Al-Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the Forbes list of highest-paid athletes for the third consecutive year, further establishing his growing influence in sports.
According to the highly-rated magazine, Ronaldo has increased his estimated total earnings by $15m to $275m (approx £206m).
Ronaldo has generated greater income through off-field endorsements, and sponsorship deals backed by his social media followers, which currently total 939m.
This is the fifth time Ronaldo has topped the list in his illustrious career.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry moved up to second on the list with an estimated earning of $156m (approx £117m).
British boxer Tyson Fury moved up to third with $146m (approx £109m) despite losing his world heavyweight titles to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in December.
Fury benefited largely from a Netflix reality television show and a partnership with Maltese tourism.
Lionel Messi dropped from third to fifth after joining Inter Miami despite his high-profile endorsement deals with Adidas, and Apple.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, nearing the end of his illustrious career, came in sixth with $133.8 million.
World’s top 10 highest paid athletes 2025
Cristiano Ronaldo, football: $275m (£206.6m)
Stephen Curry, basketball: $156m (£117.2m)
Tyson Fury, boxing: $146m (£109.7m)
Dak Prescott, American football: $137m (£103m)
Lionel Messi, football: $135m (£101.4m)
LeBron James, basketball: $133.8m (£105.5m)
Juan Soto, baseball: $114m (£85.7m)
Karim Benzema, football: $104m (£78.2m)
Shohei Ohtani, baseball: $102.5m (£77m)
Kevin Durant, basketball: $101.4m (£76.2m)
Again JAMB has chosen the part of ignominy. It fixed Saturday for the reseat exam in South East and Lagos.
I called the JAMB spokesman Fabian several times yesterday without success. He later sent a message to us explaining the rationale.
It’s so painful that leaders in the country choose to cry instead of solving problems. If the leaders cry at their failures, what then do the masses do?
For goodness sake, some of the children must have traveled while a lot of them are traumatized. Fixing three days for resit exams is too short for them to overcome this grief.
Even some education stakeholders I spoke with told me they opposed the timing but JAMB, whose CEO chose to cry on live TV instead of resigning, went ahead for a short time.
CEOs are to lead and solve problems, they are not to cry. If you wish to cry, resign, go back home and cry. Crying doesn’t solve the problems.
