Guess how much Dhoni made?
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Another year, another marquee year of bank-busting for the world’s top-paid athletes. The top 100 earned a total of $3.2 billion over the last 12 months, up 17% from the prior year, and among the list is Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Dhoni slots in at no. 23 on the Forbes list of The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2015, dropping down one rung from his ranking of no. 22 last year. His total earnings tallied up to $31 million, including $4 million from his salary and prize winnings and endorsements worth $27 million.
The 33-year old cricketer retired from Test cricket at the end of 2014, handing his Indian national team captainship to fellow star Virat Kohli, but he remains India’s skipper at the one-day international and T20 levels, according to the listing.
“He led India to the semifinal round of the 2015 Cricket World Cup before suffering a loss to eventual champion Australia, and in May the Chennai Super Kings went to the IPL Finals for the sixth time in his eight years as team captain,” Forbes wrote.
The business magazine also noted the modern cricketing legend is co-producing “M.S Dhoni: The Untold Story,” an upcoming biopic that has been fraught with delays but has already funneled some $3 million into the Indian star’s pockets.
Athletes from 24 different countries constitute the top 100, although Americans dominate the list with 62 entries thanks to skyrocketing salaries in the Stateside staples of baseball, basketball and football. However, the top of the list is significantly more diverse with 14 non-Americans in the top 25.
Per Forbes, the “earnings figures include all salaries and bonuses paid out between June 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015. In the case of baseball players, the listed salary will include salary from the 2013 and 2014 seasons, as well as any signing, award or playoff bonuses. Winnings for golfers and tennis players represents their prize money over that period. Nascar drivers receive a percentage of their winnings (it is split with the team), as well as a salary.”
The top 20 highest paid athletes are:
- Floyd Mayweather ($300 million – boxing – U.S.)
- Manny Pacquiao ($160 million – boxing – Philippines)
- Cristiano Ronaldo ($79.6 million – soccer/international football – Portugal)
- Lionel Messi ($73.8 million – soccer/international football -Argentina)
- Roger Federer ($67 million – tennis – Switzerland)
- LeBron James ($64.8 million – basketball – U.S.)
- Kevin Durant ($54.1 million – basketball – U.S.)
- Phil Mickelson ($50.8 million – golf)
- Tiger Woods ($50.6 million – golf – U.S.)
- Kobe Bryant ($49.5 million – basketball – U.S.)
- Ben Roethlisberger ($48.9 million – American football – U.S.)
- Rory McIlroy ($43.8 million – golf – Northern Ireland)
- Novak Djokovic ($48.3 million – tennis – Serbia)
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic ($39.1 million – soccer/international football – Sweden)
- Lewis Hamilton ($39 million – racing – England)
- Ndamukong Suh ($38.6 million – American football – U.S.)
- Fernando Alonso ($35.5 million – racing – Spain)
- Gareth Bale ($35 million – soccer/international football – Wales)
- Jon Lester ($34.1 million – baseball – U.S.)
- Derrick Rose ($33.9 million – basketball – U.S.)