Sport > World > Lists > Earnings > Forbes > Highest Ranked Athletes > 1990-2010

Forbes magazine has been publishing lists of the highest-paid athletes since 1990. Here is an analysis of these lists from 1990-2010 to determine which athletes had been featured on the lists the most. This is our own analysis of the data presented by Forbes. Total earnings are calculated based on money derived from salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and licensing income. See also the Forbes list of the highest paid athletes of the decade (2010-2020) and the Forbes highest paid athlete of all time.

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Jordan Highest of the Highest Paid

We analyzed all of the top 10 highest paid athlete lists from this period to determine which athlete has appeared the most times and how high they appeared on the list. All data from the first list of 1990 up until and including 2010 has been used in these calculations.

We have combined all the lists by giving 10 votes for being on the top of a list, and one less for each rank below that (e.g. 1 vote for being 10th on the list). If two or more athletes were known to tie for a position, the points were shared equally. Only the top 20 position are shown here. Considering that Michael Jordan has appeared on 17 of these top 10 lists (6 times in top position) and Tiger Woods has appeared on 13 of the lists (top position 9 times), there is no surprise seeing these two battle for the top of this master list. Tiger woods is expected to continue to gain points, but maybe not as many as he has in the past.

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Related Pages

• The Best of the World's Highest Paid Athletes — collated lists of Forbes annual highest paid athletes.
• Highest paid athletes of the decade (2010-2020)
• Forbes highest paid athlete of all time.
• Analysis of sports rankings on highest paid lists.
• List of Highest paid Athletes Lists.
• Other world sport lists