Individuals who are gifted with talents and skills are very lucky especially if they are earning money from it. Athletes engaged in different sports are one of the highest-paid individuals these days. Not everyone can play the game these people are known by that is why they are paid a lot by entertaining people with their skills. Apart from the fees and shares, they are getting whenever they play their sports, they are also earning from the endorsements they represent allowing them to earn even more.
Most of the players who belong to the list are not really born rich. Having their riches is mainly because of their dedication to excel in their sport. Luckily, they did not waste the opportunity to show the people that they are worthy of the support they are receiving. In fact, they even train harder to make sure that they come out as better athletes giving them the reason to earn those millions they have under their names. Here are the top 5 wealthiest athletes with the money they have and the sports they excelled in.
1. Floyd “Money” Mayweather
The 36-year-old boxer is the athlete that gets the highest pay in the world.
His last two fights allowed him to gather $85 million that even without any endorsement he still holds the highest rank.
2. Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao is a superb fighter with humble beginnings and earned his millions through his skills in boxing. Hailing from a small town in General Santos, Philippines, the 34-year-old superstar boxer is the first-ever Filipino who has able to represent international products like Monster Energy, Hewlett-Packard, Hennessy, and Nike.
Compared to the rest of athletes on the list, Pacquiao only earns $6million from his endorsement but got $56 million from his winnings. Out of his 61 fights, he won 54 and 38 of it is by way of knockout.
3. Tiger Woods
The 37-year-old pro golfer may not have his winning streak nowadays but that doesn’t remove him from the list. He turned pro in 1996 and made himself hold 78 PGA tour titles, 39 European Tour titles, 2 Japan Golf Tour titles, and 18 other more titles allowing him to have more than $100 million of winnings.
With his winnings of $4.4 million from the last tournament plus his $55 million endorsements, it is still enough to place him on the third spot.
4. LeBron James
The new king of the hoops, 28-year-old James is one of the eight basketball players who have three MVP’s in his career. He started his professional career in 2003 and now he has the most endorsement among all NBA personalities.
King James earns $13 million from his salary and $40 million from his endorsement.
5. Roger Federer
This 31-year-old tennis champion started his professional career in 1998 and already has 76 singles career titles and 8 doubles career titles. He holds the most number of Grand Slam Wins (singles) which gave him a career earning of a whopping $76,779,184. He also holds the most number of endorsements (9) which gives him an annual income of $45 million.
He ranks fifth with his endorsements and his salary/winnings of $7.7 million.
Not everyone in this world has the gift to entertain people and these individuals on the list are remarkable athletes who use these gifts to allow people to relax and enjoy while they do their thing. Some people may not see the reason why they are given this amount of money in exchange for their showmanship but how they do it is not an easy thing to do. Their profession is a decent way of making a living and if they are getting more than what the usual workers do then they are simply luckier because they found a way to excel in their craft. The hard work they put into it is also something that is admirable enough for them to be given that much reward.