Top 5 Highest Paid Athletes in the World (2008)

Everything comes with a huge price – and so does talent! Yes, one of the richest people in the world are none other than our ever-exalted sportsmen. A recent survey shows that men athletes out-earn female athletes in the world by more than 4 to 1 times last year (2007).

Top 5 Highest-Paid Athletes in the World

Listed below are names of the top-5 highest-paid athletes in the world:

Tiger Woods: Golf is his territory and no one so far has been able to take his place. With a whopping $115 million in just one year, this sensational golfer has out-earned top tennis female athlete Maria Sharapova who reaped $26 million in the same year thereby stealing the highest bid for top notch athletes in the world. 2008 season will be quiet dismal without him because he has to move out of the game due to a knee surgery. The golf star has still managed to bag a few credits to his name such as a 9th PGA Player of the Year, a 7th Vardon Trophy and a 3rd time winner of the US Open Championship.
David Beckham: Despite his injuries which put him out of the field in the first season of the Los Angeles Galaxy, David Beckham, the prominent midfielder of soccer games, has managed to bag the No.2 position in the arena of highest-paid athletes of the world. David Robert Joseph Beckham has scored over many sports maestro’s except the evergreen Tiger Woods with a huge $50 million to his name in one year. This soccer star has been much of a celebrity and an acclaimed heartthrob for people across the globe especially in the US. Apart for bagging much of media attention for his game, thrills and his looks, this tough guy with squeamish vulnerable air has fathered paychecks from stout sponsors such as Adidas, Giorgio Armani, Pepsi, Motorola and Sharpie.
Michael Jordon and Phil Mickelson: No.3 is shared by the basketball legend Michael Jordon and golf star Phil Mickelson. Each of them bagged $45 million in one month tenure. No more a net scraper, Jordon draws handsome checks for heading the operations of the Charlotte Bobcats professional basketball team (Charlotte, North Carolina). Nothing to beat the Jordon brand associated with Nike which meets a sales target of about $800 million each year. This really puts Jordon’s earnings in the multi-million dollar circuit. Mickelson though managed a great deal of income from endorsement deals. He is backed by eminent sponsors such as Ford, Bearing Point, Exxon Mobile and Callaway.
Kimi Raikkonen: Formula One Finnish racer, Kimi Raikkonen comes 5th in being the highest-paid athlete in the world. He’s taken home an income worth $44 million dollar last year. Kimi, hailing as “Iceman” also grabbed the top notch position for being the highest-paid racers in the world. To add to the grace and fame he got, Raikkonen also won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship.

Reports suggest that male athletes took home $483 million as compared to women athletes who managed to grab not more than just a mere $118 million from June 2007 to June 2008.