Ronaldo tops Forbes SportsMoney Richlist

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as the world highest paid athlete by Forbes Sports money index. Forbes magazine's newest tool combines several different sources of income as well as information such as a player's influence over different parts of the market. Having announced Ronaldo as sport's top earner already in 2016, the company boast that their new cross-category ranking is the first of its kind.

Ronaldo who won the Uefa Champions League and the euros last year earned over $88m from salary and endorsements over the course of the year, he topped fierce rival Leo Messi and NBA icon Lebron James in the yearly edition of the Forbes rich list.

 Ronaldo success in the list was aided by the absence of Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather, with the former sustaining an injury and the latter retiring from boxing. the two had been topping the list for the best part of the last two decades. After Ronaldo and Messi, Neymar is the next footballer on the list followed by Manchester united forward Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo's club teamates Bale.

Ronaldo's massive popularity on social media earned him a whooping $176m from over 255 sponsored post he made for brands he is representing on social media , as he boasts over 215 million followers across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Ronaldo turns 32 on Sunday.