Forbes Rich List: Ronaldo earns 2 billion a year at the age of 40, and is still the most profitable athlete in the world!

Cristiano Ronaldo was once again named the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes, firmly ranked first in the rich list. The 40-year-old striker earned about £206.6 million ($275 million) last year, £11.2 million more than in 2023.

Ronaldo has been at the top of the list for three consecutive years, and this is the fifth time in his brilliant career that he has topped this list. The Portuguese star has reportedly earned an astonishing £177 million annually at Victory Club in Saudi Arabia since transferring from Manchester United in December 2022.

In addition, he has earned considerable income through various endorsements and has an astonishing 939 million followers on social media.

The five-time Golden Globe winner's salary record has been surpassed only by boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather had earned up to $300 million in 2015 (about £194 million at the time) and again received $275 million in 2018 (about £205 million at the time).

After Ronaldo, NBA legendary star Stephen Curry, who ranked second with an annual salary of 117 million pounds ($156 million). This season he became the first player in history to hit 4,000 three-pointers.

NBA superstar Stephen Curry is the highest-paid athlete in the United States. British boxing champion Tyson Fury ranks third with about £109 million (US$146 million), mainly from his two matches with Ukrainian boxing champion Usic in Riyadh.

British boxer Tyson Fury ranked third on the rich list, with an annual salary of £109 million

The 36-year-old boxer announced his retirement for the fifth time after being unanimously defeated by Usick in December last year and lost the heavyweight title, but the outside world still hopes that he can return to the ring.

Usic ranked 11th with revenue of £75.8 million (US$101 million), only passing the top ten.

Ronaldo's old opponent and Argentine star Messi ranked fifth, down slightly from last year's third place. The striker, now at Miami International, earned about £101.4 million ($135 million) last year, with an estimated off-court revenue of £56.2 million ($75 million).

Messi fell to fifth place, with the Argentinian's income of £101.4 million

Messi also received high compensation for endorsement contracts with Saudi tourism promotion. Karim Benzema, who also plays for the Saudi league and currently plays for Etihad, ranks eighth with £78.2 million (US$104 million).

In addition, basketball stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant, NFL quarterback Dark Prescott, as well as baseball players Juan Soto and Shohei Otani were also among the top of the list.

And Manchester City's Norwegian striker Ellin Haaland ranked 34th. Haaland, the highest-paid player in the top league, ranks only 34th in the world

Haland's total revenue last year was £46.5 million ($62 million), of which £36 million ($48 million) came from his salary at Manchester City.