|
Williams supplanted fellow tennis star Maria Sharapova at No.
1 on the list published by Forbes magazine.
The 33-year-old Williams, who has won 36 Grand Slam titles
during her illustrious career, made $28.9 million in the past 12
months.
Forbes reported that winning three Grand Slam titles during the
calendar year and finishing the 2015 season ranked No. 1 in the
world resulted in major bonuses from sponsors for Williams.
Williams' endorsement contracts include Chase, Audemars Piguet,
Beats Electronics, Burlei, Delta Air Lines, IBM, Kinder Joy,
Mini and Wheels Up and equity deals with Home Shopping Network
and Mission Athletecare. She also has a small stake in the Miami
Dolphins.
Sharapova had topped the rankings for 11 years. This week, she
was suspended from the sport for two years after testing
positive for a banned substance in January at the Australian
Open.
Sharapova lost several sponsors as a result of her suspension,
but Nike, Head and Evian announced Thursday that they will stick
with her. Her 2015 earnings dropped slightly from $23 million to
$21.9 million.
Other women in the Forbes top five were MMA fighter Ronda Rousey
($14 million), NASCAR driver Danica Patrick ($13.9 million) and
tennis player Agnieszka Radwanska ($10.2 million).
The rest of the top 10 was populated by tennis players: Caroline
Wozniacki ($8.0 million), Garbine Muguruza ($7.6 million), Ana
Ivanovic ($7.4 million), Victoria Azarenka ($6.6 million) and
Eugenie Bouchard ($6.2 million).
The world's highest paid athlete is soccer star Cristiano
Ronaldo with earnings in excess of $88 million during the past
year, followed by fellow soccer standout Lionel Messi ($81.4
million) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James $77.2
million).
-----------------------------------------------
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
