Tiger Woods

Professional golfer Tiger Woods comes in the top spot with earnings of $100 million. His affiliation with Nike produced a brand that makes $600 million yearly. This alone helps to boost him into the stratosphere of the highest paid athletes.

Oscar De La Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya comes in second with $43 million in earnings. He holds the honor of having been the biggest draw in boxing for all the time he has spent in the sport. He has had a whopping 18 pay-per-view fights which made $612 million.

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson is another professional golfer who makes the list. His earnings amounted to $42.2 million, just below Oscar De La Hoya. With money coming in from sources such as Callaway, Ford, and Bearing Point, Mickelson is raking it in.

Kimi Raikkonen

This professional auto racer pulled in an impressive $40 million. Thanks to Ferrari he became the highest paid auto racer for last year. Winning the Formula One championship didn’t hurt either.

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher secured the next spot by making $36 million. A recently retired professional auto racer, Schumacher won seven championships total. Throughout his illustrious career, he made $650 million through racing and the endorsements that came along with it.

David Beckham

David Beckham had earnings of $33 million and his widespread fame certainly helped him to reach this number. His big number is thanks to his sponsors. Some of the noteworthy ones include Adidas, Motorola, and PepsiCo.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant made $32.9 million and possesses the only full no trade clause contract. This was especially relevant as his possible trade became big news recently.

Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal made $31.9 million despite his recent injuries. With or without his injuries, he still gets another $60 million from the Miami Heat over the course of the next 3 years.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan has been gone from the basketball scene for four years but he still made $31 million. As a player he may have stopped but as a marketable brand name, he lives on. His affiliation with Nike continues to be profitable for all involved.

Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho eanred $31 million and has twice won the honor of being FIFA player of the year. His endorsement contracts help to put him on this top ten highest paid athletes list just as they do for everyone else above him. He has deals with EA Sports, Lenovo, PepsiCo, and Nike.

These are the highest paid athletes in the world. They get this way through their skills, physical prowess, and a bunch of endorsement deals. Each one not only became one of the best in their respective sports but found ways to use that to become the highest paid too.

Tom Rheinecker writes about how to select the right program for any student among the various sports management degrees available.