After adding Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry in 2026, the exclusive club is set to expand again to 11 members within the next year—and Lionel Messi and Tiger Woods should reach even more rarefied air.
After Tiger Woods became the first active athlete ever to surpass $1 billion in career earnings in 2009, it took another eight years for anyone to match that achievement, with boxer Floyd Mayweather finally clearing that bar in 2017.
The club isn’t quite as exclusive anymore. With more money flowing into sports than ever before, nine athletes have now reached at least $1 billion in cumulative cash income—including on-field earnings like salaries and prize money as well as off-field earnings like endorsement deals, without deducting for taxes or agents’ fees—and another two are on track to join that group within the next year.
Basketball stars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are the most recent additions, each crossing $1 billion during the 2025-26 season. With Curry and Durant expected to make $203.6 million and $104.9 million, respectively, as the NBA’s two highest-paid players in 2026-27, they are poised to leapfrog past Mayweather, Roger Federer and Phil Mickelson into fifth and sixth place on the all-time financial leaderboard by the spring.
The top four will be harder to crack. This year, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first active athlete ever to hit $2 billion in career earnings, with his playing salary reaching a new stratosphere after his move to the Saudi Pro League’s Al Nassr in 2023 and his endorsement portfolio ranking among the most lucrative in all of sports. The 41-year-old soccer legend is set to extend his lead at No. 1 with another $300 million payday this season that would push his lifetime total to $2.39 billion.
Ronaldo’s longtime rival Lionel Messi should join him in the multibillion club by next year, however, along with Woods, who still earns an estimated $45 million annually off the course even as injuries have kept him from teeing off much in recent years. LeBron James is fourth, with $1.68 billion in career earnings to date, and although he accepted a meager-by-his-standards $3.9 million salary for this season to compete for a championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in the twilight of his career, he is making an estimated $90 million from a deep roster of partners and other business endeavors.
The top four also share another distinction as the only active athletes to have become billionaires. (While Mickelson, Federer, Mayweather, Durant and Curry have all exceeded $1 billion in career earnings, Forbes estimates that their net worths fall short of $1 billion after accounting for taxes, agent fees and other expenses.)
Meanwhile, Michael Jordan, the world’s richest ex-athlete, with an estimated $4.7 billion net worth, is absent from the all-time earnings list because Forbes is including only the compensation that came while athletes were active in their sports. Most of the cash His Airness has hauled in from his Jordan Brand and other sponsors—not to mention his $3 billion sale of the Charlotte Hornets in 2023—has come after he retired. In fact, Jordan collected just $94 million in playing salary across his entire NBA career, without adjusting for inflation—a total eclipsed by today’s NBA stars in less than two years of work.
In many ways, though, the 21st century’s sports stars can thank Jordan for creating a blueprint of how to parlay their celebrity and on-court success into profitable personal brands. In 1984, when Nike was still an upstart in the apparel industry, the company gambled an unprecedented $2.5 million over five years on Jordan, plus a royalty on every pair of shoes it sold. This year, Curry signed a deal with Chinese brand Li-Ning that is reportedly worth $400 million over ten years.
It is no coincidence, either, that by the end of this season, five of the top six earners ever will be basketball and soccer players. The NBA’s current ten highest-paid players are expected to rake in $958 million this season, edging the world’s highest-paid soccer players at $942 million and demolishing the top ten in every other sport.
But while the NBA is benefiting from an 11-year, $76 billion media rights package that is driving up the league’s salary cap, it will take a few more years for the next generation of stars—such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum—to join James, Curry and Durant in the billion-dollar club at their current pace.
It will sadly be even longer before a woman lands among the highest-paid athletes of all-time. Serena Williams amassed roughly $450 million in estimated income before stepping away from tennis in 2022, putting her more than $100 million ahead of any other female athlete ever, and the world’s highest-paid female athlete last year was Coco Gauff at $33 million—one-ninth of what her male counterpart, Ronaldo, pocketed.
Still, there are two athletes due to reach ten figures in the coming months: soccer icon Neymar, whose playing salary tumbled with his 2025 move to Santos in his native Brazil but whose estimated endorsement estimates continue to top $20 million annually, and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, whose estimated $100 million in income last year put him in pole position to overtake the $1 billion threshold, with about $940 million in his career to date.
The Highest-Paid Athletes Of All-Time
#1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Career Earnings: $2.09 billion
Sport: Soccer
Age: 41
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $2.39 billion
Entrenched at the top of Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes for the last four years thanks to a contract with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr that pays him more than $200 million annually, Ronaldo is playing his tenth straight season with at least $100 million in estimated earnings—a streak that also spans his stints with Manchester United, Juventus and Real Madrid. The 41-year-old Portuguese forward has 679 million followers on Instagram, the most of any person in the world, and in a career marked by unprecedented individual milestones, he has one more on the horizon as he closes in on scoring 1,000 goals in club and international competition. In June, Ronaldo made his debut on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion, edging his longtime rival Lionel Messi at $1.1 billion.
#2. Tiger Woods
Career Earnings: $1.97 billion
Sport: Golf
Age: 50
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $2.01 billion
During Woods’ heyday, he was the world’s highest-paid athlete for a decade straight, bringing in more than $100 million per year through the late 2000s. Earning his second billion has proved to be a much bumpier ride, after a 2009 infidelity scandal and a 2026 arrest on suspicion of drunk driving tarnished his public image and a series of injuries and back surgeries halted his dominance on the course. Woods also lost a major sponsor in 2024 when he and Nike parted ways after 27 years together, but he has maintained relationships with TaylorMade, Bridgestone and Monster Energy, among other partners, while launching his own apparel brand, Sun Day Red. Woods joined Forbes’ billionaires list in 2022, the week after LeBron James, and now has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.
#3. Lionel Messi
Career Earnings: $1.87 billion
Sport: Soccer
Age: 39
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $2.02 billion
Messi reportedly had an offer on the table from the Saudi Pro League that would have paid him $400 million per year after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired in 2023, but he took a different route than his rival Cristiano Ronaldo and joined Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami instead. The move has supercharged the club’s business, sending its valuation soaring to an MLS-best $1.35 billion, and Messi is making out fine with an estimated $145 million in income this year, including the proceeds from what are believed to be revenue-sharing agreements with league sponsors Adidas and Apple TV. The 39-year-old Argentine forward also has an option to buy an equity stake in Inter Miami when he retires. Messi spent most of his club career playing for Barcelona, which was revealed in 2021 to have been paying him considerably more than previously believed when the Spanish newspaper El Mundo published a leaked copy of his contract.
#4. LeBron James
Career Earnings: $1.68 billion
Sport: Basketball
Age: 41
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $1.77 billion
Labeled “The Chosen One” on a famous Sports Illustrated cover in 2002 while he was still in high school, James has exceeded the hype as the face of the post-Michael Jordan NBA. He has a lifetime endorsement deal with Nike and recently added Polymarket to his list of sponsors, banking a reported $15 million per year from the prediction market. The 41-year-old forward, now suiting up for the Philadelphia 76ers, cofounded the SpringHill Company, a media production business that was valued at $725 million in 2021 and merged with Fulwell 73 last year, contributing to his $1.4 billion net worth. James also owns a small stake in Fenway Sports Group and has publicly flirted with the idea of owning an NBA team after he retires, but he backtracked from that idea earlier this year, before the bidding for a potential expansion team in Las Vegas reportedly got into the $9 billion range.
#5. Phil Mickelson
Career Earnings: $1.13 billion
Sport: Golf
Age: 56
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $1.14 billion
Mickelson was one of the first defectors to LIV Golf in 2022 after 30 years on the PGA Tour, landing a guarantee from the Saudi-backed circuit believed to be worth at least $200 million. He lost sponsors including Callaway, KPMG and Workday, however, after making controversial comments in the lead-up to the move that were perceived as being dismissive of Saudi human rights abuses. The 56-year-old six-time major champion stepped back from competitive golf this year, citing a private family matter, and reportedly spent time at an addiction treatment center. With LIV in the middle of a restructuring after the Saudi Public Investment Fund withdrew funding, Mickelson’s future on the course is uncertain.
#6. Roger Federer
Career Earnings: $1.11 billion
Sport: Tennis (Retired)
Age: 45
Federer was virtually unbeatable in the 2000s, winning 15 Grand Slam singles titles between 2003 and 2009 to break Pete Sampras’ all-time men’s record and finishing his career with 20. While that mark didn’t last as long as expected, being eclipsed by both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, neither of Federer’s younger rivals ever caught up with him financially. Always a fan favorite for his elegance and seemingly effortless playing style, Federer was in high demand for brands like Wilson, Rolex and Mercedes-Benz during his pro career and has remained active as a pitchman after retiring from tennis in 2022. He also owns an estimated 3% stake in On, a shoe brand from his native Switzerland that is now a public company with a market cap of around $11 billion, which helped land him on Forbes’ billionaires list in 2025.
#7. Floyd Mayweather
Career Earnings: $1.08 billion
Sport: Boxing (Retired)
Age: 49
Floyd “Money” Mayweather earned his nickname for a reason, commanding massive paydays for his 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao ($240 million) and his 2017 fight against Conor McGregor ($275 million). The former year, he became the first active athlete ever to record $300 million in total earnings in a 12-month span—or around $420 million adjusted for inflation. Mayweather retired from professional boxing after the McGregor fight with a perfect 50-0 record but has continued to dabble in exhibitions, announcing in September 2025 that he would fight Mike Tyson before the plans were put on hold. He also said this past February, the day before his 49th birthday, that he would resume his pro career with a fight against Manny Pacquiao, but that bout has likewise been indefinitely postponed. Mayweather’s new promoter CSI Sports Events has since sued him for breach of contract.
#8. Kevin Durant
Career Earnings: $1.06 billion
Sport: Basketball
Age: 38
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $1.17 billion
Durant is likely to take the top spot on the NBA’s career on-court earnings leaderboard in 2027-28, supplanting LeBron James. (If the 38-year-old Houston Rockets forward plays out his two-year, $90 million contract, his career total would be $591 million, and he could potentially boost that number by opting out of the deal to return to free agency next summer.) The 16-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP has hardly missed a beat since an Achilles tear cost him the 2019-20 season, passing Michael Jordan for fifth place on the NBA’s career scoring list last season. Off the court, Durant is a cofounder of media and entertainment business Boardroom, and his family office 35V has investments in more than 100 companies, including sports entities like League One Volleyball and the NWSL’s Gotham FC.
#9. Stephen Curry
Career Earnings: $1.02 billion
Sport: Basketball
Age: 38
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $1.22 billion
Unlike LeBron James and Kevin Durant, two highly touted high school recruits, Curry took a more circuitous path to superstardom. Although his father, Dell, had a long NBA career as a sharpshooting guard, Curry was largely overlooked before excelling at tiny Davidson College and being picked seventh overall in the 2009 NBA draft. Over the past 17 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, the two-time MVP and four-time champion has revolutionized the sport as the universally acknowledged greatest shooter in NBA history. Curry is now set to become the first basketball player ever to bring in more than $200 million in a single season, driven in part by his new shoe deal with Li-Ning after he surprisingly ended a long-term partnership with Under Armour last year.
#10. Neymar
Career Earnings: $960 million
Sport: Soccer
Age: 34
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $1 billion
Brazil’s biggest soccer star of the 2010s, Neymar hauled in at least $85 million for seven straight years after leaving Barcelona to sign with Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. His next stop was the Saudi Pro League’s Al Hilal, starting in 2023, but he ended up hardly playing for the team because of an ACL tear and a hamstring injury and eventually returned to his boyhood club Santos in 2025. The 34-year-old forward was selected for Brazil’s roster for this summer’s World Cup but was hampered by a calf injury and played limited minutes as a substitute for a team that advanced to the Round of 16. While he has dropped off Forbes’ list of the world’s ten highest-paid soccer players the last two years, Neymar remains popular in Brazil and maintains a long list of sponsors, including Puma, Red Bull and Mercado Libre, putting him on the verge of the $1 billion career earnings mark.
#11. Lewis Hamilton
Career Earnings: $940 million
Sport: Formula 1
Age: 41
Projected Earnings Through 2027: $1.04 billion
The most popular Formula 1 driver by a wide margin—if his 44 million Instagram followers are any indication—Hamilton made an estimated $100 million last year, including $70 million from his driving contract with Ferrari and $30 million from personal sponsors including EA Sports, Dior and Lululemon. The 41-year-old Englishman’s first season with the Prancing Horse in 2025—after a 12-year run with Mercedes that featured six F1 drivers’ championships—ended in a disappointing sixth-place finish in the standings, but Hamilton has rebounded in 2026 to sit in third with six races remaining. Regardless of where he ends up, his salary and off-the-track compensation will push his career earnings north of $1 billion in the coming months.
Methodology
The 2026 Forbes list of the highest-paid athletes of all-time measures cumulative on- and off-field cash income across the athletes’ professional careers through May 1, 2026, corresponding with Forbes’ 2026 ranking of the world’s highest-paid athletes. Projected figures are also listed through May 1, 2027. Income that athletes have earned after retiring from competition is excluded. The career earnings figures are rounded to the nearest $10 million and are not adjusted for inflation. Figures have been converted to U.S. dollars when necessary.
On-field earnings include prize money, salaries, bonuses and, in some situations with soccer players, club-based image rights agreements or playing wages subsidized by team or league sponsors. Off-field earnings include sponsorship deals, appearance fees, and memorabilia and licensing income, plus cash returns from any businesses in which the athlete has a significant interest.
Forbes does not include investment income such as interest payments or dividends but does account for payouts from equity stakes athletes have sold. Forbes does not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees.
Additional reporting by Brett Knight.
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