World’s highest-paid athlete revealed, star disappears from rich list

There has been a big shake-up to the list of the world’s highest-paid athletes with one star’s earnings brutally wiped out.

Tyson Otto

@tottodtsport

2 min read

May 13, 2022 - 10:16AM

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Lionel Messi has returned to the top of the world’s highest paid athletes list.

The football legend has endured a tough first season at Paris Saint-Germain following his shock Barcelona exit — but it hasn’t impacted his bank account.

Messi is the highest paid athlete for 2022, according to Forbes’ annual rich list.

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Messi’s return to the top comes despite estimates that his salary has dropped around $22 million with PSG from his previous deal with Barcelona. However, he has picked up a huge boost in earnings through sponsorships.

The Argentine megastar has jumped former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor — who has completely vanished from the rich list’s top 10.

Other notable absentees this time around include F1 pair Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, Naomi Osaka, Tiger Woods, Tyson Fury and Kylian Mbappe, The Sun reports.

McGregor last year raked in the cash through the sale of his Proper No. Twelve whisky label.

The Irishman has claimed the sale was worth up to a staggering $150 million.

Forbes revealed on Thursday night (AEST) although McGregor’s earnings have stalled, he will still feature in the Top 50 list to be announced later this month.

His recent earnings come through his July fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 but McGregor has been out of the Octagon since then after breaking his leg in the bout.

Remember Conor McGregor? Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images.

NFL quarterback Dak Prescott has also disappeared from the list after being the No. 4 overall highest paid athlete in 2021, while Hamilton dropped out too after he was the No. 8 overall ranked athlete last year.

At the other end of the list, NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo has cracked the top 10 as the only person on the list under the age of 30.

Tennis legend Roger Federer is still among the highest paid as a result of his many sponsorship deals which makes him sport’s No. 1 brand ambassador.

The other big move has been LeBron James’ jump up to the No. 2 overall spot, setting a new record for annual earnings in the NBA.

The LA Lakers star’s earnings on the 2021 list came in at $96.5 million but Forbes reports he has “crushed” his own record this year with a staggering haul of more than $121 million.

It comes at the same time as Sportico has released its own rich list rankings. The sports-business publication has revealed Osaka is again the world’s highest earning female athlete of the past 12 months with a staggering haul of more than $53 million.

Naomi Osaka. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.

She earned an estimated $52 million in sponsorship deals with on-court prize money worth just $1.2 million.

Osaka is still the top earning female athlete despite her recent grand slam performances resulting in a third round exit from the 2022 Australian Open, a third round exit at the US Open, her stunning decision to quit the 2021 French Open citing mental health reasons and her decision to pull out of Wimbledon in 2021.

Despite being the top female athlete earner of the past 12 months, Sportico ranks her just the No. 20 overall athlete, highlighting the disparity between men and women.

Forbes highest earning athletes top ten list