Roger Federer, for the first time, has topped the list of the highest-paid athletes in the Forbes list, released earlier today. The Swiss tennis star earned the top spot on the annual list with $106.3 million in pre-tax earnings and $100 million from endorsements and appearance fees.
Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo earned the second spot, while Barcelona's Lionel Messi finished third on the 2020 list.
Indian captain Virat Kohli was the sole cricketer in the Forbes list. While he finished at the 100th spot in the last year's list, Virat has jumped to 66th position in 2020, with earnings of $26 million. This includes $2 million in salary/winnings, and the rest in endorsements and appearance fees.
Basketball had the highest representatives in this year's list, with 35 players ranking among the top-100 athletes. (ALSO READ: Osaka tops Serena Williams to become top-earning female athlete)
Here's the list of top-10:
| Spot |
Athlete |
Earnings |
| 1 |
Roger Federer (Tennis) |
$106.3m |
| 2 |
Cristiano Ronaldo (Football) |
$105m |
| 3 |
Lionel Messi (Football) |
$104m |
| 4 |
Neymar (Football) |
$95.5m |
| 5 |
LeBron James (Basketball) |
$88.2m |
| 6 |
Stephen Curry (Basketball) |
$74.4m |
| 7 |
Kevin Durant (Basketball) |
$63.9m |
| 8 |
Tiger Woods (Golf) |
$62.3m |
| 9 |
Kirk Cousins (American Football) |
$60.5m |
| 10 |
Carson Wentz (American Football) |
$59.1m |
Japan's Naomi Osaka also topped Serena Williams to become the highest-paid female athlete in the list. Osaka is at 29th spot. Williams, meanwhile, is now 33rd and remains the second-highest paid female athlete.
England's Lewis Hamilton is the top-paid Formula One driver, with earnings of $54m. He is ranked 13th in the list.
