was the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick in June 2003—just a month after 23-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest member of this year’s top 50, was born.) With Tiger Woods falling out of the top 50, James also stands as the only member of the ranking to have appeared on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires.
30
The average age of the top 50.
A slight majority of the list—26 athletes—are under 30, and six are 25 or younger. Three years ago, the average age of the top 50 was 33, and the last time that more than half of the top 50 were under 30 was 2017.
10
The number of athletes with at least $100 million in income over the past 12 months.
This is the third straight year that every member of the top ten made it to nine figures, with F1’s Hamilton reaching the milestone for the first time.
1
The number of athletes who earned at least $100 million strictly off the field.
Reigning World Series champion and MVP Shohei Ohtani racked up an estimated $125 million from endorsements, appearances, licensing and memorabilia, among other business ventures, putting him $40 million ahead of the next-best figure this year (LeBron James’ $85 million). In the 36 years Forbes has published an athlete earnings list, only one person has exceeded Ohtani’s off-field total while still active in their sport: MMA fighter Conor McGregor, who banked $158 million in 2021, the vast majority from the sale of his Irish whiskey brand, Proper No. Twelve. Of course, because most of Ohtani’s salary with the Dodgers is deferred, he received only $2.6 million on the field over the past 12 months, including his compensation for the 2025 All-Star Game and postseason.
$54.6 million
The cutoff for this year’s top 50, set by top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner.
The figure is a new high, up 2% from 2025’s record $53.6 million and more than twice the $26.1 million of a decade ago.
$1.1 billion
The combined off-field earnings of this year’s top 50, a record.
It edges out four recent years when the figure surpassed $1 billion (2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025). This year, three athletes—Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi along with Ohtani and James—collected at least $70 million off the field. Only five others have ever reached that level while still active in their sport.
$3 billion
The combined on-field earnings of this year’s top 50 from salaries, bonuses and prize money.
The figure trails last year’s $3.2 billion but is still the second-best mark Forbes has ever recorded. (Only two other years—2023 and 2024—have even cracked $2 billion.) Cristiano Ronaldo, who pocketed an estimated $235 million from his contract with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr over the past 12 months, leads the way on the field, and boxer Canelo Álvarez, who brought in an estimated $160 million from his fights against William Scull and Terence Crawford, is just the fourth athlete ever to make it to that level in a single year, according to Forbes estimates, joining Ronaldo, Mayweather and golfer Jon Rahm.
$4.1 billion
The total earnings of this year’s top 50.
The figure has more than doubled in nine years, from 2017’s $1.9 billion.
8
The number of sports represented among the top 50.
Basketball has long dominated the annual earnings ranking, but this is the first time that the NBA has claimed 20 spots since at least 2012. The NFL is next this year with nine athletes—down from 13 in 2025—followed by soccer with seven, spread among four leagues. Golf (four athletes), Formula 1 (three), MLB (three), boxing (two) and tennis (two) round out the list. Other sports—including cricket, Nascar and the NHL—do not have an athlete represented this year.
20
The number of athletes in the earnings ranking who did not appear on last year’s list.
Within that group are 14 newcomers who have never previously cracked the top 50 (setting aside names like Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who appeared on the list in 2024 before dropping off in 2025). The NFL’s contract system, with its emphasis on signing bonuses, ensures a healthy amount of churn in the earnings ranking each year. For example, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy comes in at No. 17 on the 2026 list with an estimated $83.1 million, including $79.1 million on the field—$40 million from a signing bonus last year and another $38 million from a subsequent option bonus. Over the next year, however, his on-field income is poised to slide to $23.4 million.
18
The number of countries represented by athletes in the top 50.
The United States predictably leads the pack with 29 athletes, including Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but became a U.S. citizen in 2022 and played for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The United Kingdom—which gets credit for the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy—has the next-highest total with three athletes. France and Spain are the only other countries with two athletes in the top 50.
3
The number of years since a woman has ranked in the top 50.
Tennis star Coco Gauff, the world’s highest-paid female athlete the past two years, made an estimated $33 million in 2025, which would put her more than $20 million below the cutoff for this year’s top 50. Serena Williams was the last woman to qualify, landing at No. 49 in 2023 with $45.3 million before retiring from competition.
METHODOLOGY
Information about the methodology Forbes uses to compile the list of the world’s highest-paid athletes—which captures income collected between May 1, 2025, and May 1, 2026—can be found here.
With additional reporting by Hank Tucker.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2026/05/22/inside-the-41-billion-haul-by-2026s-50-highest-paid-athletes/
