7 months ago
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The Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate will probably rumble on until the end of time, but there is one record the Portuguese can certainly hold over the Argentine with no questions asked.
CR7 has been declared the fifth-highest paid athlete of all-time, beating his old rival to be the only footballer on the ranking.
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According to Sportico, Ronaldo's career at The Portuguese superstar has enjoyed a career with Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and now with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia has seen him earn a whopping £1.22billion in inflation-adjusted earnings.
That total is more than Messi, who took £1.2bn.
As well as his football earnings and his lifestyle brand, Ronaldo is a serial investor with business interests including a hotel chain, a media company and a line of hair transplant clinics.
However, the 38-year-old has some work to do to catch up with the sporting world's top highest-earners.
Legendary golfers Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are fourth and third on the top-five ranking, with inflation-adjusted earnings of £1.63bn and £1.7bn respectively.
Nicklaus is a famous golf course designer and author, while Palmer owns the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando and helped to found The Golf Channel.
Second on the list is another golfing legend in Tiger Woods.
Woods, regarded as the greatest golfer of all time, is tied for first in PGA Tour wins and ranks second in men's major championships.
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Off the course, Woods has launched his own foundation, an NFT and even opened a bar in New York with Justin Timberlake called T-Squared Social.
In terms of total career earnings, Woods has racked up £1.97bn, putting him second behind the runaway leader at the top of the list - basketball icon Michael Jordan.
MJ spent 15 years in the NBA and has gone on to become a hugely successful entrepreneur, raking in a fortune of £2.6bn.
Jordan's business interests include investing in the NBA team Charlotte Hornets and baseball side Miami Marlins, as well as owning restaurants and a golf course in Florida.
Jordan purchased the Hornets in 2010 for around $275m, but sold his majority stake in the basketball franchise for $3bn in August 2023 - making an incredible profit.
His biggest source of regular income is his agreement with Nike, with the 'Air Jordan' brand generating £1B a year in sales.
Jordan also starred alongside Bugs Bunny and his Looney Tunes pals in the cult 1996 movie hit 'Space Jam' which earned over $250million at the box office, with MJ taking home a $20m pay cheque.
