I just looked at the list of the richest athletes in the world and was surprised at how huge the gap is between the top and the rest. Michael Jordan is clearly on a different level — $3.6 billion, that's just insane. Vince McMahon is also close, almost $3.2 billion, but that's more from WWE than from sports as such.

It's interesting that the top includes not only legends like Roger Federer ($750 million) and Tiger Woods ($800 million), but also current players like Ronaldo ($1.2 billion) and Messi ($850 million). LeBron, with $800 million, has also earned quite well. It’s clear that football and basketball are the most profitable disciplines.

The top 10 richest athletes in the world are mostly Americans plus a few Europeans. Shaquille O'Neal, Floyd Mayweather, George Foreman — all of them found ways to earn outside of the sport itself. Beckham and Hamilton also monetized well after their careers. The figures are approximate and rounded, but the overall picture is clear — sports is truly a huge business.