The Sportico website has tried to estimate how much the greatest athletes in history have earned in their careers, whether they are over or still ongoing.
Leading the ranking is Michael Jordan, with an estimated figure of 3.3 billion dollars: no one like him in history, for now.
Speaking of tennis, there is a player who appears in the top 10: it is Roger Federer, in ninth place and the first tennis player in this ranking. Between sponsors and prize money won on the field, the figure is around 1.8 billion dollars.
The Swiss tennis player is behind a series of champions such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Present Nadal and Djokovic, Serena is the only woman
Again according to the estimates made, the second tennis player present is Rafael Nadal: number 28 in the rankings, with 660 million dollars, but with a career that has yet to see its end.
Third place in the world of tennis is the only sportswoman in this ranking: it is Serena Williams. Thirty-eighth, she calculates her assets of 600 million. As in the case of Roger Federer, of a finished career but of sponsorships still present.
The retired Grand Slam champion is the WTA’s all-time prize money leader at $95 million, but has earned most of her off-court income through dozens of endorsement deals, reports Sportico. including those with Nike, AT&T, Beats, Ford Motor, Gatorade and Metro.
The earnings of Serena Ventures, which she founded in 2014 and which has made more than 60 investments, are not included in the estimate. The two positions following that of Serena Williams, who shares the position with the former American boxer Evander Holyfield, are still two tennis players: position number 40 for Andre Agassi, number 41 for Novak Djokovic.
For the former US tennis player, the figure is estimated at 590 million. For the twenty-two-time Grand Slam champion, it goes up to 575 million, but with a career still to continue. Sport is also about money. The sportsman chases fame and glory, but does not neglect the economic aspect either: in a long and successful career, the figures that an athlete can earn are astronomical, sometimes even incalculable.
