Just found an interesting overview of the richest athletes in the world, and I have to say, the numbers are impressive. Michael Jordan leads with an estimated 3.6 billion — crazy that a basketball player achieved that. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are also high up, with over one billion and 850 million respectively.

What surprised me: many of the richest athletes in the world made their fortune not only through their active careers but through business ventures afterward. LeBron, Magic Johnson, and The Rock are all in the 800-million-dollar category. Roger Federer with 750 million also shows that tennis legends have built quite a fortune.

The list goes down to position 40, and even there, we're still at 250 million. Of course, these are all estimates, and the richest athletes in the world earn their money differently — some through sponsorships, others through business shares or investments. It's interesting to see how varied their careers have been.