WHILE the majority of the world’s population hits the books hard and invests in education to make a living, a certain percentage can rely solely on their sporting ability to put food on the table.
Forbes has released the latest list of the top ten highest paid athletes in the world, which is enough to make most of us slightly envious. Sitting at the top of the rankings is Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns 88 million US Dollars a year – 56 million is salary, and 32 million from endorsements.
When converted to South African rands, he earns over 1.3 billion, or just over 3.6 million per day.
Not too bad for kicking a soccer ball around.
Argentinian soccer legend Lionel Messi comes in second with 81.4 million UDS per year, followed by American basketball legend LeBron James with 77.2 million USD per year.
The Spanish tennis maestro Roger Federer is fourth (67.8 million USD) dollars, closely followed by basketball star Kevin Durnat on 56.2 million.
The current king of the tennis courts Novak Djokovic is in sixth spot with 55.8 million, of which 21.8 million came from winnings and salary.
American football player Cam Newton secured seventh spot with 53.1 million, followed by golfing companions Phil Mickelson (8th) 52.9 million and Jordan Spieth (9th) 52.8 million.
Basketball’s Kobe Bryant wraps up the top ten with 50 million US dollars per year.
