Top 10 highest-paid athletes in the world 2009
1. Tiger Woods
Earnings: $100 million, Sport: Golf, Nationality: American, Born: Dec. 30, 1975
As the face of Nike Golf, Woods has helped create a brand with $600 million in annual revenue for Phil Knight's company. No wonder they named a building for Woods on the Nike campus.
2. Oscar De La Hoya
Earnings: $43.0 million, Sport: Boxing, Nationality: American, Born: Feb. 4, 1973
The Golden Boy has been the biggest draw in boxing over his long career. Revenues for his 18 pay-per-view fights totaled $612 million, the most in boxing history.
3. Phil Mickelson
Earnings: $42.2 million, Sport: Golf, Nationality: American, Born: June 16, 1970
Phil the Thrill's income has surged in recent years as sponsors look for an alternative to Tiger in the golf sponsorship game. Callaway, Ford and Bearing Point write Mickelson his biggest checks.
4. Kimi Raikkonen
Earnings: $40 million, Sport: Auto racing, Nationality: Finish, Born: Oct. 17, 1979
Ferrari made Raikkonen the highest-paid driver in motor sports last year when they gave the Finn a 3-year deal. Raikkonen delivered this year when he clinched the Formula One championship earlier this month.
5. Michael Schumacher
Earnings: $36 million, Sport: Auto racing, Nationality: Germany, Born: Jan. 3, 1969
Formula One's greatest driver retired last year after dominating the sport for 15 years and winning seven championships. During his career, Schumacher earned $650 million in salary and endorsements.
6. David Beckham
Earnings: $33 million, Sport: Soccer, Nationality: British, Born: May 2, 1975
Becks invaded America this year greeted by much fanfare, but injuries kept him off the pitch for most of the MLS season. The bulk of Beckham's income is derived from sponsors like Adidas , Motorola and PepsiCo
7. Kobe Bryant
Earnings: $32.9 million, Sport: Basketball, Nationality: American, Born: Aug. 23, 1978
The possibility of the Los Angeles Lakers trading Bryant promises to be one of the biggest stories of the NBA season. Bryant will have a say where he goes, as he possesses the league's only full no-trade clause.
8. Shaquille O'Neal
Earnings: $31.9 million, Sport: Basketball, Nationality: American, Born: March 6, 1972
Injuries caused the Diesel to average career lows in points and rebounds last season. Injured or not, the Miami Heat still owes Shaq $60 million over the next three years.
Earnings: $31 million, Sport: Basketball, Nationality: American, Born: Feb. 17, 1963
MJ has been out of the NBA as a player for four years now, but his Jordan brand is still a $500 million a year sales business for Nike. Jordan is back in the league as a minority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.
10. Ronaldinho
Earnings: $31 million, Sport: Soccer, Nationality: Brazilian, Born: March 21, 1980
The two-time FIFA Player of the Year has lucrative endorsement contracts with EA Sports, Lenovo and PepsiCo, but Nike is his biggest deal. His current contract with the Barcelona club runs through 2010
In a June 2009 article, Forbes listed Tiger Woods as the world's highest paid athlete. From 2008 to 2009, he made $110 million and is the first athlete ever to earn $1 billion in his 13-year career. It should be noted that most of his money comes from endorsements.
Here is the full list from Forbes, including the amount each athlete made from June 2008 to June 2009. (Some of them are ties.)
Top 20 highest paid athletes, as of 20091. Tiger Woods, golf - $110 million
2. Kobe Bryant, basketball - $45 million
2. Michael Jordan, basketball - $45 million
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Formula 1- $45 million
5. David Beckham, soccer/football - $42 million
6. Lebron James, basketball - $40 million
6. Phil Mickelson, golf - $40 million
6. Manny Pacquiao, boxing - $40 million
9. Valentino Rossi, motorcycling - $35 million
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR - $34 million
11. Roger Federer, tennis - $33 million
11. Shaquille O'Neal, basketball - $33 million
13. Oscar de la Hoya, boxing - $32 million
13. Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 - $32 million
13. Alex Rodriguez, baseball - $32 million
16. Vijay Singh, golf - $31 million
17. Kevin Garnett, basketball - $30 million
17. Jeff Gordon, NASCAR - $30 million
17. Derek Jeter, baseball - $30 million
17. Ronaldinho, soccer/football - $30 million
Chtristiano Ronaldo is the highest paid footballer.
The top ten highest paid payers are football players and basketball players. They both get paid millions.
# Tiger Woods # Karl Rushford # Michael Schumacher # Peyton Manning # Michael Jordan # Shaquille O'Neal # Clinton Oliver # David Beckham # Alex Rodriguez # Kobe Bryant
my mum
top ten highest paid rugby players
pata nae...
Halle berry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_(football)
throw ball
Ronaldinho must be the first highest payment in the world
Tiger Woods is the highest, he has been for a while. Not sure about the rest
Jose Mourinho