Highest-Paid Athletes 2026 Forbes

par Writersroom Boardwalk: Cristiano Ronaldo

Forbes put together the 2026 earnings ranking for athletes and the numbers are straight from their report. Cristiano Ronaldo takes the top spot with $300 million in earnings, while Canelo Alvarez lands second at $170 million. Lionel Messi comes in third with $140 million, followed by LeBron James at fourth place with $137.8 million. Shohei Ohtani is fifth with $127.6 million, Stephen Curry sixth at $124.7 million, and Jon Rahm seventh with $107 million. Karim Benzema rounds out the eighth spot with $104 million, Kevin Durant ninth at $103.8 million, and Lewis Hamilton tenth with exactly $100 million. Giannis Antetokounmpo sits eleventh with $99.2 million, Kylian Mbappé twelfth at $95 million, Micah Parsons thirteenth with $86.4 million, and Max Verstappen fourteenth with $86 million. Patrick Mahomes is fifteenth with $84.7 million, Scottie Scheffler sixteenth at $84.6 million, Jayson Tatum seventeenth with $82.2 million, Erling Haaland eighteenth at $80 million, and Rory McIlroy nineteenth with $76.4 million. The full dataset covers twenty entries for the year 2026.