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Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the Forbes list of highest-paid athletes for the third consecutive year, while NBA star Stephen Curry has moved up to second.<\/b><\/p>\n
The business magazine, external<\/span><\/a> says Ronaldo, who has topped the list fives times during his career, has increased his estimated total earnings by $15m (\u00a311.2m) to $275m (\u00a3206.6m).<\/p>\n That figure has only been surpassed by former world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300m in 2015<\/a> (then \u00a3194m) and $275m in 2018<\/a> (then \u00a3205m). <\/p>\n Portugal forward Ronaldo, 40, moved to the lucrative Saudi Pro League with Al Nassr in December 2022 and has generated greater income through off-field endorsements and sponsorship deals backed by his social media followers, which currently total 939m.<\/p>\n Golden State Warriors guard Curry, who became the first NBA player to reach 4,000 career three-pointers<\/a> in March, climbs up to second after earning $156m (\u00a3117.2m).<\/p>\n British boxer Tyson Fury moved up to third with $146m (\u00a3109.7m) despite losing his world heavyweight titles to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n Fury was the beneficiary of a Netflix reality television show and a partnership with Maltese tourism.<\/p>\n Ronaldo’s long-standing rival Lionel Messi has fallen further behind the Portuguese after dropping from third to fifth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n