Ahead of the world. Who is the first athlete to earn more money last year than Ronaldo and Messi?

It’s safe to say without a shred of doubt that the Lakers’ failures can’t ruin LeBron James.

 Last season was more disappointing for LeBron James athletically, but financially it was a more successful period. Football stars such as Ronaldo and Messi are no longer at the top of the list of the world’s highest paid athletes.

James is ranked number 1 by Sportico. It is worth saying that the basketball player received $ 126.9 million last year, such data was released on the resource. According to Forbes, James took second place after Messi.

When comparing the Lakers leader’s earnings from last year to this year, there has been an increase of over 20%.

At the beginning of the year a cryptocurrency service, Crypto, was added to the organizations that sponsor LeBron. The cooperation began in January, after which he already starred in a commercial in February, the fee amounted to $ 7 million.

It is worth noting that LeBron is an investor himself, but the projects are not as large-scale. He owns a stake in Fenway Sports Group, estimated by experts at 70 million dollars. Not so long ago, he invested in a company engaged in the manufacture of fitness equipment for home use Tonal.  He also invested in StatusPRO, a start-up that develops virtual reality training products.

The basketball star also has income from creating and directing Space Jam. To be more accurate, James got rich off it, not really, as box office receipts were about 163 million dollars, with a budget of 150 million. Despite this, James and Carter’s brainchild, The SpringHill Company, has grown considerably in value over the past 12 months.  For $725 million, the basketball player sold a non-controlling stake in the company to a group of investors including Fenway Sports Group, Nike and Epic Games. Childhood friends were left with a controlling stake in their hands.

James not only leads the life of a professional athlete, he is also a businessman who is serious about business. If he wasn’t in business he would have probably lost a lot more money because his team went bust in the season. There is probably no guarantee that he will get his next title, but he can make a lot of money off the court.