The top 10 highest-paid athletes of 2025 revealed as Cristiano Ronaldo, Steph Curry and LeBron James feature

The top 10 highest-paid athletes of 2025 features some of the biggest stars in sport who raked in a combined $1.4 billion.

The list was released by Forbes at the end of May and focused on-field and off-field earnings from the athletes, who have a slew of well-paid commercial endorsements.

But over a 12-month period, it was five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo who came out on top for the third year in a row and a fifth time overall.

With the numbers crunched, it's claimed Ronaldo made $275 million - made up of $225 million from his mega deal with Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia and $50 million from various other revenue streams that include his YouTube channel, paid partnerships with a plethora of brands on Instagram and investment in Whoop and Bioniq.

Ronaldo recorded the the third-best year by an active athlete since Forbes began analysing sport earnings back in 1990 - with only boxing sensation Floyd Mayweather making more in 2015 ($300 million) and 2018 ($285 million).

Ronaldo made $119 million than Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, who came in second with a total of $156 million. Long-time rival Lionel Messi had to settle for fifth place with $135 million from his Inter Miami pay packet, his own ventures and a number of mega sponsorships, while Tyson Fury made the podium $146 million - primarily from his two mega Saudi world heavyweight title fights with Oleksandr Usyk.

Tyson Fury came in at third on the list. Image: Getty

Ronaldo's former teammate Karim Benzema was the only footballer on the list in eighth place, making $104 million after following him to the Middle East with Al Ittihad.

NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant make the cut, with overall earnings of $133.8 million and $101.4 million putting them in sixth and tenth respectively.

Juan Soto of the New York Jets and Shohei Ohtani are the two baseball representatives after collecting more than $100 million.

Highest-paid athletes in 2025

1.Cristiano Ronaldo - $225 million

2.Steph Curry - $156 million

3.Tyson Fury - $146 million

4.Dak Prescott - $137 million

5.Lionel Messi - $135 million

6.LeBron James - $133.8 million

7.Juan Soto - $114 million

8.Karim Benzema - $104 million

9.Shohei Ohtani - $102.5 million

10.Kevin Durant - $101.4 million