Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes
Now that the 2012 summer Olympic Games kicked off on 27th July in London, we shall today be looking at the Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes in 2012 some of whom will be representing their countries by competing against their fellow athletes in a bid to win medals; not only for themselves, but most importantly for the flags they came in with.
Throughout the Olympic Games, we shall be looking at the various sporting events that shall be taking place in London (their history) as well as the highest paid in the respective categories. For those who might not be aware, the 2012 London Olympic Games shall continue on till 12th August 2012 and about 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees are expected to participate.
Here’s the complete list of the Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes in 2012
| Rank | Name | Pay | Salary/Winnings | Endorsements | Sport |
| 1 | Floyd Mayweather | $85 M | $85 M | $0 M | Boxing |
| 2 | Manny Pacquiao | $62 M | $56 M | $6 M | Boxing |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | $59.4 M | $4.4 M | $55 M | Golf |
| 4 | LeBron James | $53 M | $13 M | $40 M | Basketball |
| 5 | Roger Federer | $52.7 M | $7.7 M | $45 M | Tennis |
| 6 | Kobe Bryant | $52.3 M | $20.3 M | $32 M | Basketball |
| 7 | Phil Mickelson | $47.8 M | $4.8 M | $43 M | Golf |
| 8 | David Beckham | $46 M | $9 M | $37 M | Soccer |
| 9 | Cristiano Ronaldo | $42.5 M | $20.5 M | $22 M | Soccer |
| 10 | Peyton Manning | $42.4 M | $32.4 M | $10 M | Football |
| 11 | Lionel Messi | $39 M | $20 M | $19 M | Soccer |
| 12 | Haloti Ngata | $37.3 M | $37.1 M | $0.2 M | Football |
| 13 | Larry Fitzgerald | $36.8 M | $35.3 M | $1.5 M | Football |
| 14 | Ndamukong Suh | $36 M | $35.5 M | $0.5 M | Football |
| 15 | Charles Johnson | $34.4 M | $34.3 M | $0.1 M | Football |
| 16 | Rafael Nadal | $33.2 M | $8.2 M | $25 M | Tennis |
| 16 | Mario Williams | $33.2 M | $32.9 M | $0.3 M | Football |
| 18 | Alex Rodriguez | $33 M | $31 M | $2 M | Baseball |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | $32 M | $29 M | $3 M | Racing |
| 20 | Valentino Rossi | $30 M | $17 M | $13 M | Motorcycle |
| 20 | Michael Schumacher | $30 M | $20 M | $10 M | Racing |
| 22 | Darrelle Revis | $28.3 M | $27 M | $1.3 M | Football |
| 23 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | $28.2 M | $13.2 M | $15 M | Racing |
| 24 | Lewis Hamilton | $28 M | $25 M | $3 M | Racing |
| 24 | Wladimir Klitschko | $28 M | $24 M | $4 M | Boxing |
| 26 | Maria Sharapova | $27.9 M | $5.9 M | $22 M | Tennis |
| 27 | Sam Bradford | $27.8 M | $26.8 M | $1 M | Football |
| 28 | Tom Brady | $27.1 M | $23.1 M | $4 M | Football |
| 29 | Joe Mauer | $27 M | $23 M | $4 M | Baseball |
| 30 | Eli Manning | $26.6 M | $18.6 M | $8 M | Football |
| 31 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | $26.5 M | $3.5 M | $23 M | Cricket |
| 31 | LaMarr Woodley | $26.5 M | $26.3 M | $0.2 M | Football |
| 33 | Dwight Howard | $25.6 M | $14.6 M | $11 M | Basketball |
| 34 | Kevin Durant | $25.5 M | $12.5 M | $13 M | Basketball |
| 35 | Dwyane Wade | $24.7 M | $12.7 M | $12 M | Basketball |
| 36 | Derek Jeter | $24.5 M | $15.5 M | $9 M | Baseball |
| 37 | Wayne Rooney | $24.3 M | $17.8 M | $6.5 M | Soccer |
| 38 | Mark Sanchez | $24.2 M | $23.2 M | $1 M | Football |
| 39 | Ichiro Suzuki | $24 M | $17 M | $7 M | Baseball |
| 40 | CC Sabathia | $23.8 M | $23 M | $0.8 M | Baseball |
| 40 | Johan Santana | $23.8 M | $23.3 M | $0.5 M | Baseball |
| 42 | Jeff Gordon | $23.6 M | $13.6 M | $10 M | Racing |
| 43 | Ben Roethlisberger | $23.3 M | $22.3 M | $1 M | Football |
| 44 | Carmelo Anthony | $22.9 M | $14.9 M | $8 M | Basketball |
| 45 | Mark Teixeira | $22.8 M | $22.5 M | $0.3 M | Baseball |
| 46 | Amar’e Stoudemire | $22.7 M | $14.7 M | $8 M | Basketball |
| 47 | Tony Stewart | $22.3 M | $15.3 M | $7 M | Racing |
| 48 | Luke Donald | $22.2 M | $13.2 M | $9 M | Golf |
| 49 | Vernon Wells | $22.1 M | $22 M | $0.1 M | Baseball |
| 50 | Michael Vick | $22 M | $20 M | $2 M | Football |
| 51 | Logan Mankins | $21.9 M | $21.8 M | $0.1 M | Football |
| 51 | Richard Seymour | $21.9 M | $21.6 M | $0.3 M | Football |
| 53 | Ryan Howard | $21.5 M | $20 M | $1.5 M | Baseball |
| 53 | Jimmie Johnson | $21.5 M | $14.5 M | $7 M | Racing |
| 53 | Adrian Peterson | $21.5 M | $20.5 M | $1 M | Football |
| 56 | Jon Beason | $21.4 M | $21.3 M | $0.1 M | Football |
| 57 | Kevin Garnett | $21.1 M | $17.1 M | $4 M | Basketball |
| 58 | Matthew Stafford | $20.9 M | $19.9 M | $1 M | Football |
| 59 | Miguel Cabrera | $20.8 M | $20.6 M | $0.2 M | Baseball |
| 59 | Kaka | $20.8 M | $14.3 M | $6.5 M | Soccer |
| 61 | Novak Djokovic | $20.6 M | $11.6 M | $9 M | Tennis |
| 61 | Roy Halladay | $20.6 M | $20.1 M | $0.5 M | Baseball |
| 63 | Usain Bolt | $20.3 M | $0.3 M | $20 M | Track |
| 63 | D’Brickashaw Ferguson | $20.3 M | $20.1 M | $0.2 M | Football |
| 65 | Sergio Aguero | $20.1 M | $16.6 M | $3.5 M | Soccer |
| 66 | DeAngelo Williams | $19.9 M | $19.8 M | $0.2 M | Football |
| 67 | Joe Thomas | $19.8 M | $19.3 M | $0.5 M | Football |
| 68 | Eric Berry | $19.6 M | $19.3 M | $0.3 M | Football |
| 68 | Prince Fielder | $19.6 M | $19.3 M | $0.3 M | Baseball |
| 68 | Fernando Torres | $19.6 M | $16.6 M | $3 M | Soccer |
| 71 | Ryan Kalil | $19.4 M | $19.3 M | $0.1 M | Football |
| 72 | Chris Paul | $19.2 M | $13.2 M | $6 M | Basketball |
| 73 | Tim Duncan | $19.1 M | $17.1 M | $2 M | Basketball |
| 73 | Yaya Touré | $19.1 M | $16.6 M | $2.5 M | Soccer |
| 75 | Miguel Cotto | $19 M | $19 M | $0 M | Boxing |
| 76 | Barry Zito | $18.9 M | $18.8 M | $0.2 M | Baseball |
| 77 | Robert Mathis | $18.7 M | $18.6 M | $0.2 M | Football |
| 78 | Carlos Lee | $18.6 M | $18.5 M | $0.1 M | Baseball |
| 78 | Sachin Tendulkar | $18.6 M | $2.1 M | $16.5 M | Cricket |
| 78 | Lawrence Timmons | $18.6 M | $18.4 M | $0.2 M | Football |
| 81 | Li Na | $18.4 M | $1.4 M | $17 M | Tennis |
| 82 | Torii Hunter | $18.3 M | $18 M | $0.3 M | Baseball |
| 82 | Alfonso Soriano | $18.3 M | $18 M | $0.3 M | Baseball |
| 84 | Deron Williams | $18.2 M | $16.2 M | $2 M | Basketball |
| 85 | Johnathan Joseph | $18.1 M | $18 M | $0.1 M | Football |
| 86 | Darnell Dockett | $18 M | $17.9 M | $0.1 M | Football |
| 87 | Matt Holliday | $17.6 M | $17.3 M | $0.3 M | Baseball |
| 88 | Rashard Lewis | $17.5 M | $17 M | $0.5 M | Basketball |
| 88 | John Terry | $17.5 M | $12.5 M | $5 M | Soccer |
| 88 | Justin Verlander | $17.5 M | $17 M | $0.5 M | Baseball |
| 91 | Ernie Els | $17.4 M | $1.4 M | $16 M | Golf |
| 91 | Rory McIlroy | $17.4 M | $10.4 M | $7 M | Golf |
| 91 | Albert Pujols | $17.4 M | $14.4 M | $3 M | Baseball |
| 91 | Carlos Zambrano | $17.4 M | $17.3 M | $0.1 M | Baseball |
| 95 | Pau Gasol | $17.2 M | $14.7 M | $2.5 M | Basketball |
| 96 | Russell Okung | $17.1 M | $16.8 M | $0.3 M | Football |
| 97 | Steven Gerrard | $17 M | $12.5 M | $4.5 M | Soccer |
| 98 | Carl Crawford | $16.9 M | $16.8 M | $0.2 M | Baseball |
| 99 | Rolando McClain | $16.7 M | $16.5 M | $0.2 M | Football |
| 100 | Jake Peavy | $16.6 M | $16.5 M | $0.1 M | Baseball |
{Courtesy of Forbes}
So there you have it, the Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes as of June 2012.
It was however a bit shocking that there were only two women on the above list of the Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes in 2012, and they coincidentally play the same game (Tennis);
- Maria Sharapova who raked in a total of $27.9M and
- Li Na who raked in a total of $18.4M
This brings forth a challenge to women that they ought to negotiate better paycheck terms (while at the same time excelling in their respective games) and market their names (brands) out there in order to get better and more endorsement deals which as you might have observed, has contributed significantly towards the pay of some of the athletes on this list e.g Tiger Woods who got endorsements amounting to $55M compared with his winnings of $4.4M.
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