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Lionel Messi tops Forbes’ highest-paid athletes list as Floyd Mayweather drops out of top 100

  • Cristiano Ronaldo is the second wealthiest athlete in the world followed by Neymar, while Conor McGregor is 21st
  • The only female to make the list is Serena Williams, coming in at 63rd

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Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is the richest athlete in the world. Photo: AP
Patrick Blennerhassett
The top three highest-paid athletes in the world are footballers for the first time, earning a combined US$341 million. Lionel Messi of Barcelona (US$127 million), Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus (US$109 million) and Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain (US$105 million) topped Forbes’ 2019 list.
The most notable exception is retired American Floyd Mayweather, who dropped from first (in 2018 he made US$285 million) all the way out of the top 100. UFC star Conor McGregor also fell from fourth (in 2018 he made US$99 million), to 21st as this year he will earn a reported US$47 million.

Boxer Canelo Alvarez rocketed up the list from 15th (in 2018 he made US$44.5 million) to fourth this year. The 28-year-old Mexican is coming off a May 4 win against American Daniel Jacobs in which he retained the WBA middleweight title in a unification bout in Las Vegas. Alvarez made US$92 million in salary and winnings and US$42 million in endorsements.

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The highest paid female athlete is tennis star Serena Williams, who ranks 63rd with US$29.2 million net worth. The American, who ungraciously bowed out of the French Open, made US$4.2 million in earnings/winnings and US$25 million in endorsement deals.

Serena Williams is the only woman on the list. Photo: Xinhua
Serena Williams is the only woman on the list. Photo: Xinhua
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Only seven athletes have landed in the top spot since 1990 as Tiger Woods holds the record at 12 , and Messi is only the second footballer to rank first after beating Ronaldo.

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