Tiger Woods toppled from top of Forbes' sports personality rich list, with David Beckham among top ten
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It took Floyd Mayweather less than an hour to earn his place as the world’s best-rewarded sportsman.
Over the course of two fights, and two victories, Mayweather collected $85m to end Tiger Woods’ 11-year domination of sport’s annual global rich list, compiled by Forbes.
Click here or click 'VIEW GALLERY' to launch our guide to the Forbes top 100 rich list
It is a remarkable accumulation for a man known as ‘Money’ – who is currently serving a 90-day sentence in Las Vegas for domestic violence against a former partner. Mayweather’s prison term, following a guilty plea in December, was even put on hold to allow him to take part in the second fight, against Miguel Cotto. Those 12 rounds in Vegas earned him $45m – the delay was approved because the fight was estimated to be worth up to $15m for the city.
Mayweather earned nothing from endorsements, compared to Woods’s $55m and the $45m collected by Roger Federer. Mayweather’s immense income comes in large part because he promotes his own fights through his company. That sees him retain all TV money and ticket sales income.
Another boxer, Manny Pacquiao, who also gathered a relatively meagre sum of $6m from endorsement, overtook Woods as well. Woods lost significant deals with Gillette and Tag Heuer following his sex scandal, while his 30-month winless streak also saw his on-course earnings drop to $4.4m – less than a third of that won by Luke Donald, the world No 1 and highest ranked British golfer in the Forbes list at 48.
The highest Briton, and footballer, was David Beckham in eighth. His $9m annual salary is under half that of Cristiano Ronaldo, but with a high-profile Olympic role looming his global profile is in no danger of dropping any time soon. In January he signed a new two-year deal with LA Galaxy and is expected to remain in the US in the longer term, possibly looking to buy up one of the MLS franchises.
The list is largely made up of US sportsmen, 30 of them are American footballers, and there are just two women in the top 100, Maria Sharapova, at 20, and Li Na, 81. Sharapova’s annual income is estimated at $27.9m, $22m of it via endorsements. Na’s breakthrough year with victory in the 2011 French Open helped her pick up seven international multi-million dollar deals towards an annual total of $18.4m.
There are 10 footballers in all; Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Kaka, Sergio Aguero, Fernando Torres, Yaya Toure, John Terry and Steven Gerrard following Beckham and Ronaldo. Terry’s endorsements, currently at $5m, are expected to fall sharply again.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the highest-paid cricketer at 31. His total of $26.5 is some two million more than Rooney and comes off the back of captaining India to the World Cup on home soil. Dhoni promotes over 20 brands in India, including a $2m a year deal with United Breweries thought to be the largest annual pay-out for an Indian sportsman. Sachin Tendulkar is the only other cricketer to feature. His lowly placing at 78 is down to his decision not to promote alcohol and to reject many of the offers he receives.
Click here or click 'VIEW GALLERY' to launch our guide to the Forbes top 100 rich list
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