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Pictures: top 10 richest sports stars of all time

Basketball players and golfers dominate Forbes’s list of the world’s top-earning athletes

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By The Week Staff

published 14 December 2017

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Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls basketball NBA — (Image credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Jack Nicklaus golf majors golf course design Forbes sport rich list

Michael Schumacher F1 career earnings Forbes sport rich list

Phil Mickelson golf career earnings Forbes sport rich list

Kobe Bryant NBA career earnings Forbes sport rich list

David Beckham football career earnings Forbes sport rich list

Floyd Mayweather career earnings boxing Forbes sport rich list

Shaquille O’Neal NBA trainers Forbes Sport rich list

Michael Jordan is the highest-paid athlete of all time according to a new sports rich list published by Forbes.

Basketball star Jordan is one of the best players in NBA history but off the court he has proved his business credentials with a number of major endorsement deals with companies such as Nike and Gatorade.

Now the owner of the Charlotte Hornets NBA franchise, Jordan is also part of the group approved to buy Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins, according to a report in the Charlotte Observer published in September.

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Jordan’s career earnings of $1.85billion (£1.37bn) see him top a list that includes golfer Tiger Woods, Formula 1 icon Michael Schumacher, England footballer David Beckham and recently-retired boxer Floyd Mayweather.

According to Forbes, the earnings estimates include the following:

Salaries
Bonuses
Prize money
Endorsements
Licensing
Fees from books, golf course designs and appearances

Estimates cover the time the athlete turned professional through to 1 June 2017. The figures are adjusted for inflation.

Click the gallery above to see the top 10 richest sports stars of all time.

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