Cristiano Ronaldo tops list for HIGHEST paid athlete in 2024, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in top five

Cristiano Ronaldo aces list of highest-earning athletes in the last one year between September 2023 and September 2024.

Cristiano Ronaldo tops list for HIGHEST paid athlete in 2024, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in top five

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, image courtesy: X

It is quite obvious to link top athletes with high payments and truth be told, after the kind of hard work that they put in, the rewards are obvious. In a recent list released by Statista, the world’s richest athletes for the last year between 1st September 2023 and 1st September 2024 have been enlisted. It goes without saying, that Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list.

Apart from Ronaldo, there are other big names as well like professional Spanish golfer, Jon Rahm, Milwaukee Bucks forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brazilian sensation, Neymar Jr., Indian cricketing giant, Virat Kohli, and the list simply gets interesting. Here are the top five names on the list with a special mention for the other five. The amounts have been converted to Indian money for easier understanding.

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Cristiano Ronaldo – INR 2081 crore

The Portuguese footballing sensation has made his mark on the world as one of the finest. He recently reached the unthinkable barrier of scoring 900 goals in his entire career. From his social media fan following to the amount generated through his advertisements, the number keeps on climbing.

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Cristiano Ronaldo diamonds
Cristiano Ronaldo was spotted wearing expensive diamonds at UCL draw event in Monaco. (via The Sun)

Apart from any of these, Cristiano Ronaldo‘s yearly contract with Al Nassr earns him a whopping $536 million. The result of these numbers cumulating is what places him at the top of it all.

Jon Rahm – INR 1712 crore

Bagging a lucrative offer from LIV Golf, the Saudi-bankrolled golfing project, Jon Rahm continued to shine. With a contract from the deal that came at a staggering price of $600 million, Rahm decided to switch his allegiance from PGA to LIV Golf.

Jon Rahm and Kelley Cahill ( Image via Golf )
Jon Rahm and Kelley Cahill ( Image via Golf )

The switch has begged a few questions. However, at the end of the day, it definitely did land him in the second position.

Lionel Messi – INR 1074 crore

If Messi’s earnings before weren’t already ballooning the last year, a move that saw him come to Inter Miami has skyrocketed his income. Lionel Messi reportedly holds a stake in the club Miami which definitely is special for any player.

Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi turned down a mammoth offer from Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal (Via Sky Sports)

Apart from that, he is also the highest earner in the entire MLS roster which saw him leapfrogging Lorenzo Insigne as the highest-paid player before. As reported by the Athletic and the New York Times, Messi’s income exceeds the guaranteed incentive of 25 MLS teams.

LeBron James – INR 990 crore

The 2024 Olympic gold medalist for Team USA and the man who rewrote the NBA himself ought to be in the top five of this list.

LeBron James
LeBron James

The last year has seen him outshine himself and as per Sportico, LeBron’s net worth in 2024 has shot to a staggering $1.76 billion.

Kylian Mbappe – INR 881 crore

The French phenom’s move to Real Madrid saw him getting a massive leap in his overall earnings. He has been buzzing around the footballing world, despite a reticent start for Real Madrid. Kylian Mbappe continues to rise throughout the globe and the earnings are also starting to show. As per the Economic Times, his current net worth is $180 million and the numbers earned in the last year obviously show for itself.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Kylian Mbappe, image courtesy: X

Special mentions:

Giannis Antetokounmpo – The Milwaukee Bucks forward has slotted himself an earning of INR 873 crore in the last one year.

Neymar Jr – The Brazilian star never goes out of popularity. In the last year, he has earned INR 864 crore.

Karim Benzema – The French sensation continues to be a big earner with INR 864 crore in the last 365 days between two Septembers.

Virat Kohli – The former Indian captain is still the highest-earning member in the cricketing circuit at least in the last year with INR 847 crore.

Stephen Curry – The Golden State Warriors point guard and arguably one of the greatest basketball players to have taken to the court ever earned INR 831 crore in the last year.

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