The earnings shared in the rankings include salaries, bonuses, prize money, purses, endorsements, licensing, royalties, memorabilia, book deals, media, appearance fees and golf course design fees.
The earnings quoted are pre-tax, and in the cases of Arnold Palmer and Kobe Bryant, the earnings were calculated up until time of death.
It will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that NBA legend Michael Jordan tops the rankings both with and without inflation.
The former Chicago Bulls star earned $2.7billion – adjusted to $3.75 billion – up until the end of 2023, with most of that coming from his long-standing partnership with Nike.
Jordan is one of 12 basketball stars to make the top 50, although he and LeBron James were the only ones to make the top 10.
Cristiano Ronaldo comes in at number three with adjusted earnings of $1.92bn (up from $1.57bn). The Portugal and Al-Nassr star was the highest paid active athlete in the world in 2023.
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