Ronaldo Tops Athlete Earnings for Third Year in a Row... Earns 44 Million Won Per Hour

No. 1 for Three Consecutive Years, Fifth Overall
Stephen Curry Ranks Second with $156 Million

Cristiano Ronaldo, a forward for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia and a member of the Portugal national football team. Al Nassr FC official website

Cristiano Ronaldo, a forward for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia and a member of the Portugal national football team, has been found to be the highest-earning athlete in the world for the third consecutive year.

According to Forbes, an American business magazine, Ronaldo topped the "2025 World's Highest-Paid Athletes" ranking, which estimates athletes' income over the past 12 months, earning a total of $275 million (approximately 385 billion won) before taxes and agent fees. This marks his third consecutive year at the top and the fifth time overall.

Based on the Korean won, Ronaldo earned 1.05 billion won per day and 44 million won per hour. In Forbes' all-time annual earnings rankings, the only athlete to surpass Ronaldo is American boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million (approximately 418.3 billion won) in 2015 and $285 million (approximately 397.4 billion won) in 2018.

Ronaldo's income increased by $15 million (approximately 20.9 billion won) compared to last year's reported $260 million. Forbes estimates that since signing a two-year contract with Al Nassr of the Saudi Pro League in December 2022, Ronaldo earned $225 million (approximately 313.2 billion won) from playing and $50 million (approximately 69.6 billion won) from off-field activities.

Ronaldo has a combined 939 million followers across social media platforms, and his YouTube channel, launched in August last year, has 75 million subscribers. He also earns additional income through advertising, corporate investments, and collaborations.

Meanwhile, following Ronaldo, NBA star Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors ranked second with an income of $156 million (approximately 217.2 billion won). Curry's earnings surpassed the NBA record of $128.2 million (approximately 178.4 billion won) set last year by LeBron James of the LA Lakers, making it the highest ever for a basketball player. However, there was still a significant gap of $119 million (approximately 165.6 billion won) between Curry and Ronaldo.